Safety First: Jeollanam-do Launches 61-Day Intensive Safety Inspection for 1,683 Vulnerable Facilities

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South Jeolla Province, in South Korea, will carry out an intensive safety inspection of 1,683 sites — including construction sites, aging buildings, road facilities, child-use facilities and landslide-prone areas — from April 20 through June 19. The 61-day campaign aims to strengthen safety in residents’ daily environments.

Inspectors will prioritize facilities used by vulnerable populations, such as children’s playgrounds, long-term care hospitals, children’s theme parks, traditional markets, informal settlements (shantytowns) and housing for migrant workers.

The inspections will be conducted as a public-private partnership involving 279 participants: experts from the province’s safety advisory panel, members of private consultative groups, public officials, residents and related agencies.

To improve precision, teams will be required to use specialized equipment based on facility type, including drones, thermal cameras and gas-leak detectors.

During the inspection period, each city and county will operate a “Resident Inspection Request System” so experts can inspect risky facilities identified by residents. The province will also deploy provincial safety inspection teams through a “Citizen Safety Inspection Request System” to address safety-management blind spots.

Officials will distribute self-inspection checklists to multi-use facilities and households to encourage public participation and promote a culture of everyday safety. Problems that can be corrected on the spot will be addressed immediately, and the province will use disaster management funds and other resources to promptly repair and reinforce facilities with serious defects.

Inspection results will be published on the Integrated Safety Information Disclosure System to ensure transparency.

Launched in 2015, the annual intensive safety inspections bring together national and local governments and residents to assess regional safety and identify and mitigate risks. Last year, officials inspected 1,687 sites and carried out 279 on-site corrections, 486 repairs and reinforcements, and 11 detailed safety diagnoses.

Choi Yong-chae, head of South Jeolla’s Social Disaster Division, urged residents to remain vigilant: “Rapid climate and social changes have diversified disaster types. Please check for hazards in your daily life and report anything unusual immediately.”