Gwanak-gu Steps Up Safety and Technical Support for Small-Scale Construction Sites

Expanded Role of the Building Safety Center... Focus on Preventing Serious Industrial Accidents

On February 18, Gwanak-gu in Seoul (District Mayor Park Junhee) announced that this year it will strengthen safety and technical support for small-scale construction sites and focus on preventing serious industrial accidents at construction sites.

A Gwanak-gu Building Safety Center official is explaining the installation standards for an overtravel prevention device. Provided by Gwanak-gu.

Under the current Occupational Safety and Health Act, small-scale building construction sites with construction costs of at least 5 billion won but less than 12 billion won are allowed to have a safety manager concurrently hold other positions. As a result, safety managers have to handle a wide range of work, including preparing construction documents, quality control, and inspections, making it difficult for them to focus on safety management. In fact, approximately 87% of fall accidents at construction sites occur at small-scale sites where construction costs are less than 12 billion won.

The district has decided to expand the functions of the Gwanak-gu Building Safety Center, which is staffed by public officials and professionals such as architects and construction engineers, in order to eliminate blind spots in safety. For high-risk tasks such as the installation of external scaffolding and steel frames, contractors, supervisors, and officials from the Building Safety Center will conduct joint pre-inspections to proactively identify risk factors.

Before high-risk work begins, the district will check whether the construction specifications are being followed, whether safety reviews have been conducted, and whether quality control plans are being implemented, with the aim of preventing shoddy construction.

Park Junhee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, said, "We will expand the support provided by the Building Safety Center to eliminate safety blind spots at small-scale construction sites," adding, "We will further strengthen the construction site safety management system so that both on-site workers and residents can feel secure."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.