Replacement of Aging Rest Areas and Improvement of Protective Gear... Seoul City to Enhance Working Conditions for Environmental Officials

Comprehensive Measures to Improve Safety and Work Convenience for Environmental Officers
Improvement of 30 Old or Poorly Equipped Restrooms and Shower Facilities Scheduled for Second Half of the Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is taking steps to improve the working environment so that environmental public officers, who are striving to create a clean urban environment, can work more safely. They will improve 30 rest areas that are either outdated or lack proper restroom and shower facilities, allowing workers to take adequate rest after their tasks. Protective gear such as safety helmets, work uniforms, and gloves will be replaced with products that enhance both safety and convenience.

On the 5th, Seoul announced a comprehensive plan aimed at ensuring the safety of environmental public officers and reducing labor intensity. The main points include ?rest area improvements ?replacement of protective gear, strengthening safety management through education programs ?introduction of eco-friendly cleaning equipment. A budget of 1.6 billion KRW will be invested through supplementary budgets and other means.

First, the city will support the improvement of 30 outdated rest areas in autonomous districts by the second half of the year so that workers can rest comfortably after work. To this end, the city has allocated 750 million KRW in the supplementary budget. Old containers will be replaced or new rest areas installed, and restrooms will be newly built where they are absent or inadequately equipped.

Currently, many environmental public officers’ rest areas lack proper hygiene facilities such as restrooms, showers, and laundry facilities, forcing them to use nearby facilities inconveniently. Among the total 496 rest areas, 135 (27.2%) have restrooms located outside, and many indoor restrooms are also outdated.

Additionally, lightweight safety helmets, safety gloves, and other protective gear with enhanced safety and convenience will be distributed to each autonomous district along with a ‘Safety Guideline’ to ensure safe working conditions. Since cleaning work does not involve fall risks, but workers currently wear heavy safety helmets for long hours, which can lead to cervical disc disorders, the use of lightweight, breathable helmets suited to the nature of the work will be expanded to all districts. Work uniforms will be replaced with Gore-Tex and spandex materials that improve breathability and convenience, and the quantity provided will be increased to allow frequent washing.

Furthermore, to create a safe working environment and prevent serious accidents, a supplementary budget of 126 million KRW has been allocated to enable each autonomous district to organize and operate safety management education programs for directly employed and contracted environmental public officers.

To improve work efficiency and prevent safety accidents, the introduction of eco-friendly electric cleaning equipment will be expanded. The city will replace handcarts, mainly used to collect and transport household waste in narrow alleys and markets where cleaning vehicles cannot enter, with electric vehicles (electric carts). Following a pilot distribution of 16 units this year in eight districts including Eunpyeong-gu and Geumcheon-gu, which have many slopes and narrow alleys, an additional 30 units will be distributed through the supplementary budget.

Moreover, brooms and handcarts used for street cleaning will be replaced with modern cleaning equipment called ‘eco-friendly (electric) street sweepers.’ A supplementary budget has secured 43 units (10 sweepers and 33 blowers) to be piloted in autonomous districts in the second half of the year. Electric street sweepers are effective in cleaning promotional leaflets, business cards, beverage bottles, cigarette butts, and fallen leaves, which are frequently discarded in popular tourist areas such as Myeongdong, Itaewon, Insadong, and Hongdae.

Meanwhile, Seoul will also improve the welfare of environmental public officers working for contracted agencies that have agreements with autonomous districts for household waste collection and transportation, in addition to those directly employed by the districts. To alleviate the economic burden on contracted agencies struggling with rising fuel costs, support will be added as a cost item in contracts between autonomous districts and contracted agencies.

Yoo Yeon-sik, Head of the Seoul Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, “We have prepared measures to improve the working environment so that environmental public officers, who work hard to make Seoul cleaner behind the scenes, can work in a safer environment.” He added, “We will implement various measures such as rest area improvements, replacement of protective gear, and introduction of eco-friendly cleaning equipment to improve the working environment. At the same time, by expanding public investment, we will lead the way in promoting the development of cleaning equipment technology and the pioneering distribution of eco-friendly equipment.”

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