Board of Audit and Inspection: "Insufficient Capacity of Emergency Generators in Medical Facilities"

Audit on Emergency Power Equipment Safety Management... Concerns over Damage Due to Emergency Situations and Oxygen Respirator Malfunction

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] The Board of Audit and Inspection has released an audit report expressing concerns that insufficient capacity of emergency generators installed in medical facilities could lead to damages such as oxygen respirators failing to operate during emergencies.

The Board of Audit and Inspection conducted an audit to inspect the management status of emergency generators in medical facilities following incidents such as the Milyang Sejong Hospital fire and announced the results on the 9th.

According to the Board of Audit and Inspection, when commercial power is cut off due to power outages or fires, emergency generators must be installed in buildings above a certain scale to supply electricity to devices such as sprinklers.

During the 2018 Milyang Sejong Hospital fire (39 deaths, total 190 casualties), the emergency generator capacity (10 kW) was insufficient, causing the generator to fail to operate, which led to patients being trapped in elevators and oxygen respirators not functioning, resulting in an increase in fatalities.

The Board of Audit and Inspection pointed out, "The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy needs to establish procedures to calculate and review the capacity of existing emergency generators during regular inspections to promptly respond to increased power demand during emergencies," and added, "The Ministry has not established procedures to calculate and review the adequacy of capacity during regular inspections of emergency generators in existing buildings in use."

In this audit, after sampling 40 representative medical facilities and checking the adequacy of capacity, it was found that 24 medical facilities (60%) had insufficient emergency generator capacity. The Board of Audit and Inspection explained, "It is estimated that among the total 6,430 emergency generators in all medical facilities, at least 2,893 and up to 4,822 generators have insufficient capacity."

The Board of Audit and Inspection notified the Minister of Health and Welfare to conduct a full survey of emergency generators in medical facilities nationwide. It also recommended the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy to review the adequacy of capacity during regular inspections of emergency generators.