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Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service decided that a work-related accident was recognized for a truck worker who died while working last year.

It has been difficult for truck workers to be recognized for industrial accidents because of the ambiguous criteria for their status as a sole proprietor and the scope of their work.



Reporter Jo Yoon-ha covered this content exclusively.



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It is not uncommon for truck drivers to have serious accidents in the process of loading and unloading goods.



For this reason, loading and unloading work has been excluded from the work of truck drivers from 2019.



The purpose is to prevent safety accidents by entrusting the loading and unloading work to forklift drivers, and allowing the driver to focus only on tying and driving.



But the reality is different.



In September of last year, the late Lee Sang-soo died after being hit by a two-ton screw.




Taean Thermal Power and its subcontractors avoided responsibility for the accident, saying it was not an industrial accident.



It was said that the accident occurred while the driver's job was strapping.



However, the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service judged it to be an 'occupational accident'.



Although Mr. Lee had an accident during the tying operation, it was heard on the basis that he was actively involved in the loading and unloading operations.



In fact, Mr. Lee served as a signal during the loading operation.



It is difficult for truck drivers to refuse business orders from companies in the continuous process of loading and unloading, tying, and driving.



In fact, at the time of the accident, there were employees of subcontractors who were giving orders to Mr. Lee.



It took 11 months for the survivors to be recognized for their industrial accident.



[Jeon Jun-cheol / Bereaved's side labor attorney: Realistically, most of the work, including loading and unloading, has been customary, but there were parts that were difficult to prove. My mother (Lee Sang-soo's wife) was a little tough. First of all, because it was recognized as a disaster, I was very happy and cried… .]



Last July, the Labor Administration and the police handed over the Taean Thermal Power Plant and subcontractors to the prosecution on charges of negligent manslaughter and violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.



(Video coverage: Seol Min-hwan, video editing: Kim Jong-mi)