Prevention of
Electrical Mishaps

Main theme of 10th Electrical Safety Promotion Rally staged by KESCO November 20

Korea Electrical Safety Corp (KESCO) President Yang Jae-yol said he would like to thank everyone across the country engaged in maintaining the safety of electricity night and day on the occasion of the 10th Electrical Safety Promotion Rally. The annual event took place at the Grand Ballroom of the InterContinental Hotel in southern Seoul on November 20 with some 500 people attending, including a number of dignitaries led by Vice Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) Lee Jae-hoon, and Rep. Lee Yoon-sung, chairman of the National Assembly's Commerce and Industry Committee.
The KESCO CEO said the desire for electrical safety has been growing rapidly with the improvement in the quality of life across the country. Safety is a basic right in the modern welfare state, and guaranteeing people a life safe from disasters has become a key principle in the government's administrative policies.
This year, electrical stoppages at a number of large plants in the country incurred damages worth hundreds of billions of won and accidents related to electricity took the lives of innocent people, Yang said.
"We should never let up on our efforts to reduce the number of such accidents related to electricity, the main source of industrial energy,"the CEO said.
KESCO is the only professional organization dealing with electrical safety, carrying out such activities as safety inspections, electrical safety research, technology development and public relations, among others. The company has been doing its best to prevent and recover from electrical disasters.
This year, the company has expanded the operation of Speed Call, an emergency electrical problem-solving system, to low income people and fishing and farm villages in an effort to reduce the number of inefficiencies and to prevent electrical mishaps, Yang said.
Through a thorough safety management program, KESCO will continue to work hard to prevent electrical mishaps from occurring. The company also plans to strengthen electrical safety service so that it can contribute to the development of the nation's industries, and promote the realization of a safe and affluent society.
The Electrical Safety Rally is an event designed to encourage electrical workers to prevent electrical accidents forever from the country, he said, adding that it is an occasion to remind the nation of the construction and management of high quality electrical installations.
The CEO stressed that he hopes the event will increase public awareness and build a sound, new culture for electrical safety under the catchphrase "Safety is attainable only when it is observed by him- or herself."Yang congratulated the award winners in the area of electrical safety and electrical safety posters, and expressed his appreciation for these people, as well as the dignitaries who attended the annual rally.
MOCIE Vice Minister Lee Jae-hoon said in his speech that he appreciates the hard work put in by those engaged in the electrical safety business to protect the assets and lives of the people from electrical mishaps, and would like to encourage them to continue with the good job they have been doing.
Power demand reached as high as 62 million kW in the summer, and typhoon Nari hit the country hard, wrecking tremendous damage to property and human lives. But the supply of power continued to reach every household and other consumers in the country without a hitch, he said, which he attributed to the hard work and dedication put in by those in the power business around the country, particularly those on Jeju Island, where 590 mm of rain fell, destroying many properties and human lives. Yet, the power supply never ceased on the island, he said.
Electricity is a vital element for the development of a number of key industries in the country, including semiconductors, automobiles and shipbuilding, which have been the backbone of the nation's economic surge. Lee thanked those in the electrical safety sector for the development of the power industry, which in the process, helped the nation's core industries enjoy top-class competitiveness in the world.
The second highest ranking MOCIE official said electricity was introduced in the country some 120 years ago, and the industry has made terrific progress since then, ranking the 10th largest in the world. The industry excels in many aspects of the power generation business, including low power-loss rates through the power supply grid system around the country, a low power-failure rate per household, and a high maintenance rate of power wavelength, among others, he said.
Lee said the government and related agencies have wasted no time building electrical safety into the system. The government introduced regulations and laws to reduce and prevent electrical mishaps around the country, and the work has paid off. Fires caused by electrical mishaps accounted for 30 percent of all accidental fires in the country in the past, but the rate has been cut to 19.1 percent this year. It is an encouraging result, but the country still has a long way to go to reduce the level to those in advanced countries.
The Vice Minister said the idea of welfare in electrical safety management was initiated this year. The government introduced the Speed Call system to solve electrical problems 24 hours a day. The system is intended to help those who cannot afford to pay for repairs to the power supply systems in their houses, he said, and to give "bright light"back to those poor neighbors.
Lee recalled that the safety of electricity doesn't get much public attention, but it is clear that it has a very close connection to the safety of the people and to upgrading the quality of their lives.
He said the people gathered at the ceremony will proudly and responsibly do their best to protect the lives and property of the people around the country.
The research in new technologies cannot be neglected in reversing the role of KESCO from dealing with the aftermath of electrical accidents to preventing those accidents from occurring, similar to what advanced countries have been doing. Lee said we need to upgrade the electrical safety management system to an advanced level so that electrical accidents can be prevented.
In response to the shift toward an IT-based society, the vice-minister said we need to upgrade technologies in areas such as inspecting remote electrical systems in order to prevent electrical accidents while cutting time and expenses. We also need to inform the public of electrical accidents, which can occur instantly, and without warning, through mistakes and ignorance. Children, especially, need to be educated about electrical safety.
Electrical safety can only be maintained by the efforts of everyone in the industry. Their efforts will also help the power industry grow faster.
The winners of the Prime Minister's citations for their contributions to electrical safety included:
*Song Eun-keun, assistant manager of High 1 Resort of Kangwon Land, for doing a fine job of managing the power system at the resort;
*Oh Jeong-yol, first-grade staff with KESCO for building the infrastructure for education on electrical safety;
*Chun Byung-yol, head of the electricity base formation business center of Korea Electric Power Corp., for his creativity in such areas as management of electrical safety installations, electrical safety public relations, and the development of electrical safety technologies;
*President Lee Hyung-joo of Dongsung Electric Co. for his achievements in public awareness of electrical safety.
An exhibition of posters about the importance of safe electricity was held as a side event to the rally. Kim Jin-hoo at Nam Seoul University won the grand prize in the exhibition with his poster on the theme of taking care of electricity like a baby in the womb. Cho Ki-ppum of Munsung Information Media High School won the prize for his poster on the theme of restraint in power consumption. The poster showed many hands grabbing rings connected to an electric socket. nw

President Yang Jae-yol of Korea Electrical Safety Corp.