The head of Hankook Steel and Mill Company was given a prison sentence for violating the Serious Disasters Punishment Act.

The Changwon District Court's Masan branch on Wednesday sentenced the company chief to one year in prison, marking the first time since the law took effect last year that a corporate head has been penalized with a prison term for lax industrial safety regulations.

Last March, a worker in his 60s died at the company's plant in the southeastern county of Haman after his legs were crushed below a one-point-two-ton steel plate.

Prosecutors indicted the company chief and others last November for failing to fulfill their duty to manage the health and safety of subcontractors in the workplace.

Under the act, business owners or CEOs of companies with 50 or more employees could face at least one year in prison or up to one billion won in fines in the event of a death from a disaster resulting from insufficient safety measures.