Yeongdeungpo-gu to Ensure Safety for Vulnerable Households Including Elderly Living Alone

Comprehensive Inspection and Maintenance of Over 600 Safety-Vulnerable Households Including Jjokbangchon by October... Distribution of Flame-Retardant Sheets and Replacement of Old Electric Mats to Prevent Fire, Electrical, and Gas Safety Accidents

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Yeongdeungpo-gu (District Mayor Chaehyun Il) is promoting a safety inspection and maintenance project to protect vulnerable households such as basic livelihood security recipients and elderly living alone from various risks including electrical and gas safety accidents and fires.

With the increase in people staying home due to concerns about COVID-19 infection, this summer is expected to be particularly record-breaking in terms of heatwaves.

Accordingly, the use of various home appliances such as fans and air conditioners is also expected to increase, making it urgently necessary to prevent disaster accidents in advance through the inspection and maintenance of safety facilities.

Therefore, the district will begin safety inspections and maintenance for about 600 vulnerable households, including basic livelihood security recipients, lower-income groups, elderly living alone, and people with disabilities, by October this year. It plans to support fire prevention equipment such as fire alarms and focus on maintaining aging electrical and gas facilities, as well as actively support old residential facilities vulnerable to fire, such as jjokbangchon (small rooms for low-income residents).

First, the district will conduct a basic survey of vulnerable households through community service centers to select households for inspection. Based on a basic inspection checklist, the degree of aging and urgency of maintenance for electrical, gas, and fire prevention facilities will be investigated, and households requiring urgent maintenance will be selected. The eligibility will be reviewed by a selection committee, and the final target households will be chosen.

Next, the ‘Safety Welfare Consulting Team,’ composed of private experts, social workers, and public officials, will visit the selected households directly to inspect aging facilities and provide safety equipment. They will distribute manuals related to electrical and gas safety to household members and conduct safety education on safe usage, fire prevention, and gas leak prevention.

In particular, each vulnerable household will be provided with flame-retardant cloth (specially treated fabric that does not burn) useful for initial fire response, to be used for fire suppression in emergencies. They will also support portable fire extinguishers, fire detectors, and alarms to thoroughly prepare for fire occurrences.

Additionally, this year, a new project will be launched to replace old electric mats, which pose a high risk of fire.

Chaehyun Il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, stated, “If accidents such as fires occur in densely populated vulnerable residential areas like jjokbangchon, they can lead to major disasters. We will continue to carry out maintenance for vulnerable households, remove risk factors in advance, and strive to protect marginalized neighbors.”