The Ministry of Employment and Labor said on the 12th that it will conduct intensive inspections of safety measures at construction sites in collaboration with the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency.
The inspection follows a series of large-scale casualties from recent fires, explosions, and collapses. Previously, in February, a fire at a construction site in Busan's Gijang-gun resulted in the deaths of six people, and in the same month, four people were killed at a highway construction site.
Accordingly, the government plans to check the compliance of safety work methods to prevent fires, explosions, and collapses for construction sites with contracts exceeding 5 billion won. Through this, the government intends to guide immediate improvements for inadequate safety measures at business sites.
In addition, inspections will be conducted to prevent accidents at construction sites during the thawing season. This is a measure to prepare for accidents that may occur in the spring when the frozen ground thaws and the foundation becomes weak.
Choi Tae-ho, director of the Ministry of Employment and Labor's industrial accident prevention supervision policy, noted, "Major accidents can affect not only human casualties but also the management situation of corporations, so executives, including site managers, must have a thorough safety awareness," and added, "All business sites should strengthen safety inspections and measures to prevent regrettable accidents from occurring again."