Yeongsangang Regional Environmental Office Conducts Joint Crackdown on Vehicles Transporting Hazardous Chemicals

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office announced on the 31st that it recently conducted a joint crackdown on hazardous chemical transport vehicles at the Dong Suncheon Gwangyang Tollgate entrance, involving the Korea Expressway Corporation and related agencies.

Since the enforcement of the Chemical Substances Control Act in 2015, according to the accident dispatch status of the Yeosu Chemical Disaster Joint Prevention Center, transport vehicle accidents accounted for 11 cases, or 22%, of the total accident dispatches in 2017. Over the past five years, the proportion has decreased to 16.7% (2018), 3.9% (2019), 5.1% (2020), and 2.6% (2021), but such incidents continue to occur steadily.

The Yeosu Chemical Disaster Joint Prevention Center has conducted an annual joint inspection of hazardous chemical transport vehicles since 2017, and due to COVID-19, carried out a hazardous chemical transport vehicle safety campaign in 2019 and 2020.

During this joint crackdown, the Yeosu Chemical Disaster Joint Prevention Center, Korea Expressway Corporation, Highway Patrol, and Korea Transportation Safety Authority inspected compliance with the Chemical Substances Control Act, improper loading, overloading, and disabling of speed limiters, among other issues.

For eight hazardous chemical transport vehicles, checks were made on the submission of transport plans, availability of personal protective equipment and disaster prevention equipment, and completion of hazardous chemical safety training. Two deficiencies were corrected through guidance. There were no violations of the Chemical Substances Control Act.

Baek Dong-seop, Head of the Chemical Safety Management Division, stated, “Accidents caused by hazardous chemical transport vehicles continue to occur, and to prevent these, active cooperation from drivers is essential. We urge safe driving and compliance with related laws.”

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