The case recognizing occupational accidents for subway service personnel who died from waste cancer;

The case affirming occupational accidents on the ground that asbestos was exposed to the subway station, which was conducted by the Corporation, and the waste cancer was aggravated due to its natural progress, in light of its service content, the degree of exposure to asbestos caused by the subway station’s internal construction work in the subway station, the hazard of asbestos and its relevance with the waste cancer, etc.

Article 4 subparagraph 1 of the former Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (amended by Act No. 8373 of Apr. 11, 2007) (see current Article 5 subparagraph 1 of the current Act)

Plaintiff (Law Firm Hanl, Attorneys Lee In-bok et al., Counsel for the plaintiff-appellant)

Korea Labor Welfare Corporation

Seoul High Court Decision 2003Nu21956 delivered on December 10, 2004

The appeal is dismissed. The costs of appeal are assessed against the defendant.

We examine the grounds of appeal.

The term "occupational accident" under Article 4 subparagraph 1 of the former Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (amended by Act No. 8373 of Apr. 11, 2007) refers to an accident caused by an employee's occupational accident while performing his/her duties. Thus, there is a proximate causal relation between the occupational accident and the occupational accident. In this case, the causal relation between the occupational accident and the disease of the employee should be proved by the assertion. However, the causal relation is not necessarily required to be proved in medical and natural science, but it is proved even if there is a proximate causal relation between the occupational and the disease when considering various circumstances (see, e.g., Supreme Court Decisions 96Nu1483, Feb. 28, 1997; 2005Du809, Nov. 10, 2005; 2005Du13841, Mar. 9, 2006).

In light of the records, the following facts are recognized.

On July 15, 1985, the Non-Party (Before the change of company name in October 2005), entered the Seoul Mcro (Seoul Metropolitan Government subway Corporation) as transportation office, performed the duties of checking the state of boarding ticket sales, opening ticket sales, opening ticket sales, platform equipment at the underground level, taking measures at the time of failure, regulating illegal boarding, regulating the order of use, train, passenger surveillance, accident prevention, accident prevention, and track condition, and died on January 29, 2003.

From July 1, 1985 to August 4, 1989, the deceased worked in the form of 24 hours, and from May 18, 1987 to July 30, 1988, one existing entrance was replaced by an underground passage in order to connect the entrance of the first floor of the play facility gate and the passage of the subway station in the vicinity of the Seoul subway 2, which was constructed in the vicinity from May 18, 1987 to July 30, 198, and one existing entrance gate was relocated, the width of the existing entrance gate was expanded from 9m to 14m, and the construction was carried out such as the relocation of the service room and the ticket office.

In the process of construction, part of the relevant ceiling and floor of the lock field and the wall were dismantled, and part of the ventilation room was removed, and as the air ventilator was dismantled in the ventilation room, it was scambling in the scambling. However, the above locker is one of the history of Seoul subway 2 completed between 1980 and 1983, where the hazards of asbestos were not well known in Korea, and asbestos was used in the floor materials such as service rooms used by employees, 1% of asbestos was included in the scamyl chlorides containing 1% of asbestos, and there were considerable amounts of asbestos to be included in the scambling net in the cambling net (in 201, and 202, it was difficult to view that asbestos was 10% or more of the asbestos scambired in the process of dismantling asbestos scam, it was not likely that asbestos were scattered in the scambling net or 10% of the asbestos scam.

Asbestos is a stec compound in the shape of fiber, which has a vertical diameter of 0.02 to 0.03rd, and is exposed once again, asbestos may cause fatal diseases, such as waste cancer, asbestosis, and heavy stephye, even if there is no subsequent exposure.

On the other hand, the deceased's waste cancer, which is the deceased, is relatively related to smoking among the waste cancer (in the case of a man who smokes 10 to 19 cigarettes a day, such as the deceased, the probability that the malo cell cancer 12.2 times in the case of the malo cell cancer, 5.6 times in the case of the small cell cancer, and 2.7 times in the case of the malophone, is high.).

In full view of the content of the deceased’s work, the degree of asbestos exposure at the time of the locking station connecting work to the lock station at the time of the locking station work, asbestos hazard and waste cancer, etc., it is presumed that the deceased was exposed to asbestos while working in the locking station as progress from 1987 to 1988, and that such exposure was caused by asbestos, and that the deceased’s waste cancer was aggravated above the natural progress.

Therefore, the court below is just in finding the injury of this case as an occupational accident, and it did not err by misapprehending the rules of evidence or by misapprehending the legal principles on the nature of occupational accident as asserted in the grounds of appeal.

Therefore, the appeal is dismissed, and the costs of appeal are assessed against the losing party. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices on the bench.

Justices Kim Nung-hwan (Presiding Justice)