Gwanak-gu, Special Safety Inspection of Gas Handling Facilities for Summer Preparation

[Seoul District News] Gwanak-gu Joint Inspection of 129 Gas Facilities Including 69 Usage Sites and 60 Supply Sites... Yongsan-gu Implements 2022 Summer Comprehensive Measures... Yangcheon-gu Installs Voice Recognition Emergency Bells at 5 Underground Public Parking Lots... Guro-gu Conducts Safety Inspections for Vulnerable Households

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwanak-gu will conduct a special gas safety inspection for about five months until the end of September to prevent safety accidents related to gas handling facilities during the summer season.

The inspection targets a total of 129 locations, including 69 gas usage facilities such as traditional markets and shopping malls, and 60 gas supply facilities such as LPG filling stations. The district will conduct the inspection jointly with related organizations including Gwanak Fire Station, Korea Gas Safety Corporation, and Seoul City Gas Co., Ltd.

The main inspection items include ▲checking for flooding of gas facilities in low-lying areas ▲identifying risk factors such as ground subsidence or collapse around gas facilities ▲checking for damage and leakage of gas facilities ▲confirming normal operation of gas facility functions ▲checking the installation status of gas pipelines and automatic leakage shut-off devices.

In particular, the district plans to focus inspections on areas prone to flooding and ground subsidence, and promptly check the safety management status of gas pipelines at excavation sites such as the Sinlim Bongcheon Tunnel construction site before the rainy season, concentrating on preventing damage to gas facilities and human casualties.

Minor violations found during inspections will be immediately corrected on-site, and administrative actions will be taken in case of violations of relevant laws and regulations.

Additionally, the district will thoroughly promote safety awareness among residents and gas safety management guidelines by conducting a Safety Inspection Day campaign on the 4th of every month, distributing self-inspection checklists and safety inspection guidelines to gas users, and providing education to gas suppliers.

A district official said, “Through this inspection, we plan to continuously manage the safety of gas facilities, remove risk factors in advance, and ensure the safety of residents from gas accidents,” adding, “We ask residents to familiarize themselves with gas facility safety management guidelines during the summer and participate in preventing gas accidents.”

Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) will implement the ‘2022 Summer Comprehensive Measures’ for five months from May 15 to October 15 to prevent various disasters and safety accidents during the summer season.

The district has prepared 30 detailed measures across five areas: ▲health ▲heatwave ▲flood control ▲safety ▲resolving residents’ inconveniences, to enable disaster prevention and rapid response in case of disaster situations.

First, health measures focus on maintaining the COVID-19 response system, including operating screening clinics, strengthening the infectious disease surveillance system during the summer, establishing a quarantine system such as joint public-private disinfection teams, and intensively managing facilities prone to food poisoning.

To respond to heatwaves, a heatwave situation management task force will operate during normal times, and a heatwave countermeasure headquarters led by the deputy mayor will be formed during heatwave warnings. The district has prepared 114 cooling centers for the homeless, residents of small rooms, and the elderly, and will intensively inspect social welfare facilities to protect vulnerable groups.

For flood control, the Flood and Wind Disaster Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (headed by the mayor), which opened on May 13, has 13 functional working teams and operates flood control teams at 16 community centers. Depending on weather conditions, step-by-step emergency duty will be carried out to conduct patrols of disaster-risk facilities, emergency relief, and quarantine activities.

Since the best response is prevention, special focus will be placed on pre-inspections. Safety inspections will be conducted on summer disaster-vulnerable facilities such as housing construction and maintenance sites, redevelopment areas, road facilities, parks and green spaces, and multi-use facilities. Management and supervision to prevent worker safety accidents will also be thoroughly implemented.

To resolve residents’ inconveniences during the summer, the district plans to minimize inconvenience by starting large-scale cleaning of vulnerable areas before the rainy season, strengthening illegal dumping crackdowns, implementing ozone alert systems, promoting energy saving in public and private sectors, and implementing price stabilization measures.

Yongsan-gu Mayor Seong Jang-hyun said, “Since this summer is expected to have higher temperatures and frequent heavy rains compared to normal years, we must proactively respond to disaster factors such as heatwaves and wind and flood disasters,” adding, “We will do our best to thoroughly prepare for safety accidents during the summer so that this summer passes safely.”

Yangcheon-gu announced that it has completed the installation of 13 ‘voice recognition emergency bells’ at five underground public parking lots, which are relatively vulnerable to resident safety, and has started pilot operation.

The existing touch-type emergency bells required residents to move to the installation location and press the bell directly, which lowered accessibility. More importantly, even if the bell was pressed, the report had to go through the management office rather than directly to the police station, causing significant delays in police dispatch and inadequate response in emergencies.

Therefore, the district introduced voice recognition emergency bells that immediately recognize emergency situations by sound (screams) and automatically connect to the 112 situation room at five underground public parking lots: Garogongwon, Deungmaru, Maeulmadang, Haemaji, and Haeun, enabling faster and more immediate response in emergencies.

The newly installed ‘voice recognition emergency bell’ automatically connects to the 112 situation room via voice call when specific keywords such as “Help me” or “Save me” are shouted.

At the same time, the location of the emergency bell and a 30-second voice recording before and after activation are transmitted to the police station’s situation room, enabling rapid initial response and on-site dispatch. This is expected to greatly contribute to alleviating residents’ anxiety and preventing crimes in underground parking lots. Additionally, voice recognition reporting is expected to significantly complement the vulnerabilities of unmanned parking lot operations following the introduction of the integrated parking control system.

A parking management department official said, “By installing voice recognition emergency bells, we have enhanced crime prevention effects and created a safer parking environment, so we hope residents use the underground public parking lots with peace of mind at any time.”

Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Seong) will conduct safety inspections and maintenance for safety-vulnerable households from June to November.

On the 16th, Guro-gu announced, “To prevent safety accidents among low-income households, we will inspect electrical, fire, and gas facilities and carry out maintenance projects to repair or replace defective equipment.”

The support targets 845 households including basic livelihood security recipients, elderly living alone, and disabled persons in the lower-income bracket. However, rental housing and entrusted households are excluded.

Safety inspections will be conducted in the fields of electricity, fire, and gas.

Electrical inspections will be handled by the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation. They will inspect circuit breakers, outlets, lights, etc., and replace old and defective equipment.

Fire inspections will be conducted in cooperation with Guro Fire Station, installing fire detectors, extinguishers, and alarms. Gas inspections will be carried out by the Korea Gas Safety Corporation, inspecting gas timers, gas pipelines, valves, and installing automatic valves (timer cocks) to prevent gas fires. Safety manuals will be distributed to target households in each field, and life safety education will also be provided.

The district plans to select beneficiaries through a selection committee this month based on survey results collected via community centers and welfare centers.

A Guro-gu official said, “We are implementing various policies to prevent safety accidents among residents,” adding, “We will continue to do our best to make Guro a safe city.”