KORAIL, Committed to Ensuring Safety of Railway Vehicle Shunting and Coupling/Decoupling Workers

[Financial News] KORAIL announced on the 16th that it has focused on inspecting safety measures for railway vehicle shunting workers, whose safety is increasingly required to prevent industrial accidents. Shunting refers to the work of connecting, disconnecting, or moving vehicles to form a train.
 KORAIL is putting efforts into eliminating human and material unsafe factors and enhancing safety by improving equipment and facilities at major freight stations nationwide and strengthening on-site monitoring.
 First, to minimize the track movement of shunting workers, manual track switches are being upgraded to electric automatic systems. This allows remote operation of equipment from places like the station office, reducing the risk of track movement and preventing human errors in the work process.
 So far, track switches at 69 locations (frames) at 13 stations including Gwaedong and Seokpo have been replaced, and 30 frames at 4 stations including Obong Station are scheduled for upgrade by the end of this year.
 Safety facilities have also been supplemented to create a work environment where workers can work with peace of mind. Safe passageways have been established by installing safety fences and removing obstacles along the tracks, and lighting facilities have been added at 18 stations including Uiwang and Busanjin Stations to improve the brightness of the workplace for adequate visibility during night work.
 In addition, on-site management by the affiliated manager has been strengthened. Shunting operations are monitored at least once a month to ensure compliance with safety rules, and shunting operation procedure training has been regularized since 2022, including stations where shunting is not performed, to respond to unusual situations.
 Meanwhile, KORAIL checked the safety measures for shunting workers and the status of improvements in unsafe factors at actual work sites, with the participation of station managers from 7 major shunting stations nationwide on the 12th.
 Through the Management Information System (MIS), the safety status of each location was examined, and the implementation status of safety measures (such as increasing safety personnel, securing passageways, and supplementing safety signs and facilities) that have been promoted over the past three years since 2022 was intensively reviewed.
 Jeong Jeong-rae, Acting President, said, "Considering the characteristics of shunting operations, we will strengthen the safety of actual workers and solve difficulties by identifying and improving structural problems on site to establish a systematic safety net."
kwj5797@fnnews.com Kim Won-jun Reporter