The Busan Metropolitan Government is upgrading its safety management system by shifting its approach to serious industrial accidents from post-incident inspections to proactive prevention. The city plans to build a more precise safety management system by combining data analysis with on-site accountability structures.
Busan announced Wednesday that it is strengthening its serious industrial accident prevention framework for workplaces under city jurisdiction and fully implementing a data-based inspection analysis system and safety leader-centered preventive management structure. The measures focus on public sector workplaces subject to serious industrial accident provisions under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.
The city conducts biannual "safety and health compliance inspections" covering 30 workplaces and contracted, outsourced, and commissioned operations. After identifying hazardous and risk factors and verifying legal compliance, the city accumulates and analyzes results as data, using findings for customized improvements that reflect recurring risk factors and workplace-specific characteristics. Through this approach, the city aims to scientifically refine safety and health budget allocation and management priority-setting. This year's first-half inspections will run from May through July.
During the second-half inspection last year, the city identified 1,979 risk factors and completed improvements for 93.5% of them. Although the number of identified cases increased approximately fivefold compared to the first half, this is attributed to strengthened on-site inspection capabilities rather than increased risks. The management system connecting inspections to improvements and re-verification is also stabilizing, according to the city.
Starting this year, the city is also introducing a proactive monitoring system centered on "Safety Leaders." Safety leaders designated for each department and office will conduct regular inspections throughout routine operations and contracting and outsourcing processes, identifying risk factors in advance. The city is providing customized training to 155 safety leaders during the first half to enhance on-site response capabilities.
The city's strategy is to establish leading standards in the public sector and expand them to the private sector, even though serious industrial accident prevention is an area with low public visibility. To this end, the city increased its safety and health budget by 31.5% from the previous year to 8.7 billion won and strengthened substantive investments in facility improvements, equipment expansion, and training.
"The key to preventing serious industrial accidents is eliminating risk factors in advance," Busan Mayor Park Heong-jun said. "We will minimize safety blind spots through data-based inspections and field-centered management systems."