A court has acquitted a gym owner and a trainer who had been charged with occupational negligence resulting in death, in connection with an accident in which a member died after his neck was pinned under a barbell during a bench press exercise. The court acknowledged that they had violated the obligation to assign a certified sports instructor, but found that a causal link between the violation and the death had not been established.
According to the legal community on the 20th, Kim Soo-hong, senior judge of the Busan District Court Western Branch Criminal Division 3, acquitted a gym owner surnamed Jung and a trainer surnamed Kim, both in Busan, who had been indicted on charges of occupational negligence resulting in death.
The accident occurred around 1 p.m. on December 20, 2024. At the time, a member surnamed A, in his 40s, was performing a bench press exercise alone with a barbell weighing about 70 kilograms on the third floor of the gym when he was unable to hold the weight and his neck was pinned under the barbell.
A was not discovered for about 25 minutes while his neck was pinned under the barbell. He was transported to a hospital and received treatment but suffered hypoxic brain damage, dying about a week after the accident.
Prosecutors indicted the two, arguing that the gym had failed to comply with the obligation under the Installation and Utilization of Sports Facilities Act to assign a certified sports instructor, and that the trainer had also failed to fulfill his duty of care to monitor users' exercise conditions and respond appropriately to emergencies.
The Sports Facilities Act requires gyms with exercise floor space of 300 square meters or less to assign at least one certified sports instructor, and facilities exceeding 300 square meters to assign at least two.
However, the court acknowledged the failure to assign a certified sports instructor but found it difficult to connect this to criminal liability.
"Unlike facilities such as swimming pools where danger is constantly anticipated, gyms carry a relatively low level of risk, so it is difficult to conclude that trainers and others have a duty of care to continuously monitor users' exercise conditions through CCTV," Judge Kim said.
He added, "Considering that suffocation lasting even about five minutes can lead to death, it is difficult to conclude that the victim would not have died even if the defendants had immediately recognized the accident," explaining that a causal link between the occupational negligence and the death was not recognized.
Meanwhile, prosecutors, unwilling to accept the first-instance ruling, filed an appeal with the court on the 13th.
