Supervisor found to have violated duty of care by failing to install safety fences, cones
A construction supervisor in their 60s has been fined 3 million won ($2,240) after being convicted of injuring a passerby by failing to take adequate safety measures at a demolition site.
Judge Kim Bu-seong of Busan District Court's Criminal Division 13 handed down the fine to the suspect, identified only as A, on charges of negligent bodily injury. A, the head of a demolition company, was indicted after a passerby was injured during demolition work at a first-floor unit of a building in Dongnae-gu, Busan, around 11:10 a.m. on July 2 last year, when proper safety measures were not in place.
A and workers had been using a grinder — a tool fitted with a high-speed rotating circular blade used to cut or grind metal structures — while leaving steel frames, sashes and other metal structures unattended on the sidewalk near the construction site.
A woman in her 30s passing by was startled by sparks from the grinder work and, while trying to avoid them, tripped over the metal structures left on the sidewalk. She sustained injuries to her left leg requiring about three weeks of treatment.
The court found that A, as the person in charge of the construction, had violated a duty of care to protect pedestrians by failing to install safety cones, fences or signs, or to station a flagperson.
"I took into comprehensive consideration the severity of the victim's injuries, the fact that no settlement was reached with the victim, and the fact that the defendant admitted to the offense and showed a remorseful attitude," Judge Kim said in explaining the sentence.
cook@heraldcorp.com
