Unannounced Inspections of Tower Cranes at Top 100 Construction Companies Nationwide Until December

Ministry of Employment: "Failure to Implement Foreseeable Serious Accident Prevention Measures is Illegal"

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 on March 26. (Image source=Yonhap News)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 17th that it plans to conduct surprise inspections focusing on construction sites managed by construction companies ranked within the top 100 in construction capability until the end of December. The ministry warned that failing to take necessary measures to prevent serious accidents is a violation of the Serious Accident Punishment Act.

The ministry strengthened installation and dismantling work regulations in 2018 and mandated video recording of such tasks. Since last year, it has started enforcing the registration obligation for tower crane installation and dismantling companies. However, there have been four fatal accidents related to tower crane installation, dismantling, and lifting operations this year, resulting in five deaths. This is an increase compared to zero deaths in 2018, one in 2019, and three last year, which is why the ministry decided to conduct surprise inspections.

During this surprise inspection, the ministry will focus on ▲whether preliminary investigations and work plans have been prepared ▲whether collision prevention measures between tasks and video recording and preservation of work processes are in place ▲compliance with tower crane load limits ▲whether tower crane installation and dismantling workers hold the required qualifications.

Kwon Kisub, Director of the Occupational Safety and Health Headquarters, stated, "If safety measures to prevent foreseeable serious accidents are not achieved, it is difficult to consider that safety and health-related laws have been complied with. Strict investigations must be conducted regarding serious tower crane accidents to hold responsible parties accountable. We will make efforts to ensure that the improvements made to the system so far are thoroughly observed at the sites through this surprise inspection."

Meanwhile, the ministry announced that it conducted a special inspection on the tower crane accident site in Namyangju City, where two people died on the 14th, and plans to take strict measures such as requesting arrest warrants for the site manager and other related personnel.

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