POSCO Energy Receives Appreciation Plaque from Incheon City for Installing Safety Railings on Gyeongin Ara Waterway

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] POSCO Energy received a plaque of appreciation from Incheon City in recognition of its successful implementation of the installation of life-respecting safety railings along the Gyeongin Ara Waterway, the nation's first public-private partnership project.

On June 15, 2020, POSCO Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with Incheon City to improve suicide risk environments such as bridge jumping accidents and to promote national renewable energy projects. They replaced the existing railings (height=1.2m) on the Sicheon Bridge of the Gyeongin Ara Waterway with solar power integrated safety railings (height=2.5m, length=125m) to prevent suicide by jumping.

Additionally, the electricity generated is fed back into the bridge's power facilities, enabling simultaneous suicide prevention and energy regeneration.

Meanwhile, Incheon Metropolitan City announced that it conducted a citizen awareness survey regarding the solar power integrated 'suicide prevention safety railings' installed on the Sicheon Bridge of the Gyeongin Ara Waterway, the first of its kind in the nation through public-private cooperation with POSCO Energy.

The citizen awareness survey was conducted online over three weeks from February 15 to March 5, 2021, through various media including Incheon e-eum banners, the Incheon Metropolitan City Suicide Prevention Center website and SNS, Seo-gu Office blog, and poster QR codes.

The survey consisted of five questions covering awareness of the suicide prevention safety railings installed on the Sicheon Bridge of the Gyeongin Ara Waterway, the effectiveness of the safety railings, harmony with the surrounding landscape, the necessity of additional suicide prevention safety railings, and considerations for additional installations.

A total of 4,458 people participated in the survey. Among them, 2,765 respondents (62%) were aware of the Sicheon Bridge suicide prevention safety railings; 3,579 (80.3%) reported positive effects; 2,812 (63.1%) felt the railings harmonized with the surrounding scenery; 3,767 (84.5%) agreed on the need for additional safety railings; and 2,653 (59.6%) identified the high suicide rate of the bridge as the most important consideration for installation.

Furthermore, other comments included positive messages such as "I am proud as an Incheon citizen that efforts are being actively made to prevent suicide," "I was impressed by Incheon City's policies that take interest and implement actions one by one," "I hope many large companies like POSCO participate in this meaningful project to reduce suicide rates," and "It was good to feel hope rather than suicide at the safety railings."

The installation of suicide prevention safety railings on major bridges with suicide risk, led by public-private cooperation for the spread of suicide prevention and life-respecting culture in Incheon City, resulted in positive citizen awareness. Based on this citizen awareness survey, the necessity of bridge suicide prevention projects has been highlighted.

Baek Wan-geun, Director of the Health and Sports Bureau of Incheon City, stated, "POSCO Energy's pioneering social contribution project and active public-private cooperation have brought positive results in spreading suicide prevention and life-respecting culture in Incheon City. We will continue to do our best to promote projects so that Incheon can become a city filled with love for life and a continuous reduction in suicide rates."

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