Organizations Related to 'Forest Project Site Safety Accident Prevention' Gathered in One Place

Strengthening 'Forest Safety and Health Education' Discussed at National Assembly

Need for Specialized Safety Training... Unified Call for System Improvement

Related organizations gathered to brainstorm on preventing safety accidents among high-risk forestry workers.

On the 7th, according to the Korea Forest Industry Safety and Health Association (Chairman Jo Hangyu), a meeting was held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building to strengthen 'Forestry Safety and Health Education.'

Hosted by National Assembly member Shin Jeonghun and organized by the Korea Forest Service and the Korea Forest Industry Safety and Health Association, the meeting discussed measures to enhance safety education to reduce accidents at forestry work sites.

About 70 people attended, including Assemblyman Shin, Nam Seonghyeon, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, Jo Hangyu, Chairman of the Korea Forest Industry Safety and Health Association, officials from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, forestry safety and health officers from cities and provinces nationwide, the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, related academia and associations, and contractors.

Despite recent active efforts to prevent industrial accidents in the forestry sector, such as supplementing safety management guidelines and strengthening safety inspections at forestry work sites, safety accidents continue to occur due to the nature of forestry work.

Participants pointed out that the currently operated safety and health education is concentrated on the construction industry, making it less effective when applied to forestry work sites.

They unanimously agreed that to reduce safety accidents in forestry work, safety and health education specialized for high-risk forestry tasks is necessary, and that the preparation of legal bills and institutional improvements must follow.

Nam Seonghyeon, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, said, “We are developing safety and health education courses and materials specialized for the forestry sector, and we will do our best to improve laws and systems to prevent serious accidents in forestry work.”

Jo Hangyu, Chairman of the Korea Forest Industry Safety and Health Association, stated, “Forestry workers receive basic and technical education according to the Forest Technology Act, but the education targets are limited, and safety education is not mandatory, leaving a blind spot. The law should specify that forestry business operators must provide mandatory education to safety managers and that safety general managers and others must receive safety education and submit certificates to the client.”

He added, “We hope that the contents derived from this meeting will be promptly and clearly reflected in related laws, serving as an opportunity to drastically reduce safety accidents.”

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