Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Conduct Intensive Crackdown on Illegal Handling of Hazardous Chemicals

The Gyeonggi-do Special Judicial Police Unit will crack down on illegal activities at hazardous chemical substance handling businesses.

Gyeonggi Province is cracking down on businesses handling hazardous chemicals.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare announced on the 7th that from the 13th to the 24th of this month, they will conduct inspections targeting 360 licensed hazardous chemical handling businesses and unlicensed operators within the province to crack down on illegal activities.

The main inspection items include ▲ operating hazardous chemical handling businesses without a license ▲ violating hazardous chemical handling standards ▲ violating accident preparedness substance management standards ▲ failure to wear personal protective equipment ▲ failure to mark hazardous chemical storage locations and containers ▲ failure to conduct self-inspections ▲ failure to comply with change permits, among others.

Under the current Chemical Substances Control Act, operating a hazardous chemical handling business without a license or violating accident preparedness substance management standards can result in up to 5 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 100 million KRW; violating hazardous chemical handling standards can lead to up to 3 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 50 million KRW; and failure to comply with change permits can result in up to 1 year imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million KRW.

In the past five years, there have been a total of 95 chemical accidents in the province, accounting for 26.5% of the nationwide total (358 cases), the highest proportion.

Hong Eun-gi, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare, stated, "Preventing chemical accidents, which can potentially lead to major disasters, requires careful attention from handlers. We will strive to raise awareness among hazardous chemical handlers and proactively eliminate risk factors that cause chemical accidents to create a safe Gyeonggi Province for residents."

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