Gwangyang Steelworks 2nd Hot Rolling Mill Accelerates 'Safety Value Realization'

Full Automation of Product Testing and Packaging Lines

Capturing Three Benefits: Safety, Environment, and Work Efficiency

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seonsik] POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks (Director Lee Jinsu) has embarked on creating a safer steelworks environment to eliminate workers' job risks by completing the automation equipment for the HPL (Hot Packing Line) process, which encompasses specimen collection for testing the final hot-rolled coil products and product packaging.

The HPL is a line where a portion of the hot-rolled coil product is cut out as a specimen (a test piece of hot-rolled coil) for quality inspection, and the final product is packaged. Until now, all specimen collection and product packaging at the 2nd Hot Rolling Mill have been done manually by employees.

The 2nd Hot Rolling Mill HPL processed an average of 103 hot-rolled coil products daily, each weighing up to 30 tons. Workers repeatedly carried specimens averaging 17 kg each, in teams of two, about 30 times daily, which posed a high risk of musculoskeletal disorders and constant danger of accidents such as specimen drops.

To address these safety and health risks, Gwangyang Steelworks began construction of automation equipment for specimen collection and packaging in February last year and completed the installation last month.

In this process, a shear-type device was applied as the cutting machine for specimen collection, which is expected to improve the environment by preventing smoke emissions caused by the previously used oxygen cutting machine.

Moreover, the automation equipment not only reduced working hours but also halved the personnel required for the manual HPL process, thereby improving work productivity.

With the completion of this automation equipment, all four hot rolling mills at Gwangyang Steelworks, along with Pohang Steelworks, are now equipped with automated HPL facilities.

This will minimize industrial accidents caused by intense manual labor in the final stages of hot-rolled coil product manufacturing.

Joo Sangwook, Group Leader of POSCO Investment Engineering Office, said, “With the completion of the automation equipment at Gwangyang’s 2nd Hot Rolling Mill, all hot rolling mills at both Gwangyang and Pohang Steelworks have established HPL automation. We will continue to pursue ESG management to eliminate safety risks at our workplaces.”

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seonsik hss79@asiae.co.kr