Gyeonggi Province Conducts 'Safety and Health Management Officer Training' to Prevent Major Industrial Accidents
Governor Choo Mi-ae of Gyeonggi Province instructed safety and health management officers in the province to strengthen field-oriented prevention activities for major industrial accidents, including directly inspecting worksites and conducting surprise inspections.
Gyeonggi Province held statutory job training for safety and health management officers at the provincial government office on the 21st.
Governor Choo Mi-ae, who attended the training, said, "I hope you will approach safety with actionable commitment and implementation will. Regardless of the budget spent, safety is the most fundamental. Of course, focusing on safety does not mean receiving great praise or earning points, and it is not glamorous. However, the reason the province exists is to organize unglamorous work, provide guidance, and supplement it," emphasizing the importance.
She continued, "When I was Minister of Justice, I applied the brakes when the National Assembly rushed to pass the Serious Accident Punishment Act, saying that safety aims to ensure safety, not punishment itself. I said that we must first prepare detailed manuals, administratively check and supplement whether those manuals are being followed, and then strict punishment must follow as a last resort. I also said that establishing a field safety management and supervision system and an administrative system to oversee and supervise it must be a priority task," she explained.
Governor Choo added, "Safety accidents occur as a result of not investing in costs and being negligent in our daily lives—they are never accidental. It is not too late even now. I urge you executives once again to pay closer attention to the field, conduct surprise inspections, and systematically respond in a manner suited to the field."
Approximately 70 people attended the training, including Governor Choo and heads of provincial divisions, departments, and public institutions. It was a statutory job training course under Article 32 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, designed to enhance the roles of safety and health management officers and improve on-site safety management capabilities.
The training was conducted by the Korea Industrial Safety Association, a job training institution designated by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Main contents included key provisions of the Serious Accident Punishment Act and Occupational Safety and Health Act, major accident cases and prevention measures, risk assessment and safety and health management system, and the role of management officers and on-site safety management.
Gyeonggi Province did not stop at completing statutory training but focused the training on spreading a safety management culture where life and safety are placed as top priorities, and managers and workers together improve risk factors discovered in the field. Public institutions and invested or contributed institutions, which are separate obligated entities under the Serious Accident Punishment Act, were also allowed to apply and complete the training.
Gyeonggi Province plans to continue improving the safety and health management system at provincial worksites and expand major industrial accident prevention activities so that the province's safety and health management cases can spread to private worksites.