Hwaseong City Holds 'Industrial Safety Guard Launch Ceremony'... Kicks Off Efforts to Create Safer Workplaces

Goal to Inspect 8,000 Small Manufacturing Businesses
Full Inspections Across the City by 2028 Planned
50 Industrial Safety Experts Appointed, 2.33 Billion Won Invested
Strengthening On-Site Industrial Accident Prevention Activities

Hwaseong Special City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Jeong Myeonggeun) held the '2026 Hwaseong Industrial Safety Guard Launch Ceremony' at the Hwaseong Dongtan 2 Incubating Center on the 18th, officially commencing its on-site, safety management activities aimed at preventing industrial accidents at small manufacturing businesses.

Yoon Sungjin, First Deputy Mayor of Hwaseong Special City (front row, sixth from left), along with key guests and Industrial Safety Guardians, are taking a commemorative photo after the launch ceremony at Hwaseong Dongtan 2 Incubating Center on the 18th. Provided by Hwaseong City

Approximately 150 people attended the launch ceremony, including Sungjin Yoon, First Deputy Mayor of Hwaseong Special City; Dohyeong Kim, Director of the Gyeonggi Regional Employment and Labor Office; Byeongseon Jeon, President of the Hwaseong Industry Promotion Agency; and industrial safety guards. The event proceeded with a report on the operational plan, a declaration of commitment to industrial safety, and the presentation of appointment letters. The city appointed 50 industrial safety professionals as industrial safety guards, formally initiating their activities.

Hwaseong City, where manufacturing businesses are highly concentrated, found through a survey that out of 25,624 manufacturing establishments in the city, about 97%, or 25,019, are small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. To support these small businesses, which face difficulties in securing their own safety management personnel, the city operates the 'Hwaseong Industrial Safety Guard' project, where industrial safety experts visit sites in person to inspect for risk factors and guide improvements.

This year, the city allocated a budget of 2,335,000,000 won to significantly expand the number of industrial safety guards from 30 people (10 teams) to 50 people (18 teams). The annual inspection target was also increased from 5,130 to 8,000 sites, with the aim of completing inspections of all manufacturing businesses with fewer than 50 employees in the city by 2028.

Previously, in 2025, the industrial safety guards inspected 5,075 businesses and requested improvements for 15,228 risk factors, of which 11,678 measures were completed, achieving an improvement rate of about 77%. The inspection results identified fire (20.9%), collision (11.4%), and electric shock (10.5%) as major industrial accident risks. In response, the city plans to further strengthen joint inspections of high-risk workplaces in cooperation with the Gyeonggi Regional Employment and Labor Office and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency this year.

Sungjin Yoon, First Deputy Mayor of Hwaseong Special City, stated, "Small businesses face significant challenges in establishing their own safety management systems, which makes thorough inspections and improvement guidance by on-site industrial safety experts more important than ever. We will focus our administrative efforts on eliminating safety blind spots through proactive, field-oriented prevention activities and on creating a safe industrial environment where workers can work with peace of mind, in close cooperation with relevant agencies."

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