Construction Site CCTV Filling CEO's Office TV... The Secret Behind GH's Zero Major Accidents [Report]

QR Scan at Arrival: Real-Time Worker Risk Assessment
Hazardous Work Alerts Sent Out
Risk Analysis Conducted for 15 Work Processes

Workers securing rebar on concrete structures, construction vehicles bustling back and forth, large cranes and heavy equipment in operation. On a 100-inch large TV screen divided into about 13 sections, real-time surveillance camera (CCTV) footage of construction sites was changing every few seconds. The current date and time were displayed at the top of each screen, and the name of the construction site area was shown at the bottom.

A CCTV screen showing a construction site commissioned by GH is displayed on the TV in the office of Kim Se-yong, President of Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Development Corporation (GH) headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Choi Seo-yoon

This is the president's office at the headquarters of Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Development Corporation (GH) in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. A scene usually seen in a safety management room was unfolding in the president's office. Kim Seyong, GH president whom we recently met, said, "We have established a real-time CCTV system at 20 construction sites commissioned by GH," adding, "When CCTV is installed, site managers inevitably become more alert. If any suspicious signs appear, I call immediately, so they pay even more attention." This was an idea from President Kim, who values the field. He explained that it raises awareness among all site managers and workers and increases pressure on safety management.

In fact, when executives inspect construction sites, frontline workers' safety awareness improves. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recently announced a 'Construction Site Fall Accident Prevention Plan' that encourages CEOs of construction companies to conduct site inspections. The ministry cited the case of Company A, explaining that the CEO held the New Year's ceremony on-site, and headquarters executives stayed at each site for two weeks emphasizing safety awareness, resulting in no deaths or injuries during that period.

Kim Se-yong, President of Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Corporation (GH)

After months of preparation, GH began operating the 'Smart Safety Management System' in July last year. This system, developed first in Korea by GH, monitors key safety elements at construction sites and allows data to be viewed at a glance. President Kim said, "Thanks to this system, no major accidents occurred last year," adding, "You can see more detailed data on the 10th floor safety management office at headquarters."

Following President Kim's words, we headed to the safety management office. Upon entering, a large screen covering the right wall caught our eyes. It displayed safety management data densely, including real-time site footage, hazardous work situations at each site, worker density, and risk analysis by process.

Jeon Gyeongcheol, deputy head of GH's safety management office, explained, "We calculate individual workers' risk levels and analyze them by site," adding, "Based on aggregated risk data, we evaluate and manage each site's risk level according to scores." Safety and health management activities conducted at each site are automatically recorded in the system, and this data is aggregated in real time for immediate viewing on the screen.

A large screen installed on one wall of the Safety Management Office at Gyeonggi Housing Corporation. Photo by Choi Seoyoon

At the center of the 10.8-meter large screen was the 'GH Site Comprehensive Risk Index Management,' where 20 sites in Gyeonggi Province were marked as dots on a map. Sites were managed by risk scores categorized as 50, 80, 100 points, etc.

On this day, the site with the highest risk index was the Gwangju Station Area Youth Innovation Town construction project. The average worker risk level there was 59.8%. Deputy Jeon said, "An average risk level exceeding 50% does not mean an immediate accident risk," explaining, "If work intensity is high or there are many hazardous processes, the risk level naturally rises, so this figure is used as one indicator to check risk factors."

In the upper right corner, the 'Hazardous Work Alerts' showed a total of nine warnings. The warnings on that day were for work such as installing formwork (temporary supports) and pouring concrete at heights over 5 meters, and excavation work. Fifteen hazardous elements for processes including tower crane installation, dismantling, assembly, bridge girder installation, and aerial work platform operations were preset, and on days when hazardous work occurs, managers automatically receive alerts.

Worker risk levels are calculated on a 100-point scale reflecting personal characteristics such as occupation, age, existing illnesses, and work duration, as well as work type, construction scale, progress rate, and project cost. An algorithm calculates the risk based on this data.

Jeon Gyeong-cheol, Head of Safety Management Office at Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Corporation (GH), is explaining the GH Smart Safety Management System. Photo by Choi Seo-yoon

When workers scan a QR code upon arrival, they can check their risk level in real time. Managers immediately send alerts to workers with high risk levels to caution them and provide additional safety inspections, training, and rest to reduce risk before deploying them to the site. All sites' CCTV monitors workers' unsafe behaviors or conditions. Information on workers who have arrived is automatically recorded through the QR recognition system and the smart safety management system, and the number of personnel and equipment deployed on-site that day is managed in real time.

While monitoring all sites in real time, the system also checks whether each site is properly managing safety. For example, it manages data on progress rates, hazardous work plans, pre-safety inspections, hazardous cleaning compliance, and patrol inspections at sites in Yangpyeong, Yeoncheon, Goyang, Hwaseong, Siheung, and others. Five sites are intensively managed at a time, and this process is repeated four times to cycle through 20 sites. Based on this data, monthly evaluations of the smart safety management system operation are conducted and rankings assigned.

Several public enterprises such as Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), and Korea National Railway Corporation have visited to benchmark this system. While other organizations operate safety management systems, GH is the only one to have established a comprehensive safety management system specialized intensively for construction sites.

Detailed Safety Management Data of Gwangju Station Area Youth Innovation Town Construction Site. Photo by Choi Seoyoon

Deputy Jeon said, "Just last week, Daejeon Urban Corporation came to benchmark, showing how many organizations are interested," adding, "Since it is important for the safety management system to become a culture, we actively open the system for other public enterprises and organizations to benchmark." "We share everything from the smart safety management system menu configuration to operation methods, including problems and solutions encountered during the initial implementation. Our goal is to establish a safety culture together through cooperation with other organizations."

Deputy Jeon added, "Starting this year, we plan to expand the system to subcontracted projects subject to the Serious Accident Punishment Act and strengthen integration with smart safety equipment and Internet of Things (IoT) technology," adding, "We will further advance the system for this purpose."

As a result of systematically establishing the safety and health management system, GH received excellent grades for two consecutive years in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's safety management level evaluation and ranked first for three consecutive years in the disaster safety category of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's management evaluation.