Serious Accidents Punishment Act 72-Hour Response Standards (For HR Personnel)

Responding to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act does not end with a legal review following an accident. HR personnel must work together with the Safety and Health department to review records immediately after receiving the accident, site preservation, reporting systems, communication with employees, protection of victims and witnesses, and EAP psychological support. This article summarizes the response standards and practical checklist that HR must verify during the 72 hours following an accident.

short answer

The Serious Accidents Punishment Act is a law that holds employers or management responsible when serious industrial accidents occur due to their failure to fulfill their duty to ensure safety and health. However, the most important aspect of HR practice immediately after an accident is not to definitively determine legal liability.

Immediately after an accident occurs, you must document the confirmed facts, protect victims and witnesses, and organize reporting systems for safety and health, legal, HR, and management. At the same time, since employees who experienced the accident may suffer from anxiety, guilt, sleep problems, and the burden of returning to work, you must also provide information on psychological support channels.

It is dangerous to prematurely determine "who is at fault" within the organization during the initial response. If unverified rumors spread, it places a secondary burden on victims and witnesses, and managers may also be caught in unnecessary disputes over responsibility.

When will it be applied?

The response standards under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act apply when a serious industrial accident occurs or when a serious accident with the potential to lead to a serious accident takes place. Rather than legally determining the type of accident, HR must organize the initial response based on confirmed facts in collaboration with safety and health personnel, legal experts, and labor relations specialists.

situation	HR verification criteria	Practical Points to Note
Accident report	Confirmation of date, time, location, extent of damage, and whether emergency measures were taken	Record only confirmed facts
On-site response	Site preservation, prevention of additional risks, designation of personnel	Do not conclude the cause
Internal report	Verify reporting lines for Safety & Health, Legal, HR, and management	Control of information sharing scope
Member Guide	Preventing internal team rumors, preparing administrator guidelines	Protection of victims and witnesses
Psychological support	Victim, Witness, Colleague, and Manager EAP Guide	Separation from legal response
Prevention of recurrence	Verification of improvement measures and training plans based on investigation results	Records and follow-up management

What HR Managers Should Do

First, you must record only confirmed facts.
Information may be incomplete immediately after an accident. HR should focus on recording confirmed facts, such as the date and time of the accident, location, extent of damage, whether emergency measures were taken, and whether relevant parties were contacted. It is safer not to include assumptions, rumors, or judgments of responsibility in the records.

Second, you need to quickly organize the reporting lines.
HR cannot handle the response to serious accidents alone. You must organize reporting lines among safety and health personnel, legal, labor relations, management, and site supervisors, and divide roles regarding who verifies and conveys what information.

Third, you must establish communication standards for managers.
A single remark from a manager immediately after an accident can have a significant impact on victims, witnesses, and colleagues. Managers must not discuss unconfirmed causes, blame specific individuals, or allow rumors to spread. HR must guide managers on the principles of “sharing only verified facts,” “protecting victims and witnesses,” and “directing inquiries to designated channels.”

Fourth, the protection of victims and witnesses must be considered together.
The priority in accident response is treating victims and ensuring their safety. At the same time, employees who witnessed the accident, those who participated in the rescue, colleagues, and site managers may also experience psychological trauma. HR must review work schedule adjustments, counseling guidance, rest support, and measures to prevent secondary burden in collaboration with the Safety and Health department.

Fifth, EAP counseling support must be provided separately from legal response.
EAP does not replace the response to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act or accident investigations. However, it may refer members who experienced or witnessed an accident to external psychological support channels if they feel anxiety, guilt, sleep problems, or burden regarding returning to work.

72-Hour Post-Incident Response Flow

hour	Response phase	Checklist
0~24 hours	Ensuring Treatment and Safety	Emergency measures, scene preservation, prevention of further risks, victim support
Within 24 hours	Organize reporting lines	Distinction between the roles of HR, Occupational Safety and Health, Legal, and Management
24~48 hours	Member Guide	Fact-based guidance, prevention of rumor spread, sharing of administrator phrases
48~72 hours	Activation of support system	Victim/Witness Support, EAP Guidance, Work Adjustment Review
After 72 hours	Prevention of recurrence	Cause investigation, corrective measures, training, record management

Within 24 hours, treatment and ensuring safety are the priorities. HR must work with the safety and health officer to verify victim support, designation of on-site personnel, contact systems for relevant parties, and managerial communication standards.

Within 72 hours, the organization's basic response flow must be established. The accident investigation schedule, the scope of member guidance, protective measures for victims and witnesses, guidance on counseling support, and whether to initiate procedures to prevent recurrence must be finalized.

