SPL Co., Ltd., which was indicted in connection with the death of a worker in their 20s who was caught in machinery at a bakery plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, in 2022, was fined 2 billion won on appeal. The amount is 20 times higher than the 100 million won fine imposed in the first trial.
The ruling is considered among the highest levels of fines imposed on corporations for serious industrial accidents. It is interpreted as the court viewing industrial accidents not as mere on-site management lapses but as failures of safety management at the corporate level and holding the corporation to substantive economic responsibility.
On the 26th, according to legal sources, the Suwon District Court Criminal Appeals Division 9 (Presiding Judge Kim Jun-hyuk, Director General) overturned the lower court's 100 million won fine and imposed a 2 billion won fine on SPL in the appeal of the corporation indicted on charges including violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (industrial accident causing death).
The fine increased sharply because the factory manager B, the overall safety and health manager, was newly found responsible for violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act on appeal. During the appellate process, prosecutors amended the indictment to specify factory manager B as the safety manager in preparation for the possibility that former SPL CEO Kang Dong-seok's responsibility might not be recognized, and sought punishment of the corporation on that basis.
The sentence for former CEO Kang, who was indicted alongside on charges of violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, also became heavier. The appellate court overturned the first-instance sentence of one year in prison suspended for two years and imposed two years in prison suspended for three years.
The court found that factory manager B knew of the on-site dangers but failed to take necessary measures. The court noted, "Factory manager B knew that workers were operating the mixer with the cover open without protective measures such as a guard, yet took no action, leading to the victim's death," pointing to a breach of the duty to implement safety measures.
The court also held the corporation SPL responsible for management and supervision. The court stated, "The corporation SPL is deemed not to have exercised due care and supervision to prevent B's violations," and added, "We increased the fine after considering the circumstances of the violators, the corporation's operations, and the extent of the violations."
As for former CEO Kang, the court found responsibility for failing to establish fundamental measures to prevent the accident. The court stated, "There was a duty to establish measures to fundamentally prevent the recurrence of similar accidents, yet only piecemeal steps were adopted," and ruled, "By failing to conduct the mandated inspections at least once every half-year under safety and health laws and regulations, an accident that could have been sufficiently prevented occurred."
However, the first-instance judgments were maintained for three plant officials. The court dismissed all cross-appeals regarding the 10-month prison term suspended for two years imposed on factory manager B, the six-month prison term suspended for two years imposed on safety and health team leader C, and the four-month prison term suspended for two years imposed on safety manager D.
They were brought to trial on charges of failing to fulfill their safety obligations in connection with the death of a worker in their 20s, who was caught in a food mixer used to blend sandwich sauce and died at about 6:18 a.m. on Oct. 15, 2022, in the mixing room on the third floor of Plant 2 at SPL's bakery factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, while working a night shift.