Seoul City Conducts Surprise Inspections for Hazardous Materials at Construction Sites... Violations Detected

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] The Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced on the 7th that it conducted surprise inspections on the storage and handling of hazardous materials at construction sites and imposed fines for violations.

The inspections were carried out over 57 days from November 1 to December 27 last year. The targets were 259 construction sites with a total floor area of 5,000㎡ or more. A total of 48 special judicial police officers in 24 teams were deployed, conducting surprise inspections without prior notice.

To strengthen fire safety management at construction sites, the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters has operated a hazardous materials surprise inspection team twice a year, in the first and second halves of the year, since last year. Until 2018, the hazardous materials surprise inspection team was operated once a year. As a result of the inspections, out of 259 construction sites, 51 sites were fined for 25 illegal cases, and 26 cases of deficiencies were corrected on-site.

Meanwhile, in the past three years, a total of 453 fires occurred at construction sites, among which 6 fires were directly caused by hazardous materials such as careless handling of oil, and 45 fires were expanded due to hazardous materials. Fires caused directly or indirectly by hazardous materials accounted for a total of 51 cases, representing 11.2% of construction site fires. There were a total of 23 casualties (3 deaths, 20 injuries) from construction site fires, of which 7 casualties (2 deaths, 5 injuries) were caused by fires related to hazardous materials, accounting for 30.4% of casualties from construction site fires.

A representative from the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters stated, "It has been found that fires related to hazardous materials cause particularly high casualties," and emphasized, "To prevent fire damage, regulations on the storage and handling of hazardous materials at construction sites must be followed."

Meanwhile, most of the chemical products used at each stage of construction sites are classified as "hazardous materials" under the Hazardous Materials Safety Control Act. These hazardous materials must be stored in facilities and conditions compliant with the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Hazardous Materials Safety Management Ordinance and approved by the local fire station. However, many construction site personnel are unaware of or neglect these laws. Major violations include "violations of storage and handling standards for quantities below designated amounts or small quantities of hazardous materials," "poorly maintained fire extinguishers," "lack of spark arresters at cutting work sites," and "storage of combustible materials around temporary hazardous material storage facilities."

Shin Yeol-woo, head of the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters, said, "In winter, the use of concrete curing heaters and solid fuels increases fire risks, and the presence of surrounding combustible materials and hazardous materials raises the possibility of large-scale fires," adding, "We will continue to improve awareness of hazardous material safety management among related personnel through ongoing surprise inspections."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.