Kim Yeon-geuk, President of Dongkuk Steel, Visits Busan and Pohang Plants... "Record High Safety Budget Investment of 25 Billion Won"

Second Safety Accident This Year...Listening to On-site Voices
Environmental Safety and Health Budget Confirmed at 25 Billion Won, Largest Ever

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Kim Yeon-geuk, President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Dongkuk Steel, held a safety meeting with safety team leaders from all business sites after visiting the sites of consecutive worker fatality accidents. President Kim promised to invest more than this year's environmental safety and health budget (25 billion KRW) if necessary to prevent recurrence of accidents.

In a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 18th, President Kim said, "We have decided to invest a record 25 billion KRW in safety this year," adding, "If necessary, we will improve risk factors without being limited to the allocated budget."

He continued, "Employees at Dongkuk Steel work for as short as 20 years and as long as 40 years, and there should be no accidents until their retirement," explaining, "I listened to the voices from the field regarding measures to strengthen safety."

As the overall manager of business site operations, President Kim visited the Busan plant at 10 a.m. that day to inspect the site, then went to the Pohang plant at 3 p.m. to attend the Environmental Safety Committee meeting. The Environmental Safety Committee meeting is a regular forum attended by safety team leaders from all Dongkuk Steel business sites.

Dongkuk Steel recently decided at the board meeting to invest 25 billion KRW in the environmental safety and health sector. This amount is 30% higher than the previous year and is the largest ever. Specifically, the company plans to implement Internet of Things (IoT) and digitalization at each site and consider the safety of partner companies as well.

To prevent recurrence of accidents, Dongkuk Steel operates a team-based business site rotation system. Workers in teams move to different regions and work for a certain period, a system designed to improve insufficient safety management from a third-party perspective. This year, the company plans to supplement the business site rotation system and improve the system based on discussions at the Environmental Safety Committee.