"Stop the Cold Wave" Electricity and Gas Rescue Operation

KEPCO Supports Emergency Generators and Replacement Costs for Aging Transformers to Prepare for Power Outages
Gas Safety Corporation Conducts Safety Inspections to Prevent CO Poisoning Accidents and Checks Exhaust Pipe Connections

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Public enterprises have taken active measures to prevent electrical and gas safety accidents during the winter cold wave. They are supporting power outage recovery and urging safety inspections to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning from gas.

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Korea Gas Safety Corporation announced on the 12th that they have each prepared stable power supply measures and gas safety innovation tasks to prevent damage from the winter cold wave.

KEPCO has been implementing winter power supply measures since last month. To supply temporary power in case of power outages in apartments during winter, emergency power generation vehicles are being supported. When an apartment experiences a power outage and contacts the KEPCO customer center (phone number 123), KEPCO immediately restores power and provides temporary power supply.

Earlier, on the 8th, when a severe cold wave caused power outages in various locations, KEPCO hastened recovery efforts and provided temporary power supply.

The fundamental way to prevent apartment power outages is to thoroughly manage electrical facilities. Apartment electrical facilities consist of various equipment such as circuit breakers and transformers connected to supply electricity to each household, so careless management can lead to safety accidents.

According to KEPCO, from the 1st to the 8th of last month, a total of 17 power outages occurred in apartments due to causes including circuit breaker and transformer (a device that lowers voltage) malfunctions and 9 cases of electrical facility flooding.

In particular, apartments with insufficient transformer capacity fear heating loads the most during winter. Overloading the transformer can cause power outages.

KEPCO supports the replacement cost of old transformers for customers who meet certain criteria to assist in the safe management of apartment electrical facilities.

They also provide guidance to apartment safety managers on equipment management methods. This includes checking electrical facility inspections and load by time and advising households to save electricity if overloading is expected.

Additionally, they urged maintaining a certain distance between electrical facilities and water supply facilities to prevent power outages caused by electrical leakage due to underground water pipe damage or leaks.

The Korea Gas Safety Corporation emphasized preventing a recurrence of tragedies similar to the carbon monoxide poisoning accident at a pension in Gangneung in 2018. According to the corporation, there were 24 carbon monoxide poisoning accidents over five years from 2015 to 2019. These resulted in 54 deaths and injuries, causing significant human casualties. Carbon monoxide poisoning accidents have a higher fatality rate than explosions or fires.

The corporation stressed the importance of checking whether the boiler exhaust pipe is sagging or bent before operating the boiler, whether the interior of the boiler exhaust pipe, which is used intensively in winter, is blocked by wasp nests or bird nests, and whether the exhaust pipe connections are properly secured.

They also urged that installation, relocation, or repair of gas appliances such as gas boilers must be performed by qualified professionals with construction certification.

Since the spread of COVID-19, camping has gained attention as a non-face-to-face (untact) leisure activity, keeping the Gas Safety Corporation busy.

This is because the number of campers using portable gas stoves or gas lamps inside tents or confined spaces due to chilly weather is increasing. Using gas appliances in enclosed spaces raises the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

A corporation official said, "If a gas accident occurs due to user negligence, it can lead to human casualties," and urged, "Please be sure to check precautions before using gas products and work together to prevent accidents."

The Gas Safety Corporation emphasized that major accidents mainly occur at pensions, guesthouses, and restaurants during the year-end and New Year winter vacation season. Therefore, it is essential for these business operators to check boiler safety to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning accidents.

Since the enforcement of the ‘Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Safety Management and Business Act (LPG Act)’ on August 5 last year, the safety obligations of business operators have been strengthened. According to the law, business operators must install carbon monoxide alarms when installing gas boilers. Manufacturers or importers of gas appliances such as gas boilers must include safety devices like alarms when selling them.

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