산재사망의 관례화에서 범죄화로 - 중대재해기업처벌법 제정운동 과정을 중심으로

Three years after its enactment, the Serious Accidents Punishment Act remains controversial. The OHS movement calls for severe penalties against management who violate their obligations. This reinforces the impression that the movement overestimates the effectiveness of punishment and neglects other preventive measures. However, the enactment of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act is not the result of social movements prioritizing reactive prevention through punishment. This paper discusses the reasons for this as follows. First, the movement emphasized that punitive legislation can only play a limited role and cannot replace preventive policies, and called for criminalization as a means of compliance rather than punishment per se. Second, throughout the movement, various attempts to make safety and health regulations work through worker empowerment were simultaneously underway. This was maintained even after major disasters such as the Sewol ferry tragedy and the Guui Station accident. Third, calls for criminalization intensified as the movement’s gains were expected to be rolled back, and the movement’s intention to hold corporations accountable was weakened during the parliamentary negotiations. Criminalization was a limited option for the OHS movement to overcome a long history of under-regulation in South Korea, which has a weak democratic regulatory base.