Politics · South Korea · 1 day ago
Seoul court orders benefits for family of worker who died after fall
A construction worker in Seoul fell about two metres while installing scaffolding and broke his ankle.
He received treatment and continued recovering at home, but died about a month after the fall.
An autopsy found that he died from a pulmonary embolism, a blockage in a blood vessel in the lungs.
His family said his death was linked to the workplace accident and sought survivor benefits and funeral costs.
The workers’ compensation agency refused, saying the fall and death were not shown to be connected.
A Seoul administrative court found that the injuries likely caused a blood clot in his leg, which then led to the fatal blockage, and said the one-month gap did not rule out a link.
The court ruled that his family should receive the benefits and costs.
A Seoul court ruled that the family of a worker who died after a workplace fall should receive survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses.
The worker died of a pulmonary embolism about one month after falling from a work platform at a construction site.
The court found it likely that injuries from the fall led to deep vein thrombosis and then the fatal embolism.
The Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service had denied the family’s claim, arguing that the fall and death were not causally linked.
- Who
- The family of a construction company worker who died after a fall.
- What
- A Seoul court ordered payment of survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses.
- When
- The worker died about one month after the fall; the court issued its ruling recently.
- Where
- Seoul, South Korea.
- Why
- The court found it likely that injuries from the fall caused deep vein thrombosis that progressed to a fatal pulmonary embolism.
The worker’s family
Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service
Causal link
The worker’s family
The family argued that the worker’s death was a work-related accident.
Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service
The service said the injuries from the fall were not causally linked to the death.
Alternative explanation
The worker’s family
The family sought survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses for the death.
Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service
The service cited a diagnosis of arrhythmia five months before the accident as a possible cause of the pulmonary embolism.
It is difficult to deny a causal relationship between the accident and the death solely because the worker died of a pulmonary embolism one month after the accident.
The worker fell from a work platform about 2 metres high and sustained a fractured right ankle and facial cuts.
The worker was found collapsed in a bathroom at home and later died; an autopsy identified pulmonary embolism as the cause.
The family sought survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses, but the workers’ compensation service denied the claim.
The Seoul Administrative Court ruled for the family in its lawsuit challenging the denial.
- Fall height
- 2 metres
- Injuries
- Fractured right ankle and facial cuts
- Time from fall to death
- About one month
- Cause of death
- Pulmonary embolism
- Court
- Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 7
Sources
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