Gyeonggi Province Identifies 254 Safety Violations in 17 Venues Including Concert Halls and Welfare Centers During Winter Safety Inspections

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun Reporter] The Gyeonggi Province Special Safety Inspection Team announced on the 3rd that it conducted joint public-private safety inspections at 8 concert halls and 9 welfare centers across the province from November 24 to December 18 last year to prevent winter disaster accidents, revealing a total of 254 violations including 61 corrective orders, 5 on-site corrections, and 188 improvement recommendations.

Most concert halls have a structure where stage grids (facilities installed beneath the ceiling to hang lighting equipment, etc.) and overhead lighting in the seating area are fixed to large roof-level trusses (steel-frame structures), making it necessary to periodically check welding and bolt connections and to review structural safety during precision inspections.

To prevent stage worker fall accidents, improvements were needed in the deformation and damage conditions of stage grids and seating area platforms, handrail heights (120cm or higher) in galleries (worker passages), and handrail spacing (10cm or less).

The 9 welfare centers are all designated as Class 3 facilities, which are small-scale structures recognized under the Facility Safety Act as having high risk of disaster occurrence or requiring continuous management to prevent disasters.

Accordingly, safety consulting was provided to ensure continuous safety management, including conducting regular inspections twice annually.

Additionally, ▲priority snow removal for lightweight roof layers, surrounding canopy structures, and external stairs in preparation for winter heavy snow ▲continuous monitoring and repairs of stairwells as key evacuation spaces during emergencies for structural safety ▲periodic checks and repairs of corrosion and damage to hangers (support brackets) for various piping ▲periodic checks of emergency generators and sump pump operation and verification of ventilation during work in confined spaces (pits, sumps, etc.) ▲(Fire Safety) periodic checks and repairs of sprinkler head fastening conditions ▲(Electricity) installation of additionally installed outlets with grounding function ▲(Gas) complementary anti-corrosion coating of gas piping and reinforcement of boiler pipe fastening conditions were presented as major violations at concert halls and welfare centers.

The inspection also confirmed compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines. Visitors' temperature checks and contact information registration, social distancing in seating and educational areas, and non-contact video performances and education are being observed properly overall, but some day care centers for the elderly were found to require proper mask-wearing by users, and the management authorities were requested to maintain continuous compliance with and guidance on prevention guidelines.

The province plans to continuously manage corrective actions following this inspection results and will disseminate the findings to 31 cities and counties to prevent similar accidents.

A provincial official stated, "Not only during winter but also during seasons vulnerable to disasters such as thaw periods, rainy seasons, and typhoons, we will conduct field-centered safety inspections of multi-use buildings to do our utmost to protect the lives and safety of residents."