Gyeonggi Fire Department Conducts 'Safety Inspection' of Hazardous Material Facilities

Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters is launching a safety inspection of hazardous material facilities during the summer season.

The Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters announced on the 30th that this summer, it will focus on inspecting safety management items at hazardous material facilities across the province and will provide education and guidance to hazardous material safety managers.

Safety management measures for hazardous material facilities during the heatwave period include ▲ compliance with ventilation and exhaust facility standards ▲ maintaining appropriate temperatures in hazardous material storage areas and compliance with mixing standards ▲ checking cooling and refrigeration functions (including emergency power verification) ▲ inspecting whether fire safety equipment (firefighting equipment) is functioning properly ▲ designating and operating substitutes in case of absence of hazardous material safety managers.

In addition, the headquarters plans to guide and inspect compliance with the Hazardous Materials Safety Control Act at 60 facilities in 45 locations across the province that store and handle polymerizable hazardous materials such as styrene (petroleum-based) by early next month.

According to the Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters, from 2015 to 2019, a total of 152 hazardous material accidents occurred in the province over the past five years, with 20 cases (13.2%) occurring in July and August.

However, casualties (22 people) and property damage (about 13.2 billion KRW) during July and August over the past five years accounted for 34.3% and 35.1%, respectively, of the total casualties (64 people) and property damage (about 37.9 billion KRW) over the five years.

In August last year, a fire caused by an explosion of unauthorized stored Class 5 hazardous materials (azocompounds) in the basement of a logistics warehouse building in Anseong resulted in 12 casualties, including one death, and property damage amounting to 8.1 billion KRW.

A Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters official said, "To prevent hazardous material accidents, we have sent letters to fire stations across the province urging safety management of hazardous material facilities during the heatwave period," adding, "We will significantly strengthen guidance and inspections targeting hazardous material handling and storage companies."

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