Violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act | Defending the Client to Obtain a No Prosecution Disposition

The client, who came to Daeryun Law stating that he was under suspicion of violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act, was in the following situation.

The complainant was a bereaved family member of worker A, who had died while working at the workplace operated by the client.

Another employee, B, who worked at the client's workplace, was an employee who drove a cargo truck. While unloading a large quantity of cargo from the cargo truck he was driving, B caused the cargo to fall, leading to the death of A.

Accordingly, the complainant filed a criminal complaint against the client, claiming that A died because the client, as the business owner, failed to observe safety rules.

In the case of the client charged with violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the complainant argued as follows.

The complainant stated that, according to the complainant's review of the CCTV footage, there was no safety management supervisor at the site and that not even minimal safety rules were in place.

The complainant argued that A died because the client's workplace was a worksite where not even the basic safety rules required by statute were observed.

We undertook the defense in order to clear the charges against the client accused of violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act

Mr. A, who allegedly died as a result of the client's violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, merely transported cargo under a contract with another company and never provided labor to the client.

Mr. A was a sole proprietor who personally bore the costs of vehicle repair and maintenance, fuel, and the like using a vehicle he had purchased himself, who bore responsibility on his own for any cargo damage arising during transport, and who issued tax invoices to and was paid by various business partners after transporting their cargo, so it is difficult to regard him as a worker.

Accordingly, Mr. A, as a sole proprietor operating as an owner-operator under a vehicle-leasing arrangement, is not a worker, and because he did not provide labor on a regular basis to the client's company with exclusivity, he also does not qualify as a worker in a special type of employment.

Mr. A is not a person protected under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, so the said statute cannot be applied.

With the assistance of Daeryun Law, the client charged with violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act was able to obtain a no prosecution disposition as a result of the prosecutorial investigation.

No Prosecution means that, in the prosecutor's judgment, public prosecution will not be instituted. Given A's death, the client's punishment had seemed unavoidable, but this was a result obtained because of the assistance of a specialist attorney at Daeryun Law.

In the course of operating a workplace, various incidents and accidents are bound to arise. If you need help, please reach out to Daeryun at any time.