Acting Gyeonggi Province Governor Oh Byung-kwon Emphasizes 'Proactive Prevention Measures for Disaster Risk Areas Such as Quarries'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park Noh-hun] Acting Gyeonggi Province Governor Oh Byung-kwon held a quarry safety management emergency meeting at the Gyeonggi Province Government Office on the morning of the 4th as a follow-up measure to the Yangju quarry burial accident.

The meeting was conducted via video with the attendance of division and bureau chiefs from the Gyeonggi Province Safety Management Office, Labor Bureau, and Livestock and Forestry Bureau, as well as deputy heads of 31 cities and counties.

Acting Governor Oh Byung-kwon stated, "Despite much effort ahead of the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, it is deeply regrettable that such an accident occurred at a workplace in the province," adding "we must use this accident as an opportunity to reexamine whether there has been any negligence in safety management and make continued efforts."

He continued, "Since quarries and other sites face weakened ground conditions during the thaw season, creating many accident-prone locations, please carefully inspect dangerous facilities such as retaining walls, stone embankments, landslide-prone areas, cut slopes, and steep slopes," and urged "take all possible measures to prevent accidents, including on-site safety measures, safety education, disaster prevention facility installation, and placement of warning signs."

Acting Governor Oh stated, "The province, cities and counties have been conducting emergency joint inspections at winter construction sites since January 17th. During the Lunar New Year holiday period, inspections of 693 out of 1,140 total sites were completed, with the inspection rate exceeding 60%," adding "please ensure that construction site safety inspections continue without disruption."

At the meeting, discussions proceeded focusing on five cities and counties—Pocheon City (4 sites), Yeoncheon County (2 sites), Paju City, Anseong City, and Yangju City—regarding the cause of the Yangju quarry burial accident and future prevention measures. Particularly, each city and county decided to promote safety management during the thaw season for retaining walls, stone embankments, slopes, and landslide-prone areas with similar risk factors.

Meanwhile, Acting Governor Oh Byung-kwon visited the scene immediately upon receiving news of the Yangju quarry burial accident on the 29th of last month and issued instructions to relevant personnel regarding swift rescue operations and securing on-site safety measures.