Rep. Kim Kwan-young of the Baru Mirae Party, a member of the National Assembly Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee, President Kim Hyeong-geun of Korea Gas Safety Corp. (KGS), and representatives from gas safety circles gesture as they attended a policy seminar on the safety management of gas pipelines at the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution at the Parliamentarians’ Hall of the National Assembly on Dec. 5. (Photo: Rep. Kim Kwan-young’s Office)

Rep. Kim Kwan-young of the Baru Mirae Party, a member of the National Assembly Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee and Ansilnyeon, a civic body for life safety movement, hosted a policy seminar on the safety management of gas pipelines at the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution at the Parliamentarians’ Hall of the National Assembly on Dec. 5.

In his opening speech, Rep. Kim recalled the horrible moments of the disaster in Ahyeon-dong, Seoul, in 1994. “We had suffered an accident that we’ve never forgotten, or we should never forget. Not only deaths, injured people and 210 households are still suffering from mental trauma from the Ahyeon-dong city gas explosion,” he said.

“If we join forces in discussing how to ensure safety management of natural gas pipelines, inspect gas pipelines and take stock of regulations in an honest fashion, I think a combination between technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution and outcomes of our discussions could yield meaningful results,” Rep. Kim said.

“Gas is closely related to all people’s lives. We see to it that safety be ensured for people, and I devote myself with continued concern to ensuring the safety of gas in Korea,” he said.

President Kim Hyeong-geun of Korea Gas Safety Corp. (KGS) said, “The Integrated Management Program (IMP), an advanced prognostics and health management regime, has been introduced for the first time in Korea, and through inspections have been made like a look into the transition situation of old pipelines, aged more than 15 years.”

The corporation is making all-out efforts to ensure the safety of underground infrastructure by conducting precision safety examinations using sheath damage prevention equipment on heavy pressure pipelines, underground exploration and drones.

Furthermore, he said, KGS is building the City-Gas Pipeline Management System (CPMS) and a system to diagnose data transmission to correspond to the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Senior Executive Vice President Sung Young-gyu in charge of safety and technology at Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) said people and government’s concern is continuously mounting as large-size accidents took place at energy public entities such as Korea District Heat Corp. (KDHC) and KOWEPO.

The government enacted guidelines on the safety management of public entities, and KOGAS, designated as an entity of safety management requirement, has put into practice safety management steps like the establishment of a master plan on safety and the inauguration of a safety management committee.

KOGAS has developed and operated the Environment, Health, Safety, and Quality (EHSG) regime to realize the foremost value of respecting humanity and nature, and the corporate obtained certifications such as ISO 45001 and ISO 9001 in conformity of internationals standards, and as such, KOGAS is devoting itself to fulfilling responsibilities and duties as a public entity, he said.

Ways of ensuring safety management of natural gas pipelines, to be presented by General Manager Moon Yong-sup of KOGAS are part of efforts to ensure the safety and stable supply of natural gas, Senior Executive Vice President Sung said. General Manager Moon would introduce safety verification of long-standing operation pipelines and in-line inspection (ILI).

In particular, he said, KOGAS will focus on ensuring safety management using new technologies like pipeline surveillance via drones and big data. KOGAS will promise to redouble efforts to develop the gas industry and ensure safety management, he said.