Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Conduct 'Intensive Crackdown' on Illegal Activities in Paint Manufacturing and Handling Businesses

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare will conduct a crackdown on illegal hazardous material handling at paint manufacturing sites within the province until the 10th of next month.

Gyeonggi Province is launching inspections of paint and other coating manufacturing and handling businesses in the province that store large quantities of flammable materials.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare announced on the 3rd that from the 11th of this month until the 10th of next month, it will conduct intensive crackdowns on violations related to hazardous materials safety management and fire-fighting facilities at businesses manufacturing and handling paints and coatings within the province.

The inspection targets are 20 coating manufacturing companies registered in Gyeonggi Province that manufacture and handle hazardous materials.

The Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare of the province noted that due to the industrial characteristics of coating companies, hazardous materials must be used, and the quantities used are large, which poses a high risk of fire and other disasters. Therefore, they will conduct on-site inspections to preemptively check for risk factors.

The main items under inspection include ▲installing hazardous material manufacturing facilities without permission ▲illegally storing or handling hazardous materials exceeding designated quantities ▲failing to conduct regular hazardous material inspections or falsifying inspection records ▲blocking or closing fire-fighting facilities within the workplace.

Under the current “Hazardous Materials Safety Control Act,” installing hazardous material manufacturing facilities without obtaining installation permission is punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 100 million KRW. Storing or handling hazardous materials exceeding designated quantities in places other than manufacturing facilities is punishable by up to 3 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million KRW. Failing to conduct regular hazardous material inspections or falsifying inspection records is punishable by up to 1 year imprisonment or a fine of up to 10 million KRW.

Additionally, the “Act on the Installation and Management of Fire-Fighting Facilities” stipulates that blocking or closing fire-fighting facilities that may impair their function or performance is punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 50 million KRW.

Meanwhile, this year in Gyeonggi Province, fires occurred at coating manufacturers located in Hwaseong City and Yangju City due to careless handling of hazardous materials, resulting in 3 injuries and property damage exceeding 400 million KRW.

Hong Eun-gi, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare, stated, "Paint factories contain many highly flammable materials, so if storage and handling standards are not followed, the risk of fire is inevitably high," adding, "We will check the hazardous material management status of coating manufacturers and take strict measures, including criminal charges, against any violations."