Gyeonggi Office of Education to Conduct 'External Safety Inspections' on School Retaining Walls and Slopes Starting Next Year

Panoramic View of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education Southern Building

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education will conduct safety inspections by external agencies on school retaining walls and slope facilities starting next year to prevent safety accidents.

On the 20th, the Office of Education announced that it has prepared an improved safety inspection plan to prevent accident damages such as collapse, subsidence, and erosion of retaining walls and slopes caused by typhoons and heavy rains, and to strengthen the expertise in managing the safety of school retaining walls and slopes.

Accordingly, the Office of Education decided to expand the external agency safety inspections, which had been conducted on Class 2 and 3 retaining walls and slope facilities, to all retaining walls and slope facilities classified as vulnerable structures.

Until now, schools have conducted their own safety inspections on facilities other than Class 2 and 3 retaining walls and slope facilities.

The targets for regular safety inspections by external agencies include 1,398 vulnerable facilities (79%) out of a total of 1,764 school retaining walls and slope facilities in the province, including 144 Class 2 and 3 facilities (8%).

Safety inspections will be conducted annually by professional organizations. The Office of Education will prepare measures such as repairs, reinforcements, and facility improvements based on the inspection results.

Kim Seon-tae, Director of Administration at the Office of Education, emphasized, "School retaining walls and slopes are facilities where accident damages frequently occur during typhoons or heavy rains," adding, "We will systematically manage safety considering the scale and aging of the facilities."

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