KZ Insight
Korea Zinc shares the brand values and future vision of the company
No more serious disasters
2022-01-23No more serious disasters
ESG
STORY
ZONE
Reflection on the dishonor of ‘High Risk Workplace’
Korea Zinc’s determination for safety management
Korea Zinc’s safety management system
As the CEO of the Onsan refinery, the refinery manager is responsible for safety and health management and plays the role of a control tower for workplace safety, and continues to invest in safety and health, conducts internal and external safety diagnosis, and consulting. Also, the Safety Management Office, in charge of establishing safety & health-related policies, implementing management, supporting resources such as administration and education, and operating a systematic PDCA (Plan Do Check Action) cycle for continuous improvement through performance evaluation plays the role of an organization dedicated to safety & health.
Implementing safety management certification to TOP diagnosis
Onsan Refinery implemented a safety and health management system through the existing OHSAS18001 and KOSHA18001 certifications. In 2020, it successfully converted to ISO 45001, an international standard, and KOSHA-MS, a domestic standard, resulting in more advanced domestic and overseas safety standards and now we are operating a health management system.
Every organization within the company establishes and implements action plans according to the company’s goals and key tasks every year, and is evaluated through quarterly performance measurement and reported to the top management. Furthermore, from this year, all safety and health-related matters are communicated to everyone by reporting and receiving approval of the annual safety and health performance and plans through the board of directors. By guaranteeing the participation of all employees, we are enhancing our ability to monitor issues and respond to risks in advance.
Certification of ISO 45001
and KOSHA-MS
Korea Zinc motivates all members to voluntarily engage in safety management by conducting safety and health evaluations on each department and subcontractors every half year to establish this system in the field, and providing rewards to those with excellent evaluations. In addition, the ‘Top Diagnosis’, which conducts on-site inspections on a weekly basis by refinery manager at the Onsan Refinery, has been implemented since 2016, resulting in over 20,000 safety improvements so far.
Identifying and improving unreasonable matters in the workplace through TOP diagnosis
| Category | Identification | Improvement | Improvement ratio | Improvement amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 4,331 cases | 4,299 cases | 99.3% | 5.52 billion |
| 2019 | 3,730 cases | 3,677 cases | 98.6% | 3.42 billion |
| 2020 | 2,185 cases | 2,096 cases | 95.9% | 2.17 billion |
| Total | 10,246 cases | 10,072 cases | 98.3% | 11.11 billion |
Not yet improved: Long Term requirements (Including in-progress) or review of improvement directions and adequacy
Korea Zinc, Declared Major Accident-Free
Accidents in the workplace cannot be completely prevented just because a company creates a system and everyone in the organization works accordingly. Industrial accidents did not completely disappear in Korea Zinc, and recently, an accident at the Onsan Refinery in May, 2021 shocked the company and all employees.
Accordingly, Korea Zinc declared ‘ Serious Accident-Free ‘ and came up with 4 countermeasures to put it into practice, a total of 30 tasks, and made a promise to the company, all employees, and the local community to realize them. According to this comprehensive measure prepared under the principle of ‘Nothing takes precedence over safety’, he expressed his strong will to ensure that the most important message of safety can be implemented in the same way and at the same level.
Efforts to keep the principle of ‘Safety First’
In order to keep the basic value of ‘Safety First’, Korea Zinc aims to conduct continuous innovation while objectively inspecting and managing the company’s safety system. A safety innovation committee was established at the Onsan refinery and the number of safety personnel from the current 28 has been increased to 106, more than quadrupled. In addition, Korea Zinc decided to implement 100% open safety management so that any on-site members can raise concerns without any disadvantage or inconvenience if they find any violations of safety rules or risk factors.
Vice President Choi said, “If the safety of our members is at stake, no matter how much innovative technology we have, no matter how much profit we make, no matter how much social contribution we make, all of these will become meaningless and futile.” We anticipate that the day will soon come when the top management’s unwavering commitment to safety is reflected in the field, and Korea Zinc will be reborn as a safe workplace that cannot be left behind.