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South Korea's Chemical Control Act (CCA) was enacted in 2015, which requests companies installing and operating handling facilities for hazardous chemicals to prepare off-site consequence analysis reports and risk management plans in order to take the highest precautions against chemical accidents.
The “accident precaution substances” are substances that are highly likely to cause accident or serious damage in the case of accident due to acute toxicity, explosiveness, etc. So far 97 substances[1] have been designated and managed. Handlers of accident precaution substances exceeding a certain amount need to establish their risk management plan that includes potential leakage and exposure pathway, damage recovery, as well as a contingency plan, etc. and submit to the Ministry of Environment every five years.
Starting on Nov 29th, 2018, the National Institute of Chemical Safety (NICS) has been engaged in the most recent inspection campaign to assess and ensure that risk management plans have been properly implemented. 70 industrial sites that have submitted the risk management plan from 2015 were subject to inspection this year, which started in March of 2019. As planned, more than 1,000 industrial sites will be inspected by 2021.
By May, eight industrial sites have been inspected and the inspection results are pending release. Mr. Ryu, Yeon-Gi, the Director of NICS, has distributed the inspection results of three industrial sites to the local residents and governments. The three industrial sites were rated “Level 2” (average score: 82.8). The score is assigned based on 6 aspects, including
Operability of the risk management plan (15 points);
Operability of contingency plan (20 points);
Operability of chemical accident response activities (25 points);
Operability of chemical accident prevention activities (20 points);
Information communication to residents and residents participation (10 points);
Establishment of the assistance system with relevant authorities (10 points)
According to the score, level 1 to 4 will be determined and it corresponds to different period needing future inspection.
Level | Score | Regular inspection |
Level 1 | Above 90 | Every 4 years |
Level 2 | 80~90 | Every 3 years |
Level 3 | 70~80 | Every 2 years |
Level 4 | Below 70 | Every 1 year |
NICS in February this year announced on its website (www.nics.me.go.kr) guidelines for the implementation of the inspections. The guidelines focus on activities occurring inside and outside of the industrial sites, including the implementation details, education and training of relevant staff for the operation of accident precaution chemicals, information communication to the local residents, and cooperation with relevant organizations. As planned, from next year, stratified management and the use of differential standards will be incorporated into the guidelines based on the size of the enterprise being assessed.
