Last Year, 82 Hazardous Chemical Accidents Recorded, Highest Ever

Chemical Plant Fire in Seoknam-dong, Incheon

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Last year, accidents caused by hazardous chemicals reached a record high.

According to data received from the Ministry of Environment by Lee Joo-hwan, a member of the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee from the People Power Party, 82 hazardous chemical accidents occurred last year, resulting in 1 death and 45 injuries.

The number of accidents by year is as follows: ▲2018: 56 cases (3 deaths / 23 injuries) ▲2019: 49 cases (1 death / 27 injuries) ▲2020: 68 cases (4 deaths / 43 injuries) ▲2021: 82 cases (1 death / 45 injuries) ▲up to June this year: 21 cases (14 injuries), totaling 276 cases over the past five years.

Of all accidents, 58% (161 cases) occurred at facilities licensed by the Ministry of Environment, raising concerns about poor management.

Among the 13,069 workplaces inspected by the Ministry of Environment over the past five years, 17.5% (2,288 sites) were found to have violated laws and regulations, highlighting the need for proactive measures by the Ministry.

Meanwhile, under the Chemical Substances Control Act, the number of designated hazardous chemical substances in Korea is 1,253, with 835 types being handled. The total amount of hazardous chemicals handled domestically has been increasing annually, doubling from 77.79 million tons in 2017 to 148.87 million tons in 2020, making the establishment of systematic safety management urgently necessary.

The Ministry of Environment recently announced plans to apply differentiated regulations such as handling facility standards and business permits based on the hazard and risk levels of chemical substances as part of 'regulatory rationalization.'

Currently, whether handling high-risk or low-risk substances, all facilities must comply with the same 330 safety standards, but the Ministry intends to manage these flexibly according to the characteristics of the chemicals.

To this end, the Ministry has commissioned a research project to reclassify about 7,000 chemical substances based on the nature of their toxicity, such as acute toxicity, chronic toxicity, and ecological toxicity, and to prepare a revision of the toxic substance designation notice accordingly.

This research will also establish criteria to determine from what concentration a compound containing toxic substances should be considered toxic.

Assemblyman Lee Joo-hwan stated, "While minimizing the damage caused by excessive and unreasonable environmental regulations, active regulatory reform is essential to foster related industries." He added, "The Ministry of Environment must listen carefully to voices from the field regarding various concerns that may arise during this process and derive systematic and rational measures."

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