Safety accidents increase during weeding work ahead of Chuseok in Jeju

(Jeju = Yonhap News) Reporter Jeon Ji-hye = About 15 days before the Chuseok holiday, the sound of lawn mowers is echoing throughout Jeju.

In Jeju, where there is a custom of cutting grass around the first day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, it is a time when family and friends gather on a scheduled date to decorate ancestors' graves.

Jeju has placed great importance on beolcho since ancient times. There are even proverbs such as, ‘If you don’t mow the trees before Chuseok, your ancestors will come to visit you on the holiday using bushes,’ and ‘You may not know that you didn’t do a memorial service, but others will know that you didn’t mow the trees.’

In particular, in Jeju, there is a 'Modumbeolcho' culture where family relatives not only take care of the graves of their direct ancestors, but also gather to cut down the graves of their ancestors. Although circumstances vary from family to family, relatives who live outside of Jeju Island also visit Jeju on the first day of harvest.

Until the early 2000s, some schools operated ‘Beolcho Vacation’. The school is temporarily closed so that students can also participate in beolcho.

In the past, it would take several days to visit and clear the graves of ancestors scattered all over the place. However, these days, the culture has changed a lot, with some families gathering their graves in one place and moving them, and some even using a beoling agency service.

This year, as the heat subsides in late August, many houses have already completed mowing around early September, and some have scheduled mowing this weekend, just after August 1st in the lunar calendar.

When cutting grass, people use mowers or scythes, so many safety accidents occur.

Last weekend alone, 5 people on Saturday (5th) and 2 people on Sunday (6th) received first aid by the 119 ambulance and were transported to the hospital due to lawnmower accidents.

Most cases involve lacerations to the legs or hands. Of these, four suffered deep cuts and were classified as seriously injured.

Prior to this, it was reported that seven safety accidents occurred last month during mowing work, including five people who were transported to the hospital.

In celebration of the beolweed season, the Jeju Island Fire and Safety Headquarters has issued a 'Beolweed Safety Accident Advisory' as of the 21st of last month and is managing safety.

According to the Fire and Safety Headquarters, there were a total of 178 safety accidents that occurred during mowing work in Jeju over the past five years (2021 to 2025). There were no deaths, but 178 people were injured.

By cause, accidents caused by the use of agricultural machinery and equipment, such as lawn mowers, accounted for the most at 78 (43.8%), followed by diseases, falls, and collisions.

In particular, it was analyzed that there were many patients with cuts and lacerations during mowing work, so special care was needed when using equipment.

By time zone, accidents were concentrated between 7 a.m. and 12 noon. Additionally, the accident rate was high among people in their 40s and 60s who frequently use equipment such as lawnmowers.

When using a mower or scythe, you must wear protective equipment such as gloves and safety glasses, and maintain a sufficient safe distance from people around you while working.

Before work, you must check the condition of the equipment and hazardous factors such as surrounding stones and branches.

If a cut occurs, the bleeding should be stopped by pressing the wound with a clean towel or gauze. If the wound is deep or bleeding heavily, you must immediately call 119.

You should also be careful about tick bites and bee stings.

A fire department official said, "Do not rush, work with safety equipment, and if you are injured, quickly call 119 and receive help."