Complex shopping mall calling death… “Open building, raise the railing”

Input 2021.01.29 09:15

Shopping mall with a large floating population… Many people lean on the railing, but the height is only 120cm
Rail height regulation 10 years ago… There is a risk of shopper accident, no safety device
The railing should be raised and the structure strength should be strengthened to match the Westernized Korean body shape.

On the 15th, a man in his 30s crashed and died at IFC Mall, a shopping mall in Yeouido, Seoul. The police and fire authorities determined that the man was committed, but the bereaved family were in the position of an accident. One acquaintance of the bereaved family said, “He talked to the person in charge of the mall’s internal opening facility a few minutes before the accident, and fell off the railing as he hung up the phone.” The IFC Mall has a low railing for each floor and a hole in the middle. Experts point out that it is necessary to change the standards for railing installation in shopping malls and to strengthen the strength of the structure.

◇The poor railing of a shopping mall…lower to 120cm in height
The IFC Mall, which the reporter visited on the 28th, had a hole in the middle of the three basement floors and railings were installed on each floor. From restaurants to cafes, clothing, shoes, and cosmetics stores can be seen at a glance. The height of the railing, measured directly with a tape measure, was 120 cm. It is the height above the waist based on the height of 169cm. People were taking pictures or leaning against the railing with coffee. In the corner of the railing it was written in small print,’It can be dangerous to lean on the railing’, but few people kept it.

In addition to the IFC Mall, most shopping malls chose this indoor structure because they look good in terms of aesthetics. This is because raising the railing makes it feel stuffy and cramped. The center of the two floors of the COEX Mall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, which I visited on this day, was also opened around the Byeolmadang Library. The height of the railing was 120 cm. There was a desk around, so I could see many people reading books or listening to music.

The Avenuel World Tower branch of Lotte Department Store in Songpa-gu, Seoul was similar. The middle of the basement floors from the 1st to the 9th floor was drilled and the railing height was 140cm. A net safety bar was installed on the escalator. The Lotte World Mall is open from the 1st to the 5th floor, and the height is 130cm~140cm. People who were shopping were looking at their smartphones leaning against the railing.

Even overseas, shopping malls with this structure often lead to accidents. There have been three crashes in the last year on a honeycomb vessel in Manhattan, New York, USA. Although it is a popular tourist attraction where you can see New York and the Hudson River, the developer temporarily closed the vessel when an accident occurred.

Kim Jong-ho, CEO of Changminwoo Rescue Consultant, said, “Most overseas shopping malls such as Singapore have chosen this indoor structure.” “You can walk around and see the left and right stores at a glance, and instead of opening the center, you can easily access the store with bridges connected in various directions. I can.”

◇The national average height has risen by 7cm… Current railing regulations stayed 10 years ago
The problem is the current law. Article 18 of the Regulations on Housing Construction Standards states that’the height of the railing should be 120cm, and in places with low risk, the railing must be installed at least 90cm’. Experts point out that the national average height is getting higher and the standards for railing installation remain ten years ago.

According to the’Korean Human Body Size Survey’ by the National Agency for Technology and Standards of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the average height of men aged 30 to 34 increased from 166.1 cm in 1979 to 173.7 cm in 2015, increasing by 7.6 cm. The average height of women aged 30 to 34 years increased from 153.7 cm in 1979 to 160.2 cm in 2015. The head of the National Institute of Technology and Standards Lee Seung-woo said, “The human body dimensions in 2020 are still being counted, but as the body shape of Koreans is Westernized, both men and women are increasing in height.”

Experts point out that safety should be considered before aesthetics when designing a shopping mall with a large floating population and complex traffic lines. “It is important to raise railings and install various safety devices such as nets,” said Gong Ha-seong, a professor of fire and disaster prevention at Wooseok University. Professor Choi Chang-sik of the Department of Architectural Engineering at Hanyang University also said, “An ergonomic design is necessary in consideration of the body of the people. It is important that the space looks large, but it is important to consider safety and the strength of the structure installed in the center of the shopping mall must be strengthened.” .

This shopping mall structure is also vulnerable to fire. Professor Gong pointed out, “In the case of an indoor structure with a hole in the middle, the flame spreads faster than a general building when a fire occurs.”