Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport "Strengthening Tower Crane Safety Management... Improving Aggregate Supply and Quality"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) announced on the 27th that at the Construction Industry Innovation Committee held on the 24th, it reviewed and finalized measures to strengthen the safety of tower cranes and improve the supply and quality of aggregates.

To prevent tower crane accidents, MOLIT has been strengthening management by conducting comprehensive inspections of small tower cranes, which have a relatively higher risk of accidents, since March last year. However, recent repeated accidents indicate that more intensive safety management is necessary.

Accordingly, MOLIT has additionally prepared a comprehensive safety plan to enhance the government's management functions.

First, to reduce accidents involving small tower cranes, defective equipment will be actively phased out, and new registrations of equipment whose safety has not been confirmed will be restricted. For equipment introduced before July last year through notification procedures only, defects in the equipment and drawings will be investigated, and equipment found to have defects will be promptly deregistered or recalled. Furthermore, these will be included in the supply restriction targets to limit new registrations.

If manufacturing defects are found in equipment, the original manufacturer can submit a corrective plan guaranteeing safety, which will be reviewed by the Manufacturing Defect Review and Evaluation Committee. Under the responsibility of the original manufacturer, a corrective action system will be operated to allow defect rectification.

At the site level, the obligation to establish and comply with tower crane operation plans will be assigned primarily to the users to ensure safe management of tower cranes. Construction businesses using tower cranes must prepare equipment operation plans in advance, and construction companies, rental companies, and operators must manage and operate the equipment according to these plans.

To strengthen public supervisory functions, an accident response system will be established centered on the quasi-governmental Korea Construction Equipment Safety Management Institute. The Safety Management Institute will increase inspection personnel to conduct frequent checks on equipment conditions and will be granted authority to suspend work or order inspections upon detecting signs of risk.

The government has also prepared measures to improve the supply and quality of aggregates.

Aggregates, such as sand and gravel used in construction projects or ready-mix concrete plants, account for 70% of the volume of buildings, making them an essential material in the construction industry. South Korea uses 250 million cubic meters annually, equivalent to about five Namsan Mountains.

MOLIT prepared these measures to proactively respond to the increased demand for aggregates due to housing supply expansions such as the 3rd New Towns and the 2·4 Measures, and infrastructure construction like the Metropolitan Express Transit (GTX), and to address concerns about aggregate quality that have repeatedly arisen during New Town constructions, such as excessive salt content in sea sand during the 1st New Town and unauthorized aggregate use in the 2nd New Town.

First, the Enforcement Decree of the Aggregate Mining Act will be amended to allow selective crushing aggregate companies to increase production flexibly according to demand within 10% of the quantity reported to local governments without submitting a change report. To ensure smooth aggregate supply in metropolitan areas and other urban centers, the location of selective crushing aggregate production facilities will be permitted in natural green zones.

To resolve recurring quality controversies, improvements to the quality inspection system will be actively promoted. The existing self-inspection-like quality checks will be replaced with objective quality inspections conducted by specialized quality management institutions, and the quality inspection system will be applied to all aggregates, including sea sand, forest aggregates, selective crushing aggregates, and recycled aggregates.

For long-term stable aggregate supply, improvements to the aggregate information system and surveys of marine aggregate deposits will also be pursued. Aggregate information scattered across the Ministry of Environment, Korea Forest Service, and others will be integrated into MOLIT’s aggregate information system. Information on aggregate quality, location, stock, and price will be displayed in real time, establishing a system that can respond immediately to supply-demand imbalances.

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