Seoul City Addresses Construction Safety Blind Spots Through Chief Safety Planner

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 12th that it will be the first in the nation to involve a Safety General Planner (MP) for each construction phase from the planning stage to completion in public construction projects to eliminate blind spots in safety management.

The Public Construction Safety MP will review and advise on safety-related areas such as the Basic Safety and Health Register, design guidelines, and task instructions during the planning stage (competition/operation). Additionally, during the design stages (planning, intermediate, and implementation), they will review safety-related documents such as the Design Safety and Health Register, and during the construction stage, they will review and advise on the Construction Safety and Health Register, safety management plans, and on-site safety matters.

To this end, the city plans to sign a business agreement with the Korea Facility Safety Inspection Association, a specialized safety organization established in 1995. A Seoul city official explained, "Public construction involves various specialized technologies and complex construction phases, making it difficult for a single expert to handle all safety tasks from planning to completion," adding, "Through this agreement, the association will take on the role of Safety MP for each construction phase."

By involving Safety MPs from the early stages of public construction projects, it is expected that risks such as underground buried objects, obstacles, and temporary facilities that may arise during construction can be minimized during the planning and design stages. Han Je-hyun, head of the Seoul Urban Infrastructure Headquarters, stated, “To ensure the safety of construction workers, we will introduce an integrated safety management Public Construction Safety MP from the planning stage to project completion,” and added, “We expect this to be an opportunity to upgrade the safety management system at public construction sites to the next level.”

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