KOSHA and Ansan City sign an MOU to Boost Safety

For a safer Ansan City and workplaces

On March 23, 2011, the representatives of Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA; President: Noh, Min-Ki) and Ansan City (Mayor: Kim, Cheol-Min) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU). The MOU signing was held in Ansan Culture and Arts Center in order to make Ansan City safer and to create safe working environment.

<“Safe Ansan, Safe Workplace” ceremony>

- Date and time                 : March 23, 2011 2 ~ 3 p.m.

- Place                                   : Ansan Culture and Arts Center, Ansan City

- Participants                      :
                    Noh, Min-Ki  (President, KOSHA)

               Kim, Cheol-Min (Mayor, Ansan City)

               Park, Soon-Ja (Member, National Assembly)

               Kim, Kee-Wan (Chairman of Ansan City Council)

                   Jeong, Seong-Gyun (Director of Ansan Regional Office, Ministry of Employment and Labor)

The MOU between Ansan City and KOSHA is to make Ansan a safer place, as the city is where many small- and medium-sized manufacturing workplaces are located mainly in Banwol-Sihwa Industrial Complex.

As stated in the MOU, KOSHA and Ansan City will launch many joint projects including the following:

  - Providing financial assistance and technical consultation to create safe workplaces

  - Providing assistance and consultations to help small- and medium-sized companies to receive KOSHA 18001 certification.

  - Safety monitoring and training on public construction projects, which are ordered by the city 

  - Other activities to make the city safer

In particular, KOSHA will focus on ensuring safety in public projects, which are led by the City. The projects include:

  - Risk assessment and safety training for public construction projects commissioned by the government

  - Safety monitoring

  - Preventing suffocation in confined spaces

  - Customized training for workers in the public OSH sector

The ceremony was attended by some 600 participants including President Min-Ki Noh of KOSHA, Mayor Cheol-Min Kim of Ansan City, Director Seong-Gyun Jeong of Ansan Regional Office, Ministry of Employment and Labor, members of the National Assembly and representatives of public agencies and workplaces.

Together with the signing of the MOU, representatives of public agencies in Ansan, television and news media, employers’ group, workers’ group, OSH-related agencies, vocational training agencies, and civic groups renewed their commitments in creating safer workplaces.

In the case of Ansan City, the number of occupational injuries and illnesses is higher due to the concentration of small- and medium-sized manufacturing workplaces in the area. In 2010, 1,715 workers were injured or got ill in Banwol-Sihwa Industrial Complex alone, with the loss of 33 lives. The rate of occupational injuries and illnesses in Ansan City was 1.15%, which is much higher than the national average at 0.69%.

“A city where the safety of its people is not guaranteed cannot develop into becoming a world-class city. Various technical and financial assistance, training and a nation-wide campaign will be centered around Ansan City to make it a truly safe and advanced city,” said an official from KOSHA.