Local governments hire dedicated disaster-safety staff as overnight duty ends

Jecheon will abolish the rotating overnight duty system that has required hundreds of municipal employees to take turns and replace it with a dedicated 24-hour operation.

The city said on Aug. 31 that it would integrate duty operations with disaster monitoring. Eight disaster-safety specialists are expected to be hired around October, ahead of the system's full launch in November. They will work in teams of three, with two staff members during the day and one at night.

The daytime shift will run for 24 hours, while the night shift will cover 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. the following day. The staff will monitor social and natural disasters in real time, take initial action when incidents occur, notify and coordinate with relevant agencies, and respond to routine complaints at night and on holidays.

At Jecheon's main offices, between 800 and 900 employees currently take duty shifts roughly once every two or three months. City official Ahn Ho-jin said dedicated personnel would allow faster initial responses while reducing fatigue among other employees and improving their focus on administrative work and civil services.

Other municipalities are following a similar path. Asan began phasing out duty shifts in January, starting with affiliated agencies and public facilities before ending the system at its main offices next year. Chungju eliminated duty shifts at township and neighborhood welfare centers in May 2024, while Cheongju Mayor Lee Jang-seop has promised to abolish employee duty shifts.

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By assigning specialized and dedicated disaster-safety personnel and establishing a 365-day, 24-hour disaster response system, we can strengthen citizen safety through swift and effective initial action when a crisis occurs. It should also reduce the burden and fatigue of employee duty shifts, improving concentration on administrative work and the quality of civil services.