Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Conducts Nationwide Joint Inspection of Logistics Warehouses... Follow-up Measures After Pyeongtaek Fire

On the 6th, a fire broke out at a new construction site in Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do, emitting smoke. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 16th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that, as a follow-up measure to the fire at a logistics warehouse in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province that occurred on the 5th, it will conduct a joint inspection of 80 logistics warehouse construction sites and 517 operating warehouses nationwide in cooperation with the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Regional Land Offices, the National Fire Agency, the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, the Korea Infrastructure Safety & Technology Corporation, and the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology.

The inspection of logistics warehouse construction sites will be led by the Director of the Construction Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and will be conducted from the 17th until the end of next month. Five regional inspection teams, including the Regional Land Management Offices, the National Fire Agency, the Korea Infrastructure Safety & Technology Corporation, and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, will be deployed.

The main inspection items include the storage and management of fire hazardous materials, deployment of fire watchers, safety management during welding and steel pipe cutting work, and the installation and management status of ventilation facilities for harmful gases in confined spaces.

For warehouses in use, a full inspection will be conducted on 517 warehouses classified as first-class or higher fire safety management targets from the 17th until the end of March, led by the Director of the Logistics Policy Division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, with participation from the National Fire Agency, local governments, and the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology.

The inspection items include the safety management status of fire facilities, whether fire education and training have been conducted, and the emergency response system.

If any illegal acts such as poor safety management or substandard construction are detected during the inspection process, strict measures such as business suspension, fines, and demerit points will be taken in accordance with relevant laws.

Seo Jeong-gwan, Director of the Construction Safety Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, emphasized, "Accidents such as the logistics warehouse fire in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and the apartment exterior wall collapse in Seo-gu, Gwangju, have occurred consecutively due to poor compliance with on-site safety management," adding, "We will conduct thorough inspections to eradicate logistics warehouse fire accidents."

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