산업안전보건법상 사업주의 안전보건조치의무 해석론의 전환 – 대법원 2021. 9. 30. 선고 2020도3996 판결의 시사점 –

초록

The recent attention and focus on workplace safety have undeniably centered on the interpretation of the requirements for punishment or exemption of business owners under the Serious Accident Punishment Act, regardless of academia, practice, or labor sites. In contrast, the issues regarding the interpretation and application of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and its subordinate regulations, which have a general legal status in preventing industrial accidents and diseases, including serious accidents, ensuring the safety and health of workers, and establishing accountability, seem to be relatively neglected. However, considering the academic and practical importance and the realistic impact, I believe that the need for systematic research on OSHA is much greater than that of the Serious Accident Punishment Act. The case in question deals with a very tragic modern incident where a large-scale casualty occurred on Labor Day at a leading domestic shipyard, with all victims being subcontracted workers. After the incident, investigations by field and investigative agencies led to prosecutions of the related parties for violations of OSHA and for manslaughter by negligence under the Criminal Act. The lower and appellate courts, following the existing case law, demonstrated a very strict and rigid interpretation in recognizing the defendants’ guilt for violating OSHA. The Supreme Court overturned this. Through this ruling, I evaluate that the Supreme Court has proposed an advanced interpretation by shifting the existing position on the duty of safety and health measures by business owners under OSHA. The Supreme Court moved away from solely relying on the text of the safety and health regulations and specified the duty based on the actual characteristics of the work site. This aimed to fully secure the normative power of OSHA. Of course, many other interpretative issues that were not addressed or mentioned in the text remain. I hope related research continues.

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