The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport revised the "manual for preparing construction safety management plans" to reduce administrative burdens at construction sites and strengthen practical accident prevention functions. It will sharply cut back on perfunctory paperwork at construction sites and significantly strengthen safety measures for accident-prone work types.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) on the 19th revised the manual for preparing construction safety management plans. Under Article 62 of the Construction Technology Promotion Act, a contractor must establish a construction safety management plan before starting work and obtain the client's approval, and it is an essential plan to ensure construction safety and prevent shoddy work.
However, at construction sites, concerns have been consistently raised that safety management plans are managed only in a perfunctory manner even when they exist.
In response, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) revised the manual to improve the structure and volume of safety management documents and to enhance on-site operability. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) divides the safety management plan into a main section—comprising on-site operation plans, emergency action plans, and more—and an appendix—comprising design documents, structural calculation sheets, and more.
By deleting unnecessary content and capping the maximum length for each item, the safety management plan, which averaged 4,000 pages, will be streamlined to about 500 pages. In addition, on site, the main section of up to 80 pages will be primarily used for actual safety management, while design documents and the like are separated into an appendix to be used only during separate reviews.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will strengthen work-type-specific safety management plans for types of work where accidents are likely to occur during construction. Reflecting measures to prevent a recurrence of the pile driver overturning accident that occurred in June last year on the Indeogwon–Dongtan double-track rail line, it substantially added content related to pile driving and extraction rigs.
For standards on establishing safety management plans for small-scale construction, such as multiunit housing of 1,000㎡ or more, it plans to strengthen safety management by newly adding installation plans for safety facilities such as fall protection nets, opening covers, and safety guardrails.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will also clarify the review procedures for safety management plans. Safety management plans established by contractors receive final approval from the client after review by the Korea Authority of Land & Infrastructure Safety (KALIS) (for type 1 and 2 facilities) or by a construction safety inspection agency (for facilities other than type 1 and 2). However, during the review process of safety management plans, unclear criteria for returns or "inappropriate" determinations led to delays in starting work and conflicts between clients and contractors. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) introduced specific criteria for returns and "inappropriate" determinations in the manual for preparing safety management plans.
Starting today, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) distributed the revised manual through the integrated information system for construction safety management. To support swift on-site adoption of the revised manual, it will also reflect the revised content in the "guidebook training course for safety management plans" for clients, contractors, and private review agencies, and hold monthly briefings starting in March.