Practical Checklist

The items below can be used by HR personnel when reviewing the initial response after an incident.

item	check
The accident report records were organized based on confirmed facts.	☐
We checked whether emergency measures and treatment support were provided to the victims.	☐
We confirmed with the safety and health officer whether the site could be preserved and additional risks prevented.	☐
Reporting lines were designated for HR, health and safety, legal affairs, and management.	☐
I prepared a notice to share with the administrator.	☐
Instructions were given not to conclude unconfirmed causes or responsibilities.	☐
We reviewed measures to protect victims and witnesses.	☐
Standards were established to prevent the spread of rumors within the team and secondary burdens.	☐
We confirmed the necessity of providing guidance on EAP counseling channels.	☐
I checked the accident investigation schedule and data preservation methods.	☐
We organized measures to prevent recurrence and training plans.	☐
Records of member communication were kept after the accident.	☐

Common mistakes

The first mistake is talking about liability immediately after an accident.
Initially, the cause of the accident may not have been fully identified. Statements such as “someone is at fault” or “the manager missed it” can distort the facts or place a secondary burden on the victim or witness.

The second mistake is that HR does not provide any guidance until the legal review is completed.
While legal judgments must be made with caution, the protection of members and basic guidance must not be delayed. Guidance based on verified facts, prevention of rumors, protection of victims and witnesses, and information on counseling channels must be prepared from the outset.

The third mistake is missing witness and colleague support.
Not only those who directly experienced the industrial accident, but also employees who witnessed the accident, those who participated in the rescue, teammates, and site managers can suffer psychological trauma. Excluding them from support may delay organizational recovery.

The fourth mistake is treating the EAP like an accident investigation channel.
EAP does not replace an investigation into the cause of an accident or a determination of legal liability. It should be directed to psychological support channels to address post-accident anxiety, sleep problems, guilt, and the burden of returning to work.

If EAP support is needed

When a serious accident or major industrial accident occurs, on-site personnel may experience various psychological reactions. Not only the victims, but also witnesses, colleagues, and managers may feel anxiety, shock, guilt, anger, sleep problems, and the burden of returning to work.

EAP does not replace the response to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. However, it can be utilized as an external support channel to help employees who have experienced an accident manage psychological distress and receive necessary support during the return-to-work process.

EAP guidance text can be used as follows.

You may utilize EAP counseling channels if you are experiencing anxiety, shock, sleep problems, guilt, or the burden of returning to work following an accident. EAP does not replace accident investigation or legal judgment, and counseling content is managed in accordance with established confidentiality standards.

Alternatively, you can provide the following message to the administrator.

Rather than discussing unconfirmed causes or responsibilities for accidents, please connect members to HR, Occupational Safety and Health, or EAP channels so they can receive necessary treatment and counseling support.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What should HR do first immediately after an accident?

HR should document confirmed facts and ensure victim support and employee protection rather than assuming legal liability. At the same time, it is advisable to streamline reporting lines for safety and health personnel, legal affairs, and management, and to establish communication standards for managers.

Q2. May I explain the cause of the accident or the responsibility to the members?

Initially, it is safe to provide only confirmed facts. Expressions that definitively determine the cause or responsibility should be avoided, and the scope of the information should be determined based on investigation results and official verification procedures.

Q3. Should witnesses also be included in the support program?

It is recommended to include them. Even if they did not directly experience the accident, witnesses, rescue participants, teammates, and site managers may experience psychological trauma and the burden of returning to work. You can guide them to EAP or external counseling channels as options.

Q4. Can EAP counseling records be used as accident investigation data?

It must not be used. EAP counseling is a channel for psychological support, while an incident investigation is a procedure for verifying facts and preventing recurrence. Counseling content must be managed in accordance with confidentiality standards and, as a principle, kept separate from incident investigation data.

Q5. What should I do after 72 hours?

After 72 hours, you must continue with the investigation of the cause, measures to prevent recurrence, supplementation of safety and health training, re-examination of risk assessments, and support for the recovery of personnel. Accident response records and communication records must also be organized.

Next step

Responding to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act does not end with a legal review. You must prepare for everything from protecting employees immediately after an accident, guiding managers, managing records, providing psychological support for witnesses, and conducting training to prevent recurrence.

If you want to overhaul major accident response protocols, post-accident communication with members, manager guidelines, and EAP psychological support systems at the organizational level Nudge EAP Implementation Consultation Review the operating methods that suit our organization through this.

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This content is intended for general informational purposes. Specific legal, labor, occupational safety and health, medical, and psychological counseling matters may vary depending on the situation and may require review by relevant experts.

Serious Accidents Punishment Act & Occupational Safety and Health Act