船員火災補償制度의 問題點 및 改善方案

Abstract

Seaman take the vessels which navigate on the perilous sea for the place of labor and the place of life, therefore, they meet with frequent accidents and the vessels which have a small and narrow place restrain seamen from leading a fundamental human life. Consequently, it is important and valuable to protect and repair the injured seamen in the eyes of both the law and the society.

Government legislated the Seamen Act form Article 85 to 98, as special law of the Standard Labor Act, to compensate the seaman's accident and this act stipulated the liability of the shipowner for the occupational accidents of the seaman. It is said that this regime is the Compensation Regime for Seamen's Accidents.

In addition to it is to compensate effectively the seaman's accidents that the Seamen Act, Article 98 provides the shipowner to be insured a liability insurance for the seamen whom they employ.

I have studied the problems and promotion of Compensation Regime for Seaman's Accident comparing with the Seafarers Act, Labor Standards Act and Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act. So I want to suggest its improvement measures as the solving way of its problems, and thus if it is summarized, it is as shown in the followings.

It is the general principles to compensate the occupational accident in the accident compensation of employers under the jurisprudence of Seamen's Accident Compensation System, and on the other hand, even if the crew is damaged by the reason of out-of-duty as well as of the on-the-duty which is related to the occupational accident due to the speciality of marine labor, the crew must be given the compensation by the shipowner under the general conditions.

Also, there is the legal system for the shipowner to compensate the crew under the missing of crew or the losing of personal articles. Also, the shipowner must be the insured of seamen in order to perform the seamen's accident compensation entirely, and the mutual aid by the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Act and Korea Shipping Association Act must be included to this insurance, and thus there is the social securing scope as well as living securing scope in this insurance. Accordingly, the legal character of seamen's accident compensation is mixed with the living securing scope and social securing scope, and thus it is thought which it is suitable to be negotiated together with the above-stated opinions.

However, in case of seamen's accident compensation, the accident compensation by the out-of-duty of crew and the accident compensation is divided as the speciality of marine labor and the crew employment contract and then its legal character can be discussed. Accordingly, the legal character of accident compensation by the out-of-duty during the boarding of crew will be considered as the speciality of marine labor and of the crew employment contract.

With regard to the security of the seamen's accident compensation, the shipowner has secured its effectiveness by all kinds of mutual aid and insurance, making the crew as the insured. So the seamen's accident compensation standard is below the accident compensation standard of ground worker, and thus the necessity for improvement of the seamen's accident compensation system is required.

Accordingly, as its improvement ways, first the tentatively named seamen's accident compensation insurance law to be presented as the law-making under the existing industrial accident insurance law in consideration with the speciality of crew. Secondly, the other improvement way is to amend Seafarers Insurance Act. Thirdly, the industrial accident compensation is extensively applied together with the compensation system of the existing seafarers act and then the crew must be made as the object applicable to the industrial accident compensation. I think the best way is the extensive appliance of the industrial accident compensation.