The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 16th that it has selected 67 workplaces as part of the “2025 Port Loading and Unloading Worker Accident Prevention Facility Support Project.” The project aims to support the installation of safety equipment and facilities such as fall prevention devices, AI-based accident prevention devices, and emergency rescue equipment.
Under this project, the state covers 50% of the project costs, while the private sector covers the remaining 50%. For major ports such as Busan, Ulsan, Yeosu-Gwangyang, and Incheon, where port authorities are present, 25% of the state funds are covered by the port authorities. This year’s project will involve 1.9 billion won in state funds and 1.2 billion won in port authority funds.
The initiative began in 2022, following the tragic death of a young worker at Pyeongtaek Port during unloading operations, and aligns with the “Special Port Safety Act” that was implemented in August 2022. Over the past three years, a total of 11.7 billion won has been invested to supply safety facilities and equipment to 177 workplaces.
This year, 74 companies submitted applications for the construction of safety facilities. A project evaluation team, composed of port safety experts, academics, and worker representatives, evaluated the facilities for accident prevention and selected 67 companies as beneficiaries.
Representative safety equipment and facilities include smart airbags, emergency rescue kits, and AI-based CCTVs. Smart airbags rapidly inflate to protect key body parts in case a worker falls, and they automatically notify about the incident via call or message, protecting workers during high-altitude tasks. Emergency rescue kits, attached to cranes, allow rescue personnel to quickly access and respond to shipboard emergencies within the critical time period.
Additionally, in port unloading environments where heavy machinery is used to load large cargoes like containers onto ships, AI-based CCTVs recognize people around operating heavy equipment in land areas of the port, warning drivers and eliminating blind spots to prevent accidents.
Minister Kang Doo-hyung stated, “Ports are high-intensity work environments operating 24/7, posing constant risks of safety accidents,” and promised, “We will do our best to support port workers so that they can work safely in a secure environment.”