Factory boss jailed 2 years after worker crushed to death by steel coil

[The Herald Business = Reporter Lee Myung-su] The head of an auto parts company has been sentenced to prison after a worker died at his facility, which lacked basic safety measures despite known hazards.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Judge Lee Jae-wook of Ulsan District Court's Criminal Division 3 sentenced the company's CEO, identified only as A, to two years in prison and its safety officer, B, to two years in detention on charges including violation of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, it was announced on the 8th. The company was also fined 70 million won ($50,700).

The accident occurred in December 2024 at A's Ulsan facility, when worker C was crushed to death by a steel coil measuring 1.4 meters in diameter and weighing 1.6 metric tons.

C had been cutting the binding on a bundle of steel coils stored on a shelf above head height when the accident happened.

As the metal band holding the coils together was cut loose, one of the coils fell and struck C, who was standing below the shelf.

The accident was foreseeable. The edge of the shelf had no stopper or support bracket to prevent coils from falling.

No work plan had been drawn up, and workers' helmet use went unchecked.

The workplace had received D ratings across all categories — including the owner's attention to safety and employee participation and understanding — in a risk assessment by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency in June 2023, yet A failed to address any of the cited deficiencies.

Five separate accidents had occurred at the facility between 2022 and the fatal incident, and accidents continued even after C's death.

The court said the victim's family had petitioned for a severe sentence, noting that the company had not even paid C's full severance.