Government launches emergency response system as heat wave drags on, focusing on protecting older workers

[Financial News] 

As the prolonged heat wave continues to claim lives, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCHQ) has activated emergency response units across related ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), and has begun a government-wide response. Of the 23 people who have died from heat-related illness this year, 19, or 82.6%, were aged 65 or older. As a result, the government is concentrating its response capabilities on protecting vulnerable groups such as elderly farmers, people living alone, and workers at construction and logistics sites.
CDSCHQ said on the 8th that it will further strengthen heat-wave response systems at related ministries and local governments, with Minister of the Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung serving as head of the headquarters. The move follows the president's instruction at a meeting on July 6 to reinforce the government-wide response system for heat waves and drought.
The reason the government has raised its response level is the continuing loss of life among older adults and outdoor workers.
Of the 23 people who died from heat-related illness this year, 19 were aged 65 or older, accounting for 82.6% of the total. By location, seven deaths occurred in rural areas, or 30%, the largest share, while six deaths, or 26.1%, occurred at indoor and outdoor workplaces.
Accordingly, the government has designated older adults, farming sites and indoor and outdoor workplaces as key areas for preventing heat-related deaths and injuries, and will strengthen on-site response. Centered on CDSCHQ, emergency response units will be set up at related ministries such as MAFRA, MOHW and MOEL to activate a government-wide response system.
MAFRA will focus on protecting elderly farmers and preventing damage in the agriculture and livestock sectors. Officials will visit elderly farmers in person to distribute cooling supplies and provide mobile medical services through the Rural House Call Bus. The ministry will also expand the distribution of preventive supplies, such as high-temperature stress stabilizers, to reduce heat damage to livestock and crops.
MOHW will strengthen protection for vulnerable groups, including people living alone. It will expand tailored support based on the characteristics of each vulnerable group and increase on-site personnel and cooling supplies. The ministry also plans to continue monitoring the operation of senior centers used as Cooling Centers so that people aged 65 and older can use them safely.
MOEL will step up workplace inspections and oversight, focusing on construction sites and logistics centers where outdoor workers, migrant workers and platform workers are heavily employed.
In particular, it will closely inspect whether work stoppage measures, according to heat-wave alert levels, are being properly implemented at workplaces vulnerable to extreme heat. The ministry also said it will check on-site compliance with the five basic heat safety rules so that all workers, including migrant workers, can work safely.
The government will also continue its government-wide inspections, given the possibility that the heat wave will persist. On the 9th, CDSCHQ will hold a meeting on heat-wave disaster response with related ministries to comprehensively review each agency's response and discuss additional measures to prepare for the prolonged heat wave.
Yun Ho-jung, head of CDSCHQ, said, "In response to the extreme heat, we will concentrate all administrative resources so that related ministries and local governments can work closely together around CDSCHQ and ensure that heat-wave and drought measures operate without gaps on the ground." He added, "We will activate a government-wide all-out response system with the protection of people's lives and safety as our top priority."

[email protected] Lee Bo-mi Reporter