POSCO will strengthen the management of hazardous work. Permits for hazardous work are currently issued by managers of operating departments in process areas, and the gist is to subdivide this by task and assign responsible managers.
According to the steel industry on the 15th, POSCO recently decided to assign an approver for power outage work in the energy maintenance section. Previously, a department integrating mechanical and electrical duties authorized power outage work, but this has now been separated.
For example, if power outage work needs to be carried out on equipment operated by the rolling department, approval had to be obtained from the rolling department manager, but the procedure has been changed to require approval from the energy maintenance section manager.
This was decided as POSCO accepted the labor union's request to strengthen safety management after fatalities occurred in a series of industrial accidents last year.
The union expressed concern in Nov. last year, when industrial accidents occurred one after another at the Pohang Works, that organizational restructuring for workforce efficiency could create a system in which managers without expertise approve hazardous work.
POSCO requires that work with risks of fire, explosion, suffocation, or leakage (poisoning) be carried out only after approval by a team leader at the level of senior staff or higher in the department operating the relevant facility.
POSCO is also implementing demands such as appropriate staffing and strengthened training, expanded off-site safety education related to high-pressure gas, and revitalized work exchange meetings between the Pohang and Gwangyang works.
A POSCO official said, "This was carried out as part of efforts to listen to, reflect, and implement on-the-ground feedback in the interest of safety management."