The Ministry of Employment and Labor decided to begin monitoring major disasters at more than 60% of construction sites nationwide in the first half of this year. It plans to supervise a total of 5,000 sites this year, with more than 3,000 being examined in the first half.
On the 24th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor held an emergency meeting with heads of industrial safety and health departments, making this decision. Heads of industrial safety and health departments from 48 local employment and labor offices nationwide attended the meeting.
The meeting was convened to establish measures in response to the series of fatalities caused by fires and collapses since the beginning of this year.
Earlier, the fire at a construction site in Busan's Gijang-gun in February resulted in the deaths of six people, and the same month, four people died in a bridge collapse in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province. Additionally, in April, one person died due to a collapse at the Shin-Ansan Line construction site in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province.
In response, the ministry decided to strengthen management of the construction industry, where large-scale accidents frequently occur.
First, in relation to the recent collapse incidents, the ministry will begin the inspections related to the prevention of recurrence, with more than 60% of major disaster monitoring for the construction industry launching in the first half of this year.
Additionally, the ministry plans to hold discussions with major construction companies. Through these discussions, it will check risk factors at construction sites.
Moreover, it will conduct thorough and prompt investigations into corporations involved in major disasters.
An official from the ministry noted, “We will verify whether there are structurally vulnerable factors in corporations with a high occurrence of major disasters through supervision, and we will closely inspect other business sites as well.”