The 'Elevator Safety Accident Prevention Congress and Industry Development Seminar' was held at Hanwha Resort's Jindalae Room in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, on the 15th of last month.

Hosted by four related organizations - the Elevator Installation Contractors Association, the Korea Elevator Industry Cooperative, the Korea Elevator Repairers Cooperative, and the Korea Elevator Association - and sponsored by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the event was attended by more than 130 industry stakeholders, including the heads of the government's elevator ministries and related organizations, as well as representatives and employees of inspection agencies, elevator universities, and member companies that manufacture, install, and repair elevators. The event was significant in that it raised awareness of elevator safety and provided a venue for harmony among industry-related organizations. In particular, this is the first time in the industry's history that related unions and associations have held a joint event. 

In a greeting on behalf of the four organizations, Choi Kang-jin, chairman of the Korea Elevator Maintenance Industry Cooperative, said, "In the century of elevator history, we have never held a joint event like this before, but it is a great honor to take this opportunity."

Speaking about the current industry situation, Choi said, "Due to the recent financial market turmoil in Europe, the domestic construction economy is also facing a recession, and the elevator industry is in a very difficult situation, and even in this situation, companies are operating in fierce competition with global companies without being able to reflect the cost of various utilities, raw material prices, and rising labor costs in their costs." He added, "The government is unconditionally imposing many regulations on user safety and product quality."

He added, "The industry is expected to undergo a lot of changes in the midst of such a volatile regulatory situation. Therefore, in order for the industry to develop the elevator field into a future-oriented industry, organizations should change the wrong paradigm and improve the unreasonable parts of the law and system by making recommendations." 

 

In her welcoming remarks, So Ki-ok, head of the Safety Improvement Division of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "It is refreshing that four related organizations have gathered to organize such a meaningful event." She continued, "I hope this will be an opportunity for the elevator industry to lay the foundation for becoming an advanced elevator country."

In his encouraging remarks, Dr. Park Young-kyu, President of Korea Elevator University, said, "Although we are in our third year of existence, we have been selected for the industry-academia cooperation support project and will receive KRW 1.2 billion in annual financial support for the next five years." He emphasized, "Through this event, we will do our best to cultivate novel human resources suitable for the industry level by reflecting industry advice and counsel into the university curriculum."

In his encouraging remarks, Kim Ki-sik, Director of Technical Safety at the Korea Elevator Safety Institute, said, "I believe that this event, which was organized with the united efforts of the elevator industry, will be a good opportunity for the advancement of elevators." He continued, "In preparation for the application of the newly introduced advanced inspection standards, the institute will make full preparations by fostering professional inspectors."

Then, at the resolution contest to prevent elevator safety accidents, which began in earnest, a resolution was read by Hanyang Elevator President Kim Hwan. The resolution, which included contents such as ▲ ensuring safe operation with the best products ▲ securing operation quality through perfect construction ▲ preventing safety accidents through thorough inspection ▲ practicing safety rules for workers ▲ serving customers through prompt dispatch ▲ and taking responsibility in the industry for ensuring user safety, represented the voice of the industry as well as those who attended the event.

At the event following the luncheon, the following topics were discussed: ▲ Direction of Elevator Policy (So Ki-ok, Safety Improvement Division, Ministry of the Interior and Safety), ▲ 2012 Korea Elevator Safety Expo (Choi Il-seop, Director of Elevator Expo Business Promotion Division), ▲ Elevator Technical Manpower Training Plan (Hwang Soo-cheol, Professor, Safety Management Department, Korea Elevator University), ▲ Elevator Certification System (Lee Joo-hwan, Head Researcher, Korea Testing & Research Institute) ▲ Explanation of EN codification of elevator inspection standards and countermeasures (Lee Sun-soon, General Manager, Korea Elevator Safety & Technology Institute) ▲ Stress management through thought constitution (Ryu Jong-hyung, Lecturer) ▲ Questions and answers on the direction of elevator policy followed.

 

Explaining the direction of elevator policy, So Ki-ok, head of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "The revision of the Elevator Safety Act was focused on how people can use elevators with peace of mind, and in the process of improvement, some people may benefit and some may lose." "We will ensure that the differential inspection system for each building, maintenance technician registration system, and business status management registration system will be managed in a certain system framework." In particular, he said, "We need to establish a comprehensive system that can manage the overall situation such as the number of accidents, parts replacement, and where the elevator is installed from the factory and the number of accidents, and we should share opinions without misunderstanding on the work of attaching the elevator license plate that can reflect the lifetime of the elevator in the code."

Regarding the upcoming Korea Elevator Safety Expo 2012, which will be held at COEX in Seoul from October 23 to 26, 2012, Choi Il-seop, head of the Elevator Expo Business Promotion Division, said, "The number of new elevators installed worldwide is 600,000, of which Korea is not a small market, installing about 25,000 elevators per year."

Therefore, "The Elevator Expo Business Development Center has already operated a promotional booth at the Guangzhou Elevator Exhibition in China last May to encourage participation in the exhibition by the China Elevator Association and others, and recently received applications for 50 booths from the Korean Elevator Valley Business Association and large companies." "We hope that many companies will be interested in the Korea Elevator Safety Expo, which is a big event in the industry," he concluded. The exhibition, which will be held in collaboration with the Korean Institute of Architects and COEX, will be open until the end of August, after which it will hold a briefing session for exhibitors.

The subsequent announcement on the direction of fostering elevator technicians drew the attention of the attendees for a moment, as if reflecting the current industry situation that is suffering from a shortage of installation manpower.

Hwang Soo-cheol, professor of safety management at Korea Elevator University, said, "Although we graduated the first class earlier this year, it was difficult for companies to put manpower directly into the field due to lack of preparation." "The university will take the lead in providing technical support by actively utilizing the recently established elevator training building and holding regular special lectures and seminars, and we will make efforts to foster human resources with character by adopting self-directed personality education, customer satisfaction education, and entrepreneurship training as liberal arts subjects to create a foundation for the internationalization of the domestic elevator industry."

In response, Jeon So-yeon, vice chairman of the Korea Elevator Association, said, "In reality, even if we train human resources, no one wants to enter and work in the elevator because social awareness is too backward." "Instead of giving benefits for a certain period of time, the government should introduce a mandatory working period system for installation and maintenance personnel to create a win-win strategy," she said. "If there is a will to change, policies can be changed and cities can be transformed, and the elevator industry holds the key to this," he said.

Finally, Lee Sun-soon, head of the Korea Elevator Safety and Technology Institute, explained the revised elevator inspection standards that were announced, and drew a strong response from the attendees by explaining the differences between electric elevators and the current MRL elevator inspection standards, as well as the differences with the European standard (EN 81). He explained the differences between the current MRL elevator inspection standard and the European standard ((EN 81)) in terms of counterweight and counterweight partition, work area inside the pit, lighting and outlet, guides, and vertical retractable door provisions, and then explained the differences between the EN code and the machine room, such as the driver and car entrance.

"We have been operating the TFT team jointly with the elevator inspection agencies for three months since May," said Lee Sun-soon, head of the headquarters. "When applying the completely revised elevator inspection standards, we are taking measures to minimize confusion and improve the convenience of inspections by standardizing inspection tips and judgment guidelines among inspection agencies, such as installation, manufacturing, and maintenance companies."

In the future, the TFT team plans to standardize inspection requirements such as inspection record sheets, inspection judgment guidelines, and inspection tips, prepare materials for shared growth of related industries, prepare to hold seminars with related organizations, and prepare standardized procedures for safety evaluation through document review.