Fire and Explosion Prevention Led by 'Gongjeong Anjeon Leader'... Ulsan Industrial Complex Managers Establish Safety and Health System to Prevent Chemical Accidents

Ahn Jong-ju, Chairman of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, "Factory Managers Must Lead by Example with Safety Leadership"

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] On the 21st, a ‘Process Safety Leader’ meeting was held where factory managers from Ulsan’s chemical complex gathered to discuss measures to prevent industrial complex fires and explosion accidents.

On this day, Ahn Jong-joo, Director of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, joined heads of factories from 12 major Ulsan chemical complex workplaces along with the Ministry of Employment and Labor to put their heads together.

This was an occasion to inspect safety measures at each workplace, focusing on management responsible for overall safety control, in response to the series of large-scale chemical accidents that occurred in the Ulsan industrial complex in the first and second halves of this year. The meeting also shared government policies on industrial accident prevention.

In April of this year, a storage tank fire occurred at a chemical complex workplace in Ulsan, and in May and August, fire and explosion accidents happened during valve maintenance and inspection work.

On this day, the Ministry of Employment and Labor explained the government’s chemical accident prevention policy directions, including support for establishing autonomous safety management systems, and shared recent accident details in the Ulsan industrial complex, emphasizing vigilance for accident prevention.

The Major Industrial Accident Prevention Office of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency introduced accident prevention activities utilizing major industrial accident prevention and Process Safety Management (PSM) systems.

The attendees agreed to establish and implement safety and health management systems related to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which has been in effect since January this year, to ensure thorough prevention of chemical accidents.

‘Establishing a safety and health management system’ is a core element of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, requiring management officials to share safety and health goals and management policies. It also mandates systematizing the identification and improvement of hazardous and risky factors through the formation of dedicated organizations and budget allocation.

A session was also held to share cases of safety and health management system establishment in the Ulsan industrial complex for serious accident prevention and to continue passionate discussions on preventive measures.

Through the case of Hanwha Solutions Ulsan Plant 2, know-how on site management for reducing accidents was introduced.

Process safety leaders attending the event included factory officials from SK Energy Co., Ltd., Kumho Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Hanwha Impact Co., Ltd., Lotte Chemical Co., Ltd., Jungil Stolt Heaven Co., Ltd., Daehan Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Korea Zinc Co., Ltd., Taeyoung Industry Co., Ltd., Moorim P&P, Capro Co., Ltd., HUSUNG Co., Ltd., and KPX Chemical Co., Ltd.

Director Ahn Jong-joo said, “The chemical industry always carries accident risks due to its complex processes handling numerous types of hazardous materials,” adding, “To prevent accidents, continuous interest and effort based on safety leadership where management takes the lead are necessary.”

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