중대재해처벌법은 사업 또는 사업장, 공중이용시설 및 공중교통수단을 운영하 거나 인체에 해로운 원료나 제조물을 취급하면서 안전 ‧ 보건 조치의무를 위반 하여 인명피해를 발생하게 한 사업주, 경영책임자, 공무원 및 법인의 처벌 등 을 규정함으로써 중대재해를 예방하고 시민과 종사자의 생명과 신체를 보호하 는 것을 목적으로 2021. 1. 26. 제정되어 2022. 1. 27.부터 시행에 들어갔다. 제정 당시부터 찬성과 반대의 목소리가 많았다. 사업주나 경영책임자들의 책 임을 강화함으로써 종사자들의 생명과 신체를 보호하고자 하는 측면에서는 필 요한 입법이라는 주장과 너무 과도한 입법이라는 주장이 대립되었다. 그동안 산업 현장에서 근로자들의 보호를 위한 입법이 미비하고 사용자들의 책임을 강화하여야 한다는 주장이 많아 중대재해처벌법이 제정이 되었으나, 중대재해처벌법이 위헌이라는 주장도 많이 제기되었다. 근로자들의 생명과 신체를 보호하고자 하는 입법목적은 정당하다고 할 수 있 다. 그러나 이러한 목적을 위한 입법도 헌법에 위반되어서는 안된다. 특히 사 업주나 경영책임자와 법인을 형사처벌하는 내용의 입법이므로 죄법정주의에 위반되면 안되고 책임과 형벌의 비례원칙에 위반되면 안되며, 기본권 보호를 위한 비례의 원칙 등을 준수하여야 한다. 중대재해처벌법은 근로자의 생명과 신체를 보호하고자 하는 측면에서 필요한 형사처벌 규정을 두고 있으나, 중대재해처벌법을 적용하는데 있어서 불명확하 거나 책임과 형벌간의 비례원칙 등에 위반된다고 판단되는 조문들이 있다. 필 요한 입법이라 하더라도 헌법에 위반되는 법률은 법치주의를 훼손하는 입법이 므로 위헌성을 제거할 필요가 있다. 최근에 중대재해처벌법 일부 조항에 대하 여 법원에서도 위헌법률심판제청을 하였다는 점을 고려하여, 위헌성을 제거하 기 위한 개정 작업이 필요하다고 본다.

This study aims to identify potential problems arising from the application of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (SAPA), enforced in January 2022 to prevent serious industrial accidents in South Korea, to workplaces with 5 or more but less than 50 employees starting in January 2024. These smaller enterprises often face challenges such as limited safety-related budgets, and constraints in safety organizations and personnel. To address these concerns, a survey was conducted targeting CEOs of businesses with fewer than 50 employees, focusing on their understanding of SAPA and the establishment of countermeasures. Based on the survey results, this study seeks to propose viable alternatives and solutions for these businesses.

본 연구는 중·소규모 사업장의 높은 산업재해를 저감하기 위한 목적으로 자 기규율 예방체계의 위험성평가를 개선하는 방안을 연구하였다. 이론적 고찰을 위해 기존의 위험성평가 방법과 문제점을 파악하였고, 대기업에 비하여 열악한 중·소규모 사업장의 위험성평가수행에 어려움을 인식하였다. 이를 해결하 기 위한 수단으로 중·소규모 사업장의 지속 가능한 발전을 위해 ESG 경영 평가지표를 함께 고찰하였다. ESG 평가지표 중 산업안전 분야의 위험성평가 내용이 일부 존재하여 기존 위험성평가와 ESG 평가지표 간 관계성, GAP분석 을 통해 문제점을 발견하고 리스크마이닝 기법으로 개선방안을 제안하였다. 모든 사업장에 적용가능한 고도화된 자기규율 예방체계의 위험성평가 개선방 안으로 향후 중소규모 사업장의 산업재해를 경감시키는데 중요한 역할을 할 것으로 기대한다.

The objective of this study was to conduct research and analysis using Group Focus Interview to survey the between construction site workers and managers implementing for the Severe Accident Punishment Act. Focused on measures to improve safety management effectiveness for the effectiveness of establishing a safety management system. A plan to improve the efficient safety management system was presented to 50 construction industrial managers and workers. In order to ensure the industrial accident prevention policies appropriately, it is necessary to be aware of safety obligations for workers as well as business operators. In addition, despite the existence of a commentary on the Serious Accident Punishment Act, confusion in the field still persists, so in the event of a major accidents, the obligation to take safety and health education is strengthened, and effective case education is proposed by teaching actual accident cases suitable for actual working sites. It is necessary to make all training mandatory, and it is necessary to reconsider awareness through writing a daily safety log, awareness of risk factors, etc., and writing down risk information. Above all, at the construction ordering stage, it is necessary to keep the construction safety, request corrections and supplements for problems issues that arise, and consult between the orderer and the construction company about the problems issues. Rather than having only the construction company correct or supplement the safety management plan, the contents should be shared with supervisors and workers to establish a more practical solution. Results of this study will contribute to improving the effectiveness of the serious accident and construction safety management system.

This study is to investigate the degree of field awareness of how each provision of the Serious Disaster Punishment Act will affect accident prevention. As a result of conducting a survey of construction site workers, it was analyzed that construction site workers had a low sense of safety and did not voluntarily engage in safety activities. And it can be seen that they are taking a very passive position that it is efficient to implement safety under the supervision of the supervisor. Workers who need voluntary construction site safety activities are most aware of the situation at the site, but the problem was pointed out as “lack of procedures for listening to opinions and preparing improvement measures” for these problems. Future research is needed to see if this is a problem for individual workers or for those in charge of safety and health who do not correct it even though active opinions have been submitted.

In 2022, the Serious Accident Punishment Act was implemented, emphasizing the responsibility of managers at workplaces where serious accidents occur in order to reduce serious accidents that occur frequently throughout the industry and promote worker safety. Currently, it is applied only to workplaces with 50 or more workers, but from 2024, it will be applied to small businesses with fewer than 50 workers. Although these small-scale workplaces act as steppingstones in various fields, the rate of serious accidents is high due to the relatively poor environment and lack of human resources and financial capabilities. In this regard, we intend to examine effects of the Serious Accident Punishment Act on small-scale information and communication companies and to drive countermeasures.

The Act on the Punishment of Serious Accidents to Prevent Large-scale Disasters, including Ferry Sewol and Taean Thermal Power Plant, passed the National Assembly on January 8, 2021, and has been in effect since January 27, 2022. However, the law, in which the representative of the headquarters is unlimitedly responsible for each worker's accident, is somewhat unreasonable at a time when a company owns dozens to hundreds of construction sites due to the nature of the construction industry. I agree with the purpose of enacting the law to reduce chronic serious accidents at construction sites, but it is necessary to carefully reconsider the implementation of the law in that punishment alone cannot achieve industrial safety. Previous studies focused on revising the Occupational Safety and Health Act, but there are few studies on the impact on the construction industry after the implementation of the Serious Accident Act. Therefore, this study attempts to derive problems related to the application of the Serious Accident Act and present improvement measures. To this end, after analyzing previous studies, SWOT analysis was performed by applying the Delphi method to derive strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. In addition, the results of two surveys of safety experts such as public institutions, academia, and companies were reflected, and its countermeasures were presented as follows. S/O strategy: establishing on-site execution capabilities of health and safety management system; W/O strategy: expanding legal and system execution checks; S/T strategy: establishing a risk response system; W/T strategy: expanding consulting by external specialized institutions