South Korea’s Supreme Court has held a construction site manager responsible for the death of a Russian worker who fell from a structure along a building’s exterior, despite prior instructions restricting access to the area.
The ruling underscores the heightened duty of site supervisors to ensure safety in hazardous environments, particularly when foreign national workers who are not fluent in Korean are involved, raising the risk of miscommunication.
According to data from the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association, the number of foreign workers at construction sites in Korea reached 230,000 in 2024. Their share has steadily increased from 11.8 percent in 2020 to 14.7 percent of the total construction workforce, while communication-related safety risks continue to be reported across sites.
Local media reported Friday that the 26-year-old worker died in June 2020 while removing concrete formwork from the exterior wall of an apartment building under construction. He fell 30 meters after the collapse of a suspended steel structure known as a gang form.
The accident occurred after bolts on the structure had been removed in advance to reduce relocation time, although the process had been temporarily halted.
The Supreme Court overturned a Daejeon High Court ruling that had fined the site manager 5 million won ($3,300) while acquitting him of charges including professional negligence resulting in death and violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
The manager argued that the accident was caused by an unidentified individual who removed the bolts, rather than by his own negligence. He also said the structure was in the process of being relocated and that the victim’s team had been instructed to work from inside the building.
The Supreme Court, however, found that the structure should not have been unbolted before being secured to a stable support, and that the removal of the bolts had been carried out under the manager’s direction.
The court also ruled that the manager failed to take additional measures to prevent misunderstanding or unauthorized access, particularly given that the victim was not fluent in Korean and therefore more vulnerable to miscommunication.
“Even if the defendant did not give specific instructions to use the gang form as a foothold, the failure to ensure necessary safety measures constitutes a breach of duty under the Occupational Safety and Health Act,” the court said. “The victim’s death can be reasonably seen as a foreseeable result of such a breach.”
forestjs@heraldcorp.com
