Understanding the differences between the crime of serious labor safety accidents and the crime of serious liability accidents from the perspective of tower crane falling object accidents

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Understanding the differences between the crime of serious labor safety accidents and the crime of serious liability accidents from the perspective of tower crane falling object accidents: At 18:57 on September 26, 2014, at the construction site of the Fujuli Jing community in Jizhou City, Hebei Province, the supervisor Zhang filled the ash container suspended by the tower crane with ash, hung the container in place, and then instructed the tower crane operator Wei to lift it and transport it to Building 11. As the tower crane rotated from south to north above the construction site of the underground garage, the ash container suddenly fell and struck Liu, the victim who was tightening rebar in the underground garage, causing him to die on the spot. Upon verification. The hook safety device of the crane involved in the accident was damaged, posing a serious safety hazard. Wei, the tower crane operator, Zhang, the supervisor, and Kang, the site safety officer, were aware that the safety device on the tower crane’s hook was not functional and that operating the crane in such conditions could lead to serious injuries or deaths or other severe consequences. Yet the three of them believed that they could avoid such outcomes, which resulted in the container falling and causing Liu’s death on the spot. The court in Jizhou City, Hebei Province held that the defendant Kang, as a full-time safety manager at a construction company, failed to fulfill his duties related to safety management and did nothing to eliminate the potential hazards that existed, which led to a serious accident resulting in casualties. His actions constituted the crime of causing a serious work-related accident. In the end, the defendant Kang was found guilty of causing a major work-related accident and was sentenced to six months in prison, with a one-year suspension of execution. Wei, the tower crane operator, and Zhang, the supervisor, were sentenced to six months in prison with a one-year suspension for the crime of causing a serious accident through negligence. In the same accident, safety officer Kang was found guilty of the crime of causing a serious work-related safety accident, while the crane operator and supervisor were found guilty of the crime of causing a serious liability accident. Why is that? Next, let’s take a look at the relevant legal provisions regarding the crime of serious labor safety accidents. Article 135 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that if the safety production facilities or conditions do not meet the prescribed standards, resulting in serious casualties or other severe consequences, the persons in charge who are directly responsible as well as other persons directly liable shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention ； In cases of particularly serious circumstances, the penalty is fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years. The judicial interpretations issued by the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate stipulate that the \"person in charge who is directly responsible and other persons who are directly responsible\" as referred to in Article 135 of the Criminal Law refer to the persons in charge, managers, actual controllers, and investors of a production or business operation unit who bear direct responsibility for the fact that the safety production facilities or conditions do not meet **the relevant regulations**, as well as other persons who have responsibilities for the management and maintenance of such safety production facilities or conditions. According to judicial interpretations, the subjects responsible for the crime of serious labor safety accidents are all those who have responsibilities for managing and maintaining safety production facilities or conditions, including equipment managers, maintenance staff, safety production supervisors, deputy managers in charge of safety production, and the company’s top executive – the \"boss\". In the Jizhou case, the defendant Kang, as a full-time safety manager at a construction company, was a management employee of a production and business entity that bore direct responsibility for the non-compliance of safety facilities or conditions with **regulations; thus, he met the requirements regarding the subject liable for the crime of serious work-related accidents. Both the crime of serious labor safety accidents and the crime of serious liability accidents arise in conjunction with work safety incidents, and both fall under the category of crimes resulting from negligence. The key to distinguishing between the two is as follows: 1. Different ranges of subjects. In judicial practice, one of the obvious differences between the crime of serious liability accidents and the crime of serious labor safety accidents lies in the different ranges of subjects involved in each crime. The criminal subjects in the former case are general subjects; any personnel involved in production and operations can be considered such subjects, ranging from front-line workers and operational staff, to middle management, senior executives, and even the company owners. The subject of the crime of serious labor safety accidents is a specific type of entity; as can be seen from the relevant legal provisions, those who are responsible for managing and maintaining safety facilities and conditions in the workplace are the subjects of this crime. 2. Different responsibilities: Compared with the crime of serious liability accidents, the responsibility involved in the crime of serious labor safety accidents refers specifically to the direct management responsibility for safety production facilities and conditions, rather than the direct responsibility for safety production or the actual operations themselves; the other elements constituting this crime are generally similar. In the accident involving falling objects from a tower crane in Jizhou, Kang, as a safety management officer responsible for overseeing safety equipment, allowed the crane operator and supervisor to carry out operations despite knowing that the hook safety device of the crane was damaged, posing a serious safety risk. This led to the detachment of a container, resulting in one death. Based on this, Kang should be found guilty of the crime of serious labor safety accidents. Crane operators and supervisors are not responsible for managing and maintaining safety facilities, which is why the crime of serious liability accident was established.