Concerns about outdoor billboards during the rainy season

The bigger the billboard, the bigger the worry

Along the central streets of Vinh city, it is not difficult to see billboards with many different sizes and colors. Among them, there are many large billboards. Note that on Quang Trung street, billboards are attached in front of high-rise buildings.

In reality, advertising signs are often installed outdoors, exposed to harsh weather conditions, rain, and sun, causing the iron frame to rust and the canvas to tear. In addition, business owners often make advertising signs that exceed the size of the sign. When encountering storms and strong winds, the advertising signs will sway in the air, causing insecurity for passersby.

At the intersection of Le Mao and Tran Phu streets, there are a series of billboards blocking prime locations right at the beginning of the street. Mr. Tran Minh Chien in Quang Trung ward, Vinh city said: When it rains and is windy, walking on the road with large billboards is very afraid of them falling down, endangering the lives and property of road users.

Walking along the center of Nam Dan town, Nam Dan district, both sides of the road are densely packed with billboards, some of which are larger than the second floor of the building, some of which are placed separately on the roadside. During the recent stormy season, some of the billboards here were blown down by the wind but fortunately did not hit any road users.

Ms. Tran Thi Minh in Nam Dan town added: Every day, when traveling through this route, I see that some advertising signs are not firmly attached, not ensuring safety for road users. If there is a storm, it will be very dangerous because the risk of falling is very high.

The current situation of street advertising signs that pose a potential safety risk during the rainy and stormy season requires the authorities to review and inspect to rectify and fix cases of advertising signs that are not placed in accordance with regulations, and to reinforce the pillars of unstable or degraded advertising signs to ensure safety for road users.

According to Article 34 of Decree 38/2021, which stipulates penalties for violations of advertising activities affecting urban aesthetics, order, traffic safety, and social safety, individuals and organizations will be subject to administrative fines of 10-20 million VND.

If a broken billboard causes damage but is not due to force majeure, the billboard owner must still be responsible for compensating for the damage according to the provisions of civil law.

Lack of labor safety when making advertising signs and high roofs

On National Highway 7B through Yen Thanh town, Yen Thanh district, we saw a group of workers swinging on small, towering steel rods to weld the frame of an advertising sign. The welders worked at height but had absolutely no safety harnesses, masks, or welding goggles to ensure safety.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tinh in Yen Thanh town added: Welders working at heights are not only unsafe for themselves, but also because the construction site is not covered, steel can fall down, endangering people walking below.

In addition, the roof welding profession also has many potential safety risks. Mr. Tran Van Minh - a welder in Quynh Thach commune (Quynh Luu) shared: During the rainy and stormy season, many roofs are damaged by the wind, the roofing profession is overwhelmed, however, the team of workers mainly works based on experience, not trained, so accidents can still happen during the construction process.
Therefore, it is necessary to propagate to employers and employees to raise awareness of ensuring labor safety in the above cases, and at the same time punish behaviors that can cause danger and insecurity for road users in the upcoming rainy and stormy season.