May Focus on 'Playground Equipment, Agricultural Machinery, Hiking Accidents'... Many Due to Safety Rule Violations and Carelessness

15% of Playground Facility Accidents from 2015 to 2019 Occurred in May

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] As the weather improves, outdoor activities increase in May, leading to a rise in accidents at playground facilities. From 2015 to 2019, a total of 1,902 playground facility accidents occurred over five years, resulting in 13 deaths and 1,729 injuries. In particular, 14.9% of all playground facility accidents happened in May, requiring special caution.

On the 30th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety selected playground facilities, agricultural machinery, and hiking accidents as disaster safety accident types to be focused on in May, urging special attention to prevent damage. The types of disaster safety accidents for focused management were selected based on frequency of occurrence according to statistics, past cases, and public interest reflected in news and social networking services (SNS).

In playground facility accidents, 7 out of 10 cases (71.5%) were caused by failure to follow safety rules, followed by inadequate safety facilities (3.6%, 68 cases) and personal medical conditions (3.0%, 58 cases). Accordingly, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety emphasized accident prevention rules such as ▲not sliding down slides while lying face down or standing ▲not twisting or hanging on swing chains or ropes and not lying face down while swinging ▲ensuring that small children use trampolines with peers of similar age to prevent injuries.

Agricultural machinery accidents also require caution. May is a period when the use of agricultural machinery increases due to rice planting and seed sowing, raising the risk of accidents. From 2015 to 2019, a total of 6,616 agricultural machinery accidents occurred, with 6,030 casualties (488 deaths, 5,542 injuries). The main cause of accidents was careless driving at 59.1% (3,909 out of 6,616 cases), followed by failure to follow safety rules at 26.8% (1,771 cases).

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety stated, "To prevent traffic accidents at night, reflective plates or similar lighting devices should be attached to the rear of agricultural machinery and kept free from obstruction by foreign substances," and "When moving on narrow farm roads or sloped paths with machinery such as tillers, speed should be reduced before entering."

May is also a good season for hiking, and as the number of hikers increases, many accidents occur. From 2015 to 2019, 34,671 hiking accidents were reported, with 25,770 casualties (886 deaths or missing, 24,884 injuries). The leading causes were slips and falls caused by misstepping, accounting for 33.7% (11,690 out of 34,671 cases), followed by getting lost on hiking trails at 19.8% (6,855 cases).

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety emphasized, "May, excluding the autumn foliage season, is a time when hiking accidents increase as trails begin to become overgrown, so caution is needed to prevent getting lost," adding, "Before hiking, check the weather and trails of the intended mountain, inform someone of your destination, avoid off-trail areas, and if you get lost, return quickly to a familiar place."

Yoon Jong-jin, Director of the Safety Policy Office, said, “The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will work with central government agencies and local governments to focus on managing disaster safety accidents that are likely to occur in May to protect the precious safety of the people,” and added, “May, known as the queen of seasons, is a time when many plan outdoor activities, so we hope everyone follows basic safety rules wherever and whenever to have a pleasant and safe outing.”

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