Gyeonggi Province Conducts 'Safety and Health Management Supervisor Training' to Prevent Major Industrial Accidents

Governor Choo Mi-ae of Gyeonggi Province instructed safety and health management supervisors in the province to strengthen field-oriented major industrial accident prevention activities, including direct inspections of workplaces and unannounced checks.

On the 21st, Gyeonggi Province conducted statutory duty training for safety and health management supervisors at the Provincial Government Office.

Governor Choo Mi-ae, who participated in the training, stated: "I hope you will approach safety with decisive action and commitment to practice. Even with the same budget, safety is the most fundamental. Of course, focusing on safety will not earn great praise or points, and it does not shine. However, the reason the province exists is to organize and guide matters that do not shine and to supplement them," she emphasized.

She continued: "When I was Minister of Justice, as the National Assembly rushed to pass the Serious Accident Punishment Act, I applied the brakes and said that safety's purpose is to secure safety, not punishment itself." She explained: "First, detailed manuals should be prepared in advance, then administrative checks should verify compliance with these manuals and necessary supplements should be made before strict punishment follows as a last resort. I stated that establishing on-site safety management and supervision systems and the administrative systems to guide and supervise them should be a priority task."

Governor Choo added: "Safety accidents occur as a result of our failure to invest resources and negligence in advance; they never happen by chance." She emphasized: "It is not too late even now. I urge you managers once again to examine the sites more carefully, conduct unannounced inspections, and systematically respond with measures suited to the field."

About 70 people attended the training, including Governor Choo and department heads, bureau chiefs, and heads of public institutions. This statutory duty training is required under Article 32 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and was designed to enhance the roles of safety and health management supervisors and their on-site safety management capabilities.

The Korea Industrial Safety Association, a duty training institution designated by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, conducted the training. Main topics included key provisions of the Serious Accident Punishment Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act, major accident cases and prevention measures, risk assessment and safety and health management systems, the roles of management supervisors, and on-site safety management.

Gyeonggi Province focused the training not only on completing statutory education but also on spreading a safety management culture in which managers and workers jointly improve risk factors discovered in the field, with life and safety as top priorities. Public institutions and invested or supported organizations, which are separate obligated parties 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 systems at provincial workplaces and to expand major industrial accident prevention activities so that the province's safety and health management practices can also spread to private workplaces.