The Korea Electrical Safety Corp. (KESCO) held a prize ceremony to present the 2012 Korea Electricity Safety Award at the Convention Diamant in Samseong-dong, Seoul, on Sept. 7.

Among those on hand at the 2012 Electricity Safety Day anniversary ceremony were Lee Kwan-sup, assistant minister of energy resources at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy; KESCO President Park Chul-gon,; Jun Dae-chun, president of Korea Gas Safety Corp.,; and Yoo Sang-bong, chairman of the Korea Electric Engineers Association.

The 2012 Korea Electricity Safety Award, the 15th one, was designed to award those who have contributed to securing public electricity safety and creating an environment of electricity safety as well as for those in the electricity safety industry to pledge their willingness to put into practice electricity safety.

The coveted grand prize, the Order of Industrial Service, Bronze Tower, went to HJ Industrial Electric Co. Chairman Hong Sung-hee, recognized for his contribution toward reducing disasters caused by electricity by producing quality circuit breakers, acquiring new product certificates, and improving the safety of products. 

Kim Hun-tae, a team leader at Korea Electric Power Corp., and Park Hee-jong, a senior official of KESCO, were presented with the Industrial Service Medal. Kim Sang-keun, managing director of SK Hynix, and Lee Jin-soo, a division head of KESCO, each won the Presidential Award. Doosan E&C became the sole company to be presented with the Presidential Award in recognition of its contribution to preventing on-site disasters caused by electricity. 

KESCO President Park said in a speech, “With the advancement of science and technology, the quality of life of human beings is getting richer, but chances are high that large-scale disasters could take place.”He urged prizewinners and those in the electricity safety industry to play leading roles in ensuring public safety from disasters. 

Following the prize ceremony, an international seminar on electricity safety took place under the theme “Global Trends of Electrical Safety Technology.”

Among approximately 150 participants at the ceremony were Moon Young-hyun, the upcoming president of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers, as well as Korean and foreign electricity safety experts.

Prof. Okubo Hitoshi, of Nagoya University, gave a lecture on the trends of electrical system diagnosis technology and the damages of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent restoration. 

Frank Bertie, managing director of the National Association for Professional Inspectors and Testers (NAPIT) of the United Kingdom, lectured on how to inspect low-voltage electrical installations in accordance with the international standard IEC60364.

Tony McGrail, solution manager at Doble Engineering of the United States, delivered a lecture on new technology trends of electrical installation disaster prevention and maintenance. 

Song Gil-mok, senior researcher at KESCO Electrical Safety Research Institute, lectured on the localization of ultraviolet cameras and the utilization of electrical installation diagnosis systems.