Recently, industrial accidents at companies have occurred frequently in Korea, and related legal disputes have arisen.
Safety accidents that occur at industrial sites are legally handled by the Product Liability Act and the Serious Accident Punishment Act. If a consumer consumes a product made by a company and casualties occur, the Serious Accident Punishment Act can be applied. For example, if consumers who consume dumplings produced by a company suffer from mass food poisoning, a product defect is recognized even if the product has received the government's Food Safety Management Certification Standard (HACCP).
The Serious Accident Punishment Act defines disasters caused by defects in raw materials, manufactured products, public facilities, and public transportation as serious civil disasters, and punishes those responsible for management when casualties occur. Products referred to in this law include automobiles, food, and pharmaceuticals.
In relation to this, the company will defend itself by citing reasons for exemption as provided for in the Product Liability Act. The Product Liability Act, which was enacted to protect victims from damages caused by product defects, stipulates in Article 4, Paragraph 3 that manufacturers are exempt from liability if they prove that a product defect occurred by complying with the standards set by the laws at the time the manufacturer supplied the product.
However, there are cases where the Serious Accident Punishment Act is applied even if it falls under exemption under the Product Liability Act. For example, if a consumer dies due to an accident involving a defective automobile part, the consumer may be exempted from liability under the Product Liability Act, but the Serious Accident Punishment Act may apply in some cases.
In this way, legal disputes and authoritative interpretations related to the Product Liability Act and the Serious Accident Punishment Act are emerging as major social problems. The Serious Accident Punishment Act is a means of disaster prevention and was created to eliminate insensitivity to safety in industrial sites and move toward becoming an industrial safety powerhouse, and has a strong character as a special law for the punishment provisions of the Criminal Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Attorney Jeong Jae-bong of Daeryun Law Firm (Limited) advised, “In order to be excluded from the provisions of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, a company’s response strategy must prove that it was unable to prevent an accident despite fulfilling its obligations to ensure safety and health, or that it was unable to control risk factors beyond the scope of the business owner’s control.” He added, “As it is in the early stages of enforcement of the law, it is advisable to receive legal advice from a corporate legal lawyer with a high understanding of related cases.”
View full article - What is your strategy for responding to the increasing legal disputes related to the Product Liability Act and the Serious Accident Punishment Act... and corporate lawsuits?
