A heat wave with daytime highs topping 36 degrees Celsius is changing how work is done at industrial sites. This year, steel mills introduced a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to request ice water and rest tents, and shipyards began granting extra break time regardless of the perceived temperature. The government said that if public construction halts because of the heat, it will extend project timelines and not hold contractors responsible for delays.
According to the business community on the 17th, at POSCO's Gwangyang steelworks, AI has been handling heat wave supplies since this summer. Previously, each department had to email the person in charge with the required items in a fixed format, making it hard to change quantities or delivery locations and difficult to track application progress. Now, by selecting items such as ice water, ice boxes, and rest tents along with quantities, dates, and delivery locations by category, automatic notifications are sent at each stage from receipt to approval to delivery completion. For bottled water, workers can choose between purified water and ice water.
Around the 1,500-degree blast furnaces and reheating furnaces, equipment radiates heat, and workers wear thick heat-resistant suits, causing body temperatures to rise quickly. POSCO requires a 10-minute break after 50 minutes of work when the measured perceived temperature at each plant exceeds 31 degrees, and it halts or adjusts outdoor work at 35 degrees or higher. Hyundai Steel dispatches buses equipped with refrigerators, blood pressure monitors, and automated external defibrillators to worksites and checks workers' body temperature and blood pressure daily.
Shipyards increased break time without regard to temperature. Hanwha Ocean became the first in the shipbuilding industry to grant an additional 10-minute break in the morning and afternoon from late July to late August, regardless of perceived temperature. Labor and management formed a task force (TF) in February and reached the agreement. The decision reflects site conditions where workers must endure radiant heat outside ship blocks warmed by the sun and welding heat inside cabins where ventilation is difficult.
At the Geoje shipyard, ice makers and water purifiers have been placed about every 150 meters, and more than 300 bottles of ice water are delivered daily to quay work sites vulnerable to heat waves. Outdoors, new cooling fog (mist-type coolers) has been installed to lower body temperature with fine mist, and as the number of foreign workers has increased, heat illness guidance has been produced in 18 languages.
At HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' Ulsan shipyard, a "visiting fruit punch truck" has appeared. Until early Sep., executives and department heads will distribute 44,000 bowls of fruit punch to on-site workers during the 3 p.m. break. The company operates more than 270 rest areas, including lounges and mobile bus-type shelters, in and around worksites and ships under construction, and it has extended the lunch break by 30 minutes through late Aug. A shipbuilding industry official said, "Work in shipyards is tougher in summer than in winter, so we strengthen heat-wave measures every year," and added, "We have increased rest facilities across sites and added cooling and refrigerating equipment such as ice makers so on-site workers don't get worn out by the heat."
In petrochemical plants, where high-temperature, high-pressure facilities run 24 hours a day, it is difficult to stop processes immediately even during severe heat, and workers cannot take off flame-resistant work clothes when patrolling between pipes and tanks. Lotte Chemical has, since May, pre-identified and closely monitored sensitive groups such as older people for heat-related illnesses and operates a health management room staffed by professional nursing personnel. When the perceived temperature is 31 degrees or higher, it changes work hours. At the SK Incheon Petrochem partner sites, six professional safety monitors called "safety keymen" have been deployed with support from Incheon City and the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), and workers receive support for heat-wave supplies and health checkups.
Construction sites check temperatures every five minutes. Starting this month, Lotte Construction activated Internet of Things (IoT) devices at 80 sites nationwide to measure temperature and humidity at five-minute intervals. When a risk level is detected, automatic alerts go to headquarters and the site, and workers scan a QR code to check the perceived temperature where they are standing and see response guidelines. Samsung C&T also uses IoT to monitor perceived temperatures at sites in real time and minimizes high-risk work between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Even if construction stops due to the heat, the constructor will not bear responsibility for schedule delays. On the 13th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance issued guidance for procuring agencies to order temporary suspensions of public works when heat waves or heavy rain make work significantly difficult. Suspension periods will be recognized as force majeure, extending project timelines, and contract amounts will be adjusted to reimburse additional expenses. Even if work continued, liquidated damages will not be imposed if completion was delayed due to the heat. The aim is to end the practice of rushing to meet deadlines under pressure from procuring agencies.