A Study on the Improvement of Chemical Accident Response System in View of the National Disaster Management System

Abstract

Since the hydrofluoric acid spill accident in Gumi in 2012, the current situation has continued to suffer from makeshift responses or feeble national system maintenance in preparing real countermeasures against chemical accidents, regardless of their repeated occurrence and seriousness. Industrial chemical accidents have an enormous ripple effect on the whole country and society. The purpose of this study is to propose ways of establishing directions for the national disaster management system against repeated occurrence of chemical accidents. To achieve this goal, the present study proposed improvement measures of response system for industrial chemical accident through the analysis of the current response system and structural causes of disaster control failure for chemical accidents.

Survey of awareness about hazardous chemicals of residents living near chemical plants in South Korea

“…To investigate residents’ awareness and WNHCs, the questionnaire was composed of three items, namely, awareness of chemical risk, awareness of countermeasures in chemical accidents, and imperious necessity of PPE. The survey constructed on the basis of previous research and data collection was performed through one-on-one interviews 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) . The same number of participants at each sample area was determined: 150 each at 4 sample areas, total number of 600 residents, and 40 each at 4 sample areas, total number of 160 WNHCs, were selected to interview.…”

“…In South Korea, as reported by the Ministry of Environment between 2010 and 2014, the total number of chemical accidents has dramatically increased from 15 cases to 104 cases 1 ) . Chemical accidents affect the environment and disrupt societies and economic burden 2 , 3 , 4 ) . In many countries, the hazardous chemicals are controlled and managed by relevant laws and regulations for preventing chemical accidents 5 , 6 ) .…”

Study on Improvement Measures for Prevention and Countermeasure of Chemical Accident

“…, Lee 등 (8) , Lee 등 (10) . (3) 위험물안전관리법에서는 위험물로 인한 위해를 방지하 여 공공의 안전을 확보함을 목적으로 ① 위험물을 분류 · 관리하고 있다 (11) .…”

Types and clinical outcomes of chemical ingestion in emergency departments in South Korea (2011-2016)

“…Exposure events are primarily monitored by the departments responsible for managing chemicals, and data collection from the victims is hospital-or poison center-based [4][5][6][7]]. In South Korea, data regarding chemical exposures are limited to the exposure events, such as chemical accidents or chemical exposures at the workplace [1,[8][9][10] In this study, we aim to provide basic data on chemical ingestion, including the types of chemicals and frequency of ingestion and clinical outcomes of chemical ingestion. Therefore, we compared the characteristics of chemical ingestion according to their intentionality and analyzed the factors that affect the poor prognosis in each group.…”