Enacted on March 31, 2020, the Electrical Safety Control Act came into force on April 1, 2021 (the “Act”). The Act regulates the safety management of electrical facilities from their initial installation to subsequent maintenance and management stages.
Prior to the Act, safety management was regulated together with all other electricity business-related matters governed by the Electric Utility Act. The Act now provides independent and systemic regulation of electrical safety management.
In addition to amended requirements previously prescribed under the Electric Utility Act, the Act provides new requirements. Businesses in the electric power industry should thus take careful note of the Act and any measures they may need to take to comply with its requirements – particularly, regarding pre-use inspections and inspection targets.
The Act’s key features include the following.
1. Improvement of Electrical Safety Management Systems
- To manage electrical safety on a systemic basis, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (“MOTIE”) must establish and implement a master plan for electrical safety management every five (5) years (Article 5 of the Act).
- To enable customized management of electrical safety issues based on the condition of electrical equipment, a safety rating system has been introduced to reflect the level of deterioration and maintenance status/conditions of electrical equipment. The frequency and timing of inspections can be adjusted in accordance with safety ratings (Article 17 of the Act).
- To systematically manage information relating to electrical safety management, the MOTIE may establish and operate a ‘comprehensive electrical safety information system’ (Article 38 of the Act).
- A regular inspection system has been introduced for multi-unit dwellings, such as older apartment buildings (25 years or more), requiring mandatory regular inspections every three (3) years (Article 14 of the Act).
- Accommodation facilities and electric vehicle charging stations in rural areas (i.e. farming and fishing communities) have been included in the public-use facilities inspection list. Operators of such facilities are required to complete safety inspections prior to commencement of operations (safety inspections must also be completed in case of change in operators) (Article 13 of the Act).
- The timing of inspections has been adjusted for renewable power generation equipment – pre-use inspections of renewable power generation equipment must be completed at each process stage (Article 9 of the Act).
- The MOTIE may conduct emergency inspections of equipment prone to electrical accidents. If the result of an emergency inspection shows a significant risk of accident, the MOTIE may order necessary safety measures be taken, including repair, demolition, relocation, suspension of construction, or suspension of use (Article 16 of the Act).
- Professional electrical safety management service-providers entrusted with electrical safety management duties must satisfy registration requirements. Construction managers must obtain mandatory safety construction education to prevent safety accidents and improve construction quality (Article 25 and 26 of the Act).
- Professional electrical safety management service-providers are permitted to perform electrical safety management duties for solar power generation facilities up to 3,000kW with remote monitoring and control functions. The Act prescribes the criteria for calculating the remuneration for such services (Article 22 of the Act).
- Electrical safety supervisors may demand and request owners to renovate or repair any non-compliant equipment and the owner cannot take any disadvantageous measures against such electrical safety supervisors as a result of such demand or request (Article 24 of the Act).
2. Improvement of Electrical Equipment Safety to Prevent Electrical Disasters
3. Improvement of Safety Workers’ Expertise and Working Conditions
