Sampyo Industry booked as 1st firm accused of violating new workplace disaster law

Labor ministry officials raided the headquarters of Sampyo Industry in central Seoul on Friday in connection with a recent industrial accident in a quarry that left three workers dead, officials said.

The raid came after the ministry booked Sampyo, a manufacturer of construction materials such as remicon, on Wednesday as the first firm accused of violating a newly enacted workplace disaster law aimed at better protecting workers from industrial accidents.

Under the law, owners and CEOs of companies with five or more employees can face a minimum one-year prison sentence or up to a fine of 1 billion won ($832,708) in the event of serious workplace disasters.

On Jan. 29, a landslide at a quarry slope operated by Sampyo in Yangju, north of Seoul, left three workers dead while they were making holes for demolition work in what is seen as the first industrial disaster after the new law went into force. (Yonhap)