[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Hyundai Motor Group is strengthening support for safety management of partner companies in the construction and steel sectors.
On the 27th, Hyundai Motor Group announced that it will double its support for partner companies in the construction and steel sectors this year. A total of 87 billion KRW will be spent on labor costs, facility and equipment expansion, safety inspections, and training to enhance safety at work sites. This amount is about twice the 45 billion KRW spent last year.
This is aimed at alleviating the management burden of partner companies and creating a safe working environment through financial and technical support related to safety management tasks for small and medium-sized partner companies. By providing not only direct costs such as labor but also consulting and training for building safety systems, it is expected to significantly help secure the safety of partner company workers.
Regarding the construction sector, Hyundai Construction and Hyundai Engineering will spend 42 billion KRW this year. This budget is independently allocated solely to strengthen safety management of partner companies, separate from the safety management fees paid by the ordering companies.
Hyundai Construction will expand the labor costs for safety managers, which were previously paid to subcontractors in high-risk construction trades, to partner companies installing major materials such as steel frames. Hyundai Engineering will additionally support labor costs for appointing safety managers at partner companies with construction contracts exceeding 10 billion KRW starting this year.
Along with this, Hyundai Construction will continue to support smart safety devices such as the cost of deploying construction equipment signalmen, which has been implemented since last year to prevent accidents caused by facilities and equipment, as well as video recognition systems to prevent worker entrapment by construction equipment.
Hyundai Engineering will also strengthen the system for real-time monitoring of construction sites by increasing the installation of mobile CCTVs. Following last year, wearable cameras will be provided to all safety monitors at construction sites.
Support for safety inspections and worker safety education will also be expanded. Hyundai Construction will broaden the scope of safety and health management system consulting for partner companies, which is outsourced to external professional institutions. Hyundai Engineering will strengthen technical guidance on safety inspections of high-risk construction equipment for partner companies through nationally designated inspection agencies and develop multilingual educational content considering the increasing number of foreign workers.
Additionally, 50% of the contract amount will be advanced at the start of construction for partner companies’ safety management costs to ensure more thorough safety management.
To secure safety in the steel sector, Hyundai Steel will support partner companies with 45 billion KRW this year.
First, Hyundai Steel will pay additional costs for hiring safety managers within in-house partner companies. Through this, they plan to hire 1.5 times more personnel than the current safety workforce.
They will also operate about 170 safety guards for partner companies again this year, who will meticulously inspect and guide the safety environment so that partner company employees can work safely on site.
Hyundai Steel will pay about 50% more than the legally mandated safety management fee rate to partner companies involved in construction ordered by Hyundai Steel to strengthen safety management.
Furthermore, wearable cameras and portable detection alarm devices will be introduced for workers this year. To prevent forklift accidents, costs for installing rear sensors and around-view sensors have been supported since last year.
Training costs for partner company safety managers and signalmen will be paid to external professional institutions. Support will also be provided for operating safety and health self-education courses to ensure partner company employees comply with safety rules.
A Hyundai Motor Group official said, “Based on mutual growth with small and medium-sized partner companies, we have decided to significantly expand support this year to secure safety at work sites,” adding, “We will continue efforts to create a safe working environment that all workers, as well as customers, can trust.”
Meanwhile, Hyundai Construction, Hyundai Engineering, and Hyundai Steel have expanded and reorganized their safety management organizations directly under the CEO and are focusing their capabilities on safety management and prevention of major accidents.
Hyundai Construction and Hyundai Engineering have upgraded their safety management organizations from team level to headquarters level to enhance company-wide safety management competitiveness and strengthen site safety management, reorganizing the system to focus on accident prevention. Hyundai Steel has appointed a vice president-level executive to oversee the safety control tower role, practicing safety-first management through prompt decision-making and efficient management of safety.
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