Seoul City Establishes 'Risk Assessment Smart Standard' to Prevent Major Accidents in Waterworks

Standardization of 77 Risk Factors Across 6 Fields
Pre-identification of Construction Site Hazards to Prevent Safety Accidents
Checklist Developed for Emergency Leak Repair Work Utilization

View of the water supply construction site. Photo is unrelated to the article content.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Seoul Metropolitan Waterworks Authority announced on the 25th that it has established a 'Risk Assessment Smart Standard' for the waterworks sector to prevent major accidents.

The 'Risk Assessment Smart Standard' is an evaluation criterion that standardizes risk factors for each facility and construction by reflecting the characteristics of waterworks facilities such as water intake and purification plants, reservoirs, and manholes, as well as the characteristics of the waterworks business. It is classified into 6 fields and 77 types of work (work/process types) according to facility and work characteristics, deriving and standardizing a total of 2,329 risk factors.

It was prepared based on the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s 'Guidelines on Workplace Risk Assessment' by identifying recurring major accident factors in waterworks sites. Employees of the Waterworks Authority conducted a full survey of ordered projects and facilities while touring the workplaces for three months.

The Waterworks Authority will apply the newly established standard to all construction and facility maintenance and management sites. To prevent the possibility of worker injuries or illnesses by identifying harmful and dangerous factors that may occur at the workplace in advance, it was made into a checklist so that workers can prepare accordingly. Compliance with wearing equipment such as safety helmets and safety shoes, measuring oxygen concentration inside manholes, and a two-person work system is enforced.

The Waterworks Authority plans to hold briefing sessions for headquarters and affiliated agency employees and conduct training for those in charge at least once every quarter.

The headquarters also prepared an 'Arisu Customized Checklist' to immediately conduct risk assessments at emergency water pipe leakage repair sites. Due to the nature of leakage repair work, which requires road control, excavation, construction, restoration, and paving to be carried out all at once within a short time, it was difficult to conduct risk assessments, but through the checklist, essential risk assessments can be concisely performed even at emergency sites.

The headquarters organized a 'Senior-Niche Safety Support Team' consisting of 10 retired public officials with extensive field experience. Starting in March, they will inspect water production, supply, and maintenance sites together with employees and propose improvement plans. They will also serve as instructors at the newly established waterworks field training center in the future.

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