The Korea Golf Course Management Association, led by President Choi Dong-ho, announced Friday that it had toured all eight of its regional councils — covering southern, eastern and northern Gyeonggi Province, Yeongnam, Honam, Chungcheong, Gangwon Province and Jeju — throughout July to share guidance on safety management, environmental and labor issues, and summer course maintenance strategies.
The meetings focused on member companies' responses to recently revised golf course safety inspection manuals and key occupational health and safety laws. The association urged members to comply with work safety rules — including installing outriggers when using aerial work platforms — and to strengthen emotional labor protections for customer-facing workers such as caddies.
The association also said the revised safety inspection manuals point to a growing need to raise overall safety management standards, including building safety training systems for managers and supervisors, managing hazardous areas, conducting cart safety inspections and reinforcing caddie protection measures.
On environmental matters, the association asked members to conduct self-inspections ahead of the government's special summer environmental pollution checks, covering pre-inspection of wastewater discharge and treatment facilities, waste and clipping management, and water-related documentation.
The association also shared information to help member companies prepare proactively for anticipated changes in labor conditions, including the government's push for a four-and-a-half-day workweek and an extension of the mandatory retirement age.
The Korea Turfgrass Research Institute, an affiliate of the association, analyzed this summer's weather patterns — noting that the rainy season began later than usual, rainfall varied significantly by region, and a heat wave followed immediately after the monsoon ended — and released course management strategies for August based on those findings.
"Operating conditions for golf courses are becoming increasingly difficult due to climate change and tightening safety and environmental regulations," President Choi said. "The association will continue to provide member companies with management techniques and regulatory information they can put to immediate use on the ground, and will do its utmost to support safe golf course operations and business stability."
yjc@heraldcorp.com
