Gyeonggi-do Conducts Safety Inspections at 100 Metal Industry Sites Including Lithium Facilities

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

Gyeonggi Province will conduct safety inspections and expert consultations on 100 metal material handling sites other than lithium starting from the 12th, in relation to the fire accident at the lithium factory in Hwaseong. This inspection is the second phase following the first emergency safety inspection of 48 lithium handling sites and will continue until the 25th.

For the inspection, Gyeonggi Province formed a "Hazardous Material Handling Site Safety Inspection and Expert Advisory Group" consisting of four-person teams including representatives from the provincial government, Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters, and private experts.

The 100 sites subject to inspection are those handling metal materials with high flammability and explosiveness similar to lithium (such as sodium, magnesium) and have relatively large handling volumes, to prevent recurrence of lithium fire-related accidents.

The main inspection items include ▲ guidance on chemical accident prevention and response measures ▲ improvement of safety facilities for hazardous chemicals ▲ provision of chemical safety (disaster prevention) supplies ▲ information on provincial support projects. The fire department will check for violations of the Hazardous Materials Control Act and the Fire Services Act, as in the first phase inspection.

Cha Seong-su, Director of the Climate Environment and Energy Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, said, "Unlike the first phase inspection, the second phase focuses more on consulting rather than detection, and hazardous chemical experts were assigned excluding special judicial police, which is a difference." He added, "We will continue to operate the ‘Safety Inspection and Expert Advisory Group’ to support safety management of small and medium-sized businesses in the future."

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province inspected 48 lithium handling sites in the first phase, detecting 16 violations and filing 9 charges.

Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, urged at an emergency meeting on the 27th of last month, "We must act proactively for the safety of residents," and added, "Even if the government has authority over industries handling hazardous chemicals and dangerous materials other than lithium, we should step forward to identify risk factors."

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