Rep. Hwang Hee Proposes Bill to Establish Construction Equipment Safety Management Center... Real-Time Monitoring of Operation Routes

"Proactive Prevention Is More Important Than Post-Accident Response"

A bill has been proposed to designate the route and operating hours of large construction equipment, such as dump trucks, at large-scale reconstruction and redevelopment sites, and to enable real-time management using location information.

Dump truck accident site caused by brake failure. Photo by Yonhap News

On August 31, Hwang Hee, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea (representing Seoul Yangcheon A), announced that he had sponsored a proposed amendment to the “Construction Machinery Management Act” containing these provisions.

The amendment authorizes the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to establish and operate a “Construction Machinery Operation Safety Management Center.” It also requires the installation of terminal devices capable of collecting location data and wireless communication, in consideration of the type and weight of construction equipment. The government may fully or partially subsidize the costs needed for the installation and operation of these terminal devices.

The amendment also allows heads of local governments or the heads of the competent municipal or provincial police agencies to designate specific roads and operating hours for construction machinery for each construction site. If a vehicle deviates from the designated route or enters a restricted or prohibited section, the driver will be notified and the relevant information will be transmitted to related authorities, thereby establishing a real-time response system.

According to Assemblyman Hwang, from 2016 to last year, there were 2,170 traffic accidents involving construction machinery and pedestrians, resulting in 347 fatalities over a ten-year period. The fatality rate was 16 per 100 accidents, about six times higher than the 2.66 per 100 for passenger vehicle accidents.

Assemblyman Hwang said, “As traffic accidents involving construction machinery have an extremely high fatality rate compared to general accidents, it is crucial to proactively reduce risk factors during operation rather than respond after an accident. We will establish a systematic operating management system tailored to on-site conditions to ensure the smooth progress of large-scale maintenance projects and to safeguard resident safety.”

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