Government Conducts Special Inspections of 35 Mines... Safety Measures to Be Announced Within the Year

Vice Minister Park Il-jun Chairs 'Mine Safety Status Inspection Meeting'
Joint Public-Private 'Special Mine Safety Inspection' to Begin This Month

Mine Collapse Site Inspection in Bonghwa... Samples Collected to Determine Cause
(Bonghwa=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Hyuntae = On the afternoon of the 7th, members of the police forensic team and officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy collected samples at the mine collapse site in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongbuk, to investigate the cause of the accident. Two miners who were trapped in the collapse at this mine on the 26th of last month were rescued on the 4th. 2022.11.7
mtkht@yna.co.kr
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[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] The government is launching a special safety inspection targeting 35 high-risk mines nationwide following the mining accident in Bonghwa, Gyeongbuk. The government also plans to announce a comprehensive plan within the year to significantly strengthen the mine safety management system.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the morning of the 9th that it held a "Mine Safety Status Inspection Meeting" at the Government Complex Sejong, chaired by Deputy Minister Park Il-jun. The meeting was organized to review the response to the burial accident that occurred at the Bonghwa mine on the 26th of last month and to discuss safety inspections to prevent similar accidents in the future. Attendees included Deputy Minister Park, officials from the Korea Mine Reclamation Corporation, the Mine Safety Committee, and the Korea Mining Association.

The Ministry decided to conduct a joint public-private special mine safety inspection. The special inspection targets 35 mines out of 325 operating mines in the country, which have a relatively higher risk of accidents. The Ministry classified the special inspection targets based on mines where serious accidents such as worker deaths or severe injuries occurred in the past three years.

Key inspection items by mine.
[Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]

The special inspections will be conducted from as early as this week until next month. Since most of the mines subject to special inspection are concentrated in the jurisdiction of the Eastern and Central Mine Safety Offices, the Ministry plans to dispatch necessary personnel from the Western and Southern Mine Safety Offices. A Ministry official said, "Since this is a special inspection, it will be conducted more intensively than regular inspections," adding, "We plan to carry out customized safety inspections considering the characteristics of accident types in underground and open-pit mines."

Safety inspections will also be conducted for mines excluded from the special inspection. The Ministry plans to first establish a nationwide mine safety inspection survey plan by each Mine Safety Office and complete the inspections by the first half of next year.

Additionally, the Ministry will prepare a "Comprehensive Plan to Strengthen Mine Safety Management" within the year. This is based on the judgment that fundamental management improvements are necessary to prevent safety accidents in domestic mines in advance. The plan is expected to include measures such as ▲advancement of rescue manuals ▲consideration of increasing personnel at Mine Safety Offices ▲updating mine safety levels ▲expanding budgets for mine safety facilities. In particular, the Ministry plans to include a system in the rescue manual that can provide real-time information on rescue status to strengthen communication with the families of disaster victims in the event of a mine accident. The Ministry will also push for increased budgets for mine safety facilities and rescue equipment.

Deputy Minister Park emphasized the role of the Mine Safety Offices. He said, "The role of the four regional Mine Safety Offices managing the (mine) sites is very important," and added, "The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will take this accident as an opportunity to thoroughly inspect the mine safety management system and do its best to prevent recurrence."