Five Fall Deaths in Building Exterior Wall Construction This Year...Urgent On-Site Inspections Conducted

Ministry of Employment and Labor and Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency to Conduct Inspections for 3 Weeks Starting from the 12th

On June 8 last year, professional workers were cleaning the exterior glass windows at Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Lotte World Tower began cleaning the exterior glass windows of 42,000 panels across 123 floors starting May 26 last year. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] After five fall accidents involving scaffolding used for painting apartment exterior walls occurred just this year, the government has decided to conduct an emergency inspection.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency announced that from the 12th, they will intensively carry out emergency on-site inspections and supervision of exterior wall painting and repair work using scaffolding on apartments and other buildings. This inspection is a measure taken after five workers died this year due to fall accidents during exterior wall painting work since last month. Exterior wall painting and repair work, which mainly uses scaffolding, has a short construction period and is difficult to efficiently monitor the site, making it a blind spot in safety management through guidance and inspections.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor will prioritize emergency patrol inspections and supervision of building exterior wall work sites using scaffolding for three weeks starting today. They will cooperate with related organizations such as the Korea Housing Managers Association to identify scaffolding usage sites. Afterwards, they plan to focus on guiding scaffolding site workers on the 'Three Core Preventive Measures for Scaffolding Work.' The three measures are ▲ installation of vertical lifelines ▲ checking the fastening and securing status of work ropes ▲ inspecting for rope damage and wear at connection points.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor will immediately link industrial safety and health supervision if defective sites are detected during the emergency inspection, and will take strict legal action if violations are found.