Starting This Month, Construction Sites with Fatal Accidents Undergo 'Intensive High-Strength Inspections'

On March 26, a tower crane collapsed at a public housing construction site in the Gosan district of Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, seriously injuring a crane operator in his 60s. The photo shows the tower crane accident site. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 12th that it will implement measures to strengthen the enforcement of safety management at construction sites starting this month to reduce fatal accidents.

According to the Ministry, from this month, construction sites where fatal accidents have occurred will undergo intensive joint inspections conducted by the Regional Land Management Offices, the Korea Infrastructure Safety & Technology Corporation, and the project owners.

Safety deficiencies identified during inspections must be addressed, with photos and videos of corrective actions submitted regularly for up to three months for monitoring. Sites that fail to submit these materials will be re-inspected.

To prevent high-incidence fall accidents and the recently increasing crush accidents, special inspections will focus on high-altitude work using aerial work platforms and scaffolding, as well as temporary structures and cranes with high risks of collapse or overturning.

The expansion of construction site inspections, which has been underway since early this year, will continue without disruption.

The frequency of accident case messages sent to construction site managers will be increased from once to twice a week, and a card news format will be introduced to enhance communication effectiveness.

The 'Construction Safety 365' KakaoTalk channel has also been launched to provide various construction safety-related information and key inspection points at sites.

Efforts to strengthen the construction safety capabilities of related organizations will also be promoted. Starting next month, the Korea Infrastructure Safety & Technology Corporation plans to offer consulting and training on safety management throughout the entire construction process?from permit issuance to completion?to local governments upon request.

The Construction Mutual Aid Association and the Specialized Construction Mutual Aid Association will fully support consulting by safety diagnosis experts on safety systems and organizations for small and medium-sized construction companies that apply.

Excellent construction safety training materials from large construction companies such as Samsung C&T, Daewoo E&C, and Hyundai Engineering will also be supported for sharing with small and medium-sized construction companies.

Lee Sang-joo, Director of Technical Safety Policy at the Ministry, emphasized, "Reducing construction accidents requires the establishment of a safety culture and foundation through the interest and efforts of the government, companies, and all construction participants."

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