Incheon to Expand 'Safety Signal Light' System for Chemical Accident Prevention to Private Workplaces

On August 5, the Incheon city government announced plans to expand its self-developed "Safety Signal Light" system for accident prevention at chemical handling facilities to private workplaces.

This system assigns a unique color to each chemical substance and applies the same color to the storage tanks, pipes, valves, and inlets. This uniform color-coding helps prevent toxic gas leaks and injuries due to incorrect chemical injections.

Sodium hypochlorite is marked in green, aluminum sulfate in blue, and sodium hydroxide in yellow, for example. This allows workers to easily and intuitively verify the substance being stored, transferred, or injected at each stage of the process.

Depending on the site conditions, dedicated couplings are also used to prevent pipes and hoses for different chemicals from connecting physically. The diameter, thread, pin, or key positions of the connectors vary for each substance. Even if a worker misidentifies the color or the substance name, this design ensures that a second safeguard blocks incorrect chemical injection at the connection stage.

Chemical Accident Safety Signal Light System. Provided by Incheon City

In August of last year, a sodium hypochlorite injection error at the Gongchon Plant under the Incheon Environmental Corporation resulted in the chemical being injected into an aluminum sulfate storage tank, injuring four workers. In September of the same year, 25 people were injured at a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Michuhol District after sodium chlorate was mistakenly placed into a hydrochloric acid storage tank.

Following these incidents, the city applied the Safety Signal Light system to 103 chemical handling facilities across 13 city-affiliated plants under the Incheon Environmental Corporation. Each facility now displays the chemical name and assigned color on tanks and inlets, attaches nameplates and locking devices at the inlets, and installs storage boxes for Safety Data Sheets around the tanks. Rotating warning lights have also been installed so that nearby workers can be alerted when chemicals are being injected.

Building on experience from public facilities, the city will expand implementation to private workplaces starting in the second half of this year. Experts will visit businesses interested in adoption to check the chemicals being handled, as well as storage and transfer processes. They will analyze potential points of incorrect injection and the current labeling system to suggest tailored solutions that suit each facility's conditions.

The Chemical Accident Safety Signal Light initiative is not a new legal requirement. It retains existing legal standards on chemical handling, warning signage, safety training, facility inspection, and emergency response systems, while adding visual identifiers and physical connection controls to minimize the risk of accidents from human error.

According to the Chemical Information System, there have been 49 chemical accidents in Incheon from 2014 through last year, resulting in five deaths and 92 injuries.

The city will use its on-the-ground results to establish industry- and facility-specific criteria and standard guidelines, aiming to propose these as a new national standard for chemical safety management.

A city official stated, "The Chemical Accident Safety Signal Light is a policy that improves both the working environment and the safety management system, helping ensure that even momentary slips by a worker do not lead to accidents. We are committed to developing guidelines and improving the system so that Incheon's experience sets a new national standard for chemical safety management."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.