South Korea MoE Issues Additional Chemical Safety Management Program

1.MoE has proposed a new chemical safety management program based on findings that indicate the current requirements as mandated by the Chemical Control Act (CCA) are inadequate to ensure safety during handling/treatment of hazardous chemicals, particularly for existing equipment commissioned prior to the enactment of the CCA. 2.The goal of the MoE new safety program is to improve the operational safety of hazardous chemicals treatment equipment/facilities and increase the number of safety management programs. 3.MoE has offered recommendations to aid industry based on analysis of a list of problems commonly encountered by industry during on-site safety management. The data sources were 25 interviews, on-site visits, and discussion with industry experts conducted since the beginning of 2018. 4.MoE plans to issue relevant notifications in June after hosting sessions in different regions during which MoE will explain key findings and gather more feedback from industry and other relevan

Current Measures on Existed Chemical Treatment Equipment

Cho Myung-rae, minister of South Korea’s Ministry of Environment indicated that in order to improve safetyand prevent chemical accidents, MoE has launched a new safety management program for hazardous chemical treatment equipment regulated under CCA requirements. Under the CCA MoE offers a 5 year grace period (until 31st Dec, 2019) for existing hazardous chemical treatment equipment already operational before 31st Dec, 2014.

Backgrounds forAdditional Safety Management Program

The additional safety management program was proposed bythe 2ndsafety management committee during the May 20thK-eco meeting held at the Oh Song office of Korea Environment Corporation. According to the findings of the committee existing hazardous chemical treatment equipment that is already compliant with CCA requirements could still pose an excessively high risk. Therefore, a new additional safety management program should be added.

Details for Additional Safety Management Program

MoE will implement a safety evaluation system and continue to work with industry by interviewing and conducting on-site visitsduring the five year grace period. MoE prepared the additional management program after discussions with the safety management committee of treatment facilities and chemical management committee constituted by experts from different areas.
MoE had 25 interviews and on-site visits of 376 workplaces and associations of the industry of semiconductors, display, steel, petrochemical, electronics, metal, gold-plated, dyed, pharmaceuticals, non-ferrous metals, power stations, tank terminal, paint, heavy industry and shipbuilding from 2018 to March, 2019.

MoE has been endeavoring to improve the safety profile of enterprise handling hazardous chemicals and has undertaken 2 major campaigns:

“Special certification for existing equipment (January 2018, safety evaluation system)"
"Specify the relative standards according to the amount of hazardous chemical treatment (June 2018, a small amount of processing equipment standards)", etc.from 2018 to March, 2019.

Treatment equipment commissioned prior to the enactment of the CCA i.e. prior to 31st Dec, 2014 still pose major safety risks and violate current CCA stipulations. Therefore, MoE revised the CCA implementation order and newly established the “Processing Equipment Safety Management Committee”on November 27, 2018, in order to specifically discuss the “setting, configuration and related standards of hazardous substance treatment equipment”. The “Processing Equipment Safety Management Committee” would discuss all the standards for treatment equipment in CCA and determine the appropriate safety management program to ensure the safety of existing equipment.

Major Contents for Additional Safety Management Program

Anti-flow wall separation distance
The distance between the hazardous chemical storage tank and the anti-flow wall needs to be maintained at 1.5 meters or more. However, due to the presence of other equipment in the vicinity, the possibility of accidents increases when the spacing is modified. In this case, it is necessary to set the sensor and closed-circuit televisionthat quickly monitors chemical flow and exposure.
Building height
The floor height of a single-story building that treats hazardous chemicals needs to be maintained within 8 meters, but when a building of more than 8 meters is rebuilt, the probability of an accident increases. For this situation, it is necessary to set up automatic fire detection equipment, sprinkler, and software equipment.
Transport vehicle compartment
Every 4000 hazardous chemical transport vehicles should be separated with the compartment, but it is necessary to cut or weld the transport tanks of existing transport vehicles in order to comply with this requirement, and the accident may increase. In response to this situation, X-ray inspection, thickness measurement, water pressure testing, etc., which ensure the safety of the transportation vehicle need to be implemented.

Others

Subordinate departments of the MoE, the Chemical Safety Agency and the Korea Environmental Corporation will offer information sessions explaining the new safety management program from 5thto 20th of June in seven districts including Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Jeonju, Chungju and Yeosu.
The relevant draft of additional safety management program will be released by the Chemical Safety Institute in June.