Yeongdeungpo-gu Conducts Intensive Safety Inspections on Excavation Sites for Thaw Season... Gangnam-gu Joint Field Inspection of Women’s Safety Paths with Civil, Public, and Police Authorities

[Seoul District News] Yeongdeungpo-gu Conducts Safety Inspections at 44 Sites Including Excavation Construction and Vulnerable Facilities Until March 14... Seongbuk-gu Holds 'Understanding the Serious Accident Punishment Act' On-site Training for Employees... Guro-gu Intensifies Serious Accident Prevention Efforts

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yeongdeungpo-gu (District Mayor Chae Hyun-il) has launched safety inspections of vulnerable facilities, excavation sites, and steep slopes until March 14 to prevent various safety accidents during the thawing season.

During the thawing season, the melting of frozen ground weakens the soil, which can cause safety accidents such as collapses, toppling, and falling rocks involving retaining walls and stone embankments. Accordingly, the district plans to proactively inspect risk factors in facilities prone to safety accidents in advance to prevent such incidents.

The targets for this thawing season safety inspection include 18 vulnerable facilities (D and E grades), 18 excavation sites that are either two basement floors deep or more than 10 meters deep, and 8 steep slopes, totaling 44 locations.

To this end, the district has established detailed inspection plans centered on the facility management departments and formed internal inspection teams. Under strict adherence to quarantine guidelines, they will visit sites directly and conduct focused inspections on damage or deterioration, durability defects, and emergency preparedness based on facility type-specific inspection considerations.

Especially for high-risk facilities with a high likelihood of accidents, joint inspections will be conducted with external experts such as engineers and architects. Using the safety inspection checklist distributed by Seoul City, they will meticulously examine safety flaws to preemptively block potential risks threatening residents' safety.

The district will immediately correct minor issues on-site and take urgent measures such as rapid repairs, reinforcement, usage prohibition, evacuation orders, demolition, and risk zone designation if serious defects or risk factors are found.

Additionally, inspection results and progress will be entered into Seoul City's integrated safety inspection management system for continuous monitoring and thorough post-management.

Furthermore, linked with Safety Inspection Day, the district will actively promote focused safety management during the thawing season and raise awareness of safety accidents by conducting safety education for facility managers and public officials.

Yeongdeungpo District Mayor Chae Hyun-il stated, “As the weather warms during the thawing season, various accidents are a concern, so we prevent safety accidents through thorough pre-inspections every year. We will do our utmost to manage facility safety and protect the safety of our residents.”

Seongbuk-gu (District Mayor Lee Seung-ro) is conducting a touring education program titled ‘Understanding the Serious Accident Punishment Act’ for its public officials.

This education was organized to help practical staff understand the recently enacted Serious Accident Punishment Act and to improve their safety and health management capabilities. The sessions are held sequentially at district office departments and community service centers and will continue until March 15.

The training is attended by department heads, related team leaders, and practical staff, covering ▲ explanations of the law ▲ guidance on subcontracting, service, and consignment projects ▲ and industrial accident prevention at local workplaces. A district official explained, “It will be an opportunity to exchange work information among practitioners and to raise interest and responsibility for industrial accident prevention.”

Prior to this touring education, the district held an external expert briefing last month for safety staff responsible for facility management and other safety tasks to thoroughly prepare for the law’s enforcement.

Additionally, Seongbuk-gu conducts a monthly ‘Zero Accident Safety Quiz’ for internal staff. The quiz includes various safety regulations and accident response methods to stimulate interest in safety issues and enhance all employees’ disaster response capabilities.

Seongbuk District Mayor Lee Seung-ro emphasized, “Despite the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, casualties continue to occur in private businesses, and local governments are not exempt from serious industrial accidents. Seongbuk-gu will strengthen serious accident prevention capabilities through thorough staff education and prioritize safety in all work to eradicate serious accidents and various incidents.”

“Establishing a Serious Accident Prevention System, Strengthening the Resident Safety Network”

Guro-gu (District Mayor Lee Sung) is making every effort to prevent accidents in line with the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act.

The Serious Accident Punishment Act regulates the safety and health obligations and penalties for employers and management responsible for serious industrial and citizen accidents. The management responsibility includes heads of local governments.

The district began preparing its response system in October last year, before the law’s full enforcement. Last month, it took proactive measures such as establishing a dedicated Serious Accident Management Team.

Guro-gu has developed a comprehensive plan for serious industrial and citizen accidents, which are distinguished by the law’s application and obligations, and created the Guro-gu Serious Accident Prevention Manual.

Efforts are also underway to raise employees’ interest and understanding of serious accidents. On February 27, a progress report meeting was held with the district mayor and related department executives. Previously, training on risk assessment for serious accident prevention was conducted last year.

The district plans to conduct two rounds of education by March for work-related personnel on the Industrial Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accident Punishment Act. They will inspect hazardous and risky factors at workplaces according to checklists and provide regular training for frontline workers and supervisors.

A Guro-gu official stated, “We will do our best to establish a systematic response system to create a safe Guro-gu where residents and workers can engage in activities with peace of mind.”

Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Jung Soon-gyun) conducted a joint inspection on the 23rd of various crime prevention facilities installed along the Women’s Safety Path in Nonhyeon 1-dong, together with the Gangnam Police Station and the Resident Participation Group.

Last May, the district signed an MOU with Gangnam and Suseo Police Stations and ADT Caps to build a Women’s Safety Cluster, focusing on crime prevention for single-woman households. As part of this, they created Women’s Safety Paths with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) in areas frequently visited by women, installing safe return paths, safe stairways, security CCTV, emergency bells, logo projectors, and 112 emergency call signs.

This public-private-police joint inspection aimed to assess the condition of crime prevention facilities and identify additional safety equipment needs, with time allocated to directly hear opinions from the Resident Participation Group on-site.

On the 17th, Gangnam-gu completed replacing old CCTV and emergency bells and installing LED signs along 24 Women’s Safe Return Paths in the district. The outdated CCTV and emergency bells were replaced with designs that feel brighter, and LED guide signs that are highly visible at night were installed to create an environment where women can feel safe.

They also considered safety management by placing smart enclosures at low heights to prevent falls by managers.

In March, they plan to apply CPTED to old stairways located in secluded alleys and install LED landscape lighting and anti-slip pads.

Gangnam District Mayor Jung Soon-gyun said, “We designed the Women’s Safety Paths not just by increasing CCTV installations but by creating a safe environment to prevent crime. We will continue to do our best to build a livable city where everyone can feel safe and experience the distinctiveness of ‘Gangnam is truly different.’”

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