Joo Kyu-il, Mayor of Jinju, Inspects Forestry Workers' Sites Following Enforcement of Serious Accident Punishment Act

Establishment and Operation of Major Accident Prevention Team and Thorough Preparation for Industrial Accident Prevention and Response through Special Training

Mayor Jo Gyu-il Visits Forest Workers' Work Site

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Jo Gyu-il, mayor of Jinju City, visited the pine tree pine wilt disease suspected infection site near Modeok Sports Park on the 4th to encourage forest pest temporary workers and related officials, and thoroughly checked the preparation status of the work site ahead of the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act (hereinafter referred to as the Serious Accident Punishment Act).

On that day, after a safety inspection, logging and preventive tree injections were carried out, and strict adherence to safety rules was maintained during the work to do their best to prevent safety accidents.

After the site inspection, Mayor Jo attended industrial accident prevention training held at ‘Wolasan Forest of Jinju’ in the afternoon. The training covered key information on the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, harmful and risk factors related to forest pest work, accident cases, and prevention measures, conducted in a specific and detailed manner.

Mayor Jo Gyu-il’s direct visit to the forest workers’ work site was conducted to raise awareness of industrial accident prevention within the public service ahead of the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act on the 27th.

After touring the work site, Mayor Jo said, “A momentary lapse in attention can lead to irreversible human casualties,” and urged the related officials to “thoroughly manage safety in all matters without neglecting prior inspections and measures to prevent safety accidents.”

The city has newly established and operates a Serious Accident Prevention Team this year as a dedicated organization that can comprehensively establish and implement measures to prevent industrial accidents in the jurisdiction and perform safety and health management tasks within city-affiliated workplaces for citizen safety and serious accident prevention.

The newly established Serious Accident Prevention Team is composed of safety managers and health managers according to laws and regulations. While focusing on promoting serious accident prevention tasks through the establishment and implementation of an effective safety and health management system, it will also oversee the creation and guidance management of a safe working environment within workplaces in accordance with the Industrial Safety and Health Act.

To this end, on December 7th, the city met with the head of the Jinju branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor to discuss strengthening cooperation for establishing an industrial safety management system. Subsequently, on the 23rd, labor inspectors visited City Hall to conduct special training on serious accident prevention for the vice mayor and 36 related department heads.

The city has been striving for industrial safety management as the number of unskilled short-term workers has increased significantly due to the implementation of employment creation projects such as Jinju-type jobs to alleviate the income cliff of local residents caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The projects promoted by the city employing workers include public work, community jobs, senior jobs, hope jobs, and forest fire monitoring, among others.

A city official said, “Since the enactment of the Serious Accident Punishment Act last year, we have been doing our best to prevent industrial accidents by strengthening cooperation with the Jinju branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor and conducting special training for public officials,” adding, “As a local government, we will thoroughly achieve zero serious accidents to serve as a model for various employment sites.”

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