Gyeonggi Province Establishes Dedicated Safety Organization and Prepares Manuals to Prevent Major Disasters

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park Noh-hun] As the 'Act on Punishment of Major Disasters, etc.' takes effect on the 27th, Gyeonggi Province will establish a dedicated safety and health management organization with the provincial governor as the overall responsible officer and will proceed to prepare practical manuals for major disaster prevention and response.

Acting Governor Oh Byung-kwon of Gyeonggi Province held a major disaster prevention implementation review meeting at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office on the 18th with attendance from relevant departments and affiliated organizations.

The meeting was convened as the second countermeasure conference ahead of the full implementation of the 'Act on Punishment of Major Disasters, etc.' to establish a proactive provincial-level management system to prevent major disasters.

Acting Governor Oh Byung-kwon stated, "In preparation for the major disaster punishment law, we have held inspection meetings and worked hard with cities and counties so far, and we must establish clear guidelines and frameworks to ensure proper functioning in the field," and added, "Through these efforts, we ask that you work to ensure the 13.9 million residents of Gyeonggi Province can live in a safer Gyeonggi Province."

Accordingly, the province will establish a 'dedicated safety and health management organization' in which the governor serves as the overall safety and health management responsible officer, the Director of Safety Management and the Director of the Labor Bureau serve as overall managers, and bureau chiefs (heads of directly affiliated institutions, etc.) serve as responsible officers, and will operate a tight safety and health management system centered on officials in charge of each organization.

The dedicated organization will conduct investigations into hazardous and risk factors at workplaces in the province and inspections on compliance with safety and health management obligations at least once every six months, and will play a role in swiftly addressing matters related to disaster investigation and prevention of recurrence when major disasters occur.

The province plans to prepare prevention and response manuals for major public facilities closely related to residents' lives, such as multi-purpose facilities, public transportation, and workplaces handling raw materials and manufactured goods.

Additionally, when a major public disaster occurs, the province will establish a mutual cooperation system among related organizations in the province to ensure seamless implementation of step-by-step emergency safety measures.

To prevent major industrial disasters, the province will establish safety and health evaluation standards for public sector contracts, outsourcing, and commissioned projects within the province and reflect them in relevant guidelines and regulations. For cities and counties that have difficulty establishing independent safety and health management systems, the province distributed manuals on the 13th and conducted consulting on the 17th via video conference with 58 municipal and county officials in attendance.

In particular, the province plans to produce the 'Gyeonggi Province Safety and Health Response Manual' and distribute it to the province, cities and counties, and public institutions so that practitioners can utilize it in actual safety and health management work.

The province is currently establishing a 'Comprehensive Plan for Major Industrial Disaster Prevention' at the provincial level based on the opinions of relevant experts, and plans to establish a cooperation system with participation from the dedicated organization, provincial and municipal/county officials, and experts.

Meanwhile, the 'Act on Punishment of Major Disasters, etc.' stipulates the safety and health assurance obligations and penalties for business owners, management executives, etc. regarding major industrial disasters and major public disasters, and includes heads of local governments and heads of local public enterprises under 'management executives, etc.'

'Major industrial disaster' refers to cases in which there are one or more deaths, two or more injured persons requiring treatment for six months or longer, or three or more persons with occupational diseases occurring within one year among industrial accidents.

'Major public disaster' refers to cases in which there are one or more deaths, ten or more injured persons requiring treatment for two months or longer, or ten or more persons with diseases requiring treatment for three months or longer occurring among accidents caused by defects in specific raw materials or manufactured products, public facilities, or public transportation.