A Rally for Electrical Safety
KESCO determined to prevent electrical mishaps

The Korea Electrical Safety Corp. held the Electrical Safety Promotion Rally on November 16 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts under the theme of "Ever Safety"with a number of dignitaries led by Commerce, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Lee Won-Geol attending.
KESCO President Song In-hoe, in his opening speech, said the rally is in its 8th year this year, and has done a lot for promoting safety in electricity, promising that he will do his best to expanding the significance of the rally with pride and the sense of responsibility. With the increase in the quality of life in the country, the public desire for safety has been rising day-by-day, he said, in the welfare state in the 21st century, the safety is being understood as the basic rights of the people such as the right for pursuit of happiness. Guaranteeing safety of the people and protecting the people from disasters is an important target of the administration.
KESCO is the only professional company dealing with the safety of electricity performing a wide range of work including inspections, checkups, investigation, research, technology development and public relations. The company also performs checkups on power grids in open markets and public places and social services for the low-income people and welfare facilities, all in line of its work to prevent electrical mishaps from occurring. The company's effort immensely reduced the number of fires caused by electrical mishaps from 2001 to 26 percent of all fires from 26 percent in 2005 with the number of electrical mishaps down by 18 percent. From last year, KESCO launched a reform drive to create an electrical professional culture focused on customer service, results, capability and effectiveness through the restructuring of its organization. The drive has also been aimed at changing the image of the company to a positive one, getting rid of its negative image as an inspection authority so that the company might be able to provide a better service to its customers.
For the first time as an inspection organization, the company introduced the inspection business recall system to provide a base for better customer service. The company won the best performance record award in the government as a public firm this year in addition to winning other awards on numerous occasions, making the company a model for other state-run firms in improving the performance.
MOCIE Minister Lee, in his congratulatory speech, said the government organized "the strategic IT planning team"for another economic jump and has been looking to expand new energy source supply, along with policies for saving energy in line with its overall energy policy. The government has also been streamlining the electrical safety management system including the Electricity Business Law to see that daily lives and industrial activities are not hampered. He said he would like to express his appreciation for KESCO winning "2005 Grand Prize for Service Reform,"which is a great achievement for the company and a test-run for the speed call system launched in Jeju in a bid to upgrade its service.
He said the government has revised laws to give the responsibility to conduct checkups on the electrical safety to KESCO and customers call on the Korea Electric Power Corp and KESCO for check ups on their electric facilities before using them. The change has made the electric safety checkups a service for customers rather than a regulation. This requires KESCO to change its public image now as a checkup service expert entity to make sure that electric facility construction is completed without faults and that customers would be able to use them safely, the minister said.
He also called on the public that they have to be always alert that no electrical mishaps develop because a moment of mistake and carelessness could cause large damage. He went on to say that many people get irritated when power supply is suspended for safety inspection, not always appreciating the supply of safe electricity at their homes, taking it for granted. In this respect, he would like to suggest change "power Inspection Day"which comes once in every three years to "tower Inspection Appreciation Day"to continue to maintain electrical safety, he said. The minister called on the public to set aside a little time to contemplate the hard work put in by everyone at KESCO to make the electricity safe for them day and night during two to three hours of power stoppage for the electrical safety inspection. The electrical safety and the growth of the power industry would depend on public concern and effort.
Rep. Kim Yong-kap, chairman of the National Assembly Industry-Resources Committee, in his encouragement speech, said he was very happy to attend the rally for the first time and learn that every one at the rally has renewed their resolution to commit themselves to electrical safety. The legislator said he would like to give the word of encouragement to those at the MOCIE and KESCO who worked hard to make the electricity safe to use, especially those who won awards today at the rally.
Electricity is a main force for the national industrial development and we cannot do without it for the affluent life of the public. But every year, some 400 lives and an enormous number of property are lost due to carelessness and inattention to electrical safety, pursuing only performance results and convenient use of electricity in the process of achieving economic growth. He said the demand for electricity will rise rapidly with the power installations becoming more high-tech every year with the speedy progress in the industrial structure and upgrade in the national life quality.
The Industry-Resources Committee has been doing its share of work to reduce accidents caused by the misuse of electricity and secure the safe use of electricity through law revisions and strengthening systems, he said. nw

Commerce, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Lee Won-Geol, KESCO President Song In-hoe and Dignitaries push buttons to open the Electrical Safety Promotion Rally.

Following are the winners of medals and citations at the rally for their contributions to the electrical safety:
The Order of Industrial Merit Bronze Tower:
Kwon Oh-hyung, manager of the operational headquarters, the KEPCO, won the medal for his contribution to the development of the national industry by advancing the electrical safety through a revolutionary operation of power grits around the country.
The Order of Industrial Merit Iron Tower:
Lee Won-gun, manager of the TV production headquarters, the Korean Broadcasting System(KBS), won the medal for his role in reporting news on electrical safety and producing programs that raised the public awareness for electrical safety.
The Civil Merit Medal:
Lee Ki-cheol, manager of the Gyeonggi Regional Headquarters, the KESCO, who won the medal for his role in effectively expanding work related to electrical safety and the prevention activities for electrical disasters, in addition to the training of industrial manpower.
The Presidential Citation:
Chung Jong-hong, president of Kwanghwa Electric Co., for his contribution to the prevention of electrical mishaps by the construction of safe electrical facilities and thus to the development of the national power industry.
Park Jong-oh, president of Sehwa ELC Co. for his role in making electrical facilities safe through the development of the operation management system and the introduction of new technology for electric installations.
Lee Hae-jin, deputy director of Samsung Seoul Hospital, for recognizing electrical safety as a key factor in the operation of the hospital and contributing to the tradition of electrical safety culture in the medical community to take root.
The Presidential Group Citation:
The Yosu Plant of Hanwha Petrochemical Co.,(plant manager Cho Se-yong), its contribution to the prevention of industrial disasters and the national industrial development through the realization of plant without damage from electrical accidents by making systematic investment and plant workers voluntary efforts for maintaining the plant without electrical accidents.