Introduction of 'Fire Prevention Safety Inspection' System in December... Establishment of Improvement Measures for Airports, Railways, and Ports

Implementation of Fire Prevention Safety Inspections for Specially Managed Facilities

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The National Fire Agency announced on the 21st that starting from December, in accordance with the enforcement of the 'Act on Fire Prevention and Safety Management,' it will conduct fire prevention safety inspections on special management facilities expected to incur significant social and economic damage in the event of fires or other disasters.

Until now, special management facilities have been inspected through private-sector 'self-inspections of fire facilities' and fire departments' 'special fire investigations.' However, large-scale fire incidents, such as the Icheon logistics center fire and the Yeosu industrial complex explosion last year, have been continuously increasing. As a countermeasure, the fire prevention safety inspection system has been introduced.

The fire prevention safety inspection differs from existing inspection methods by investigating various fire risk factors not only in the fire sector but also in electricity, gas, architecture, chemical engineering, and hazardous materials, evaluating their risks, and establishing tailored improvement measures. In particular, it moves beyond fire facility-centered inspections to also diagnose fire safety awareness among stakeholders, including evaluations of emergency response drills.

According to the law enforcement, from December 1st onward, stakeholders of special management facilities subject to fire prevention safety inspections at nationally important facilities such as railways and airports must receive regular inspections from the Korea Fire Safety Institute or fire prevention safety inspection agencies designated by the National Fire Agency. This applies to 846 sites (17%) out of a total of 5,006 special management facilities, with inspection cycles ranging from 4 to 6 years depending on the safety grade determined by the inspection results.

Hwang Gi-seok, Director of the Fire Prevention Bureau at the National Fire Agency, stated, "We plan to firmly establish this newly introduced system and continuously monitor whether improvement measures based on fire prevention safety inspection results for special management facilities are being implemented on site," adding, "We hope this will serve as an opportunity for all stakeholders of special management facilities to take an interest in safety."

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