Hanwha Aerospace forms safety committee with external experts and union after fatal explosion

Hanwha Aerospace is establishing an independent 'Safety Culture Innovation Committee,' comprising external experts and labor union representatives, in response to a recent explosion at its Daejeon facility that resulted in multiple casualties. The company aims to comprehensively reform its safety and health management system following a series of serious accidents since 2018.

The committee will operate with independence, expertise, and objectivity to re-examine the entire safety and health management framework across all business sites. It will identify structural vulnerabilities in organizational, institutional, procedural, and operational aspects to propose fundamental improvements and prevent recurrence of accidents. The committee will consist of 13 members: 11 external experts and two employees recommended by the labor union.

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The Safety Culture Innovation Committee will operate with independence, expertise, and objectivity to re-examine the entire safety and health management system across all business sites, identify structural vulnerabilities in organization, systems, procedures, and field operations, and propose fundamental improvement measures to prevent recurrence of accidents.

Moon Il, a professor emeritus of chemical and biological engineering at Yonsei University and a recognized authority in process safety and chemical engineering, will chair the committee. Hanwha noted Moon's past roles as chairman of the Korea Society of Hazard Prevention and head of the Korea Research Foundation's national research division. He also served as an outside director for Hanwha General Insurance for five years until March of this year.

The union's participation is seen as crucial for reflecting the experiences and opinions of frontline workers. Kim Byung-seong, the union leader at the Daejeon plant, stated that the union was contacted by the company to recommend two representatives and that further discussions on the committee's structure and operation are scheduled. The committee's mandate includes a detailed review of standard operating procedures and safety management systems based on hazard assessments, and it will develop recommendations for improvements in areas such as disaster response, safety investment, and organizational decision-making processes.

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Yesterday, the company called and asked if the union could recommend about two people for the Innovation Committee. We are scheduled to discuss the specifics of its composition and operation on Monday, so I don't know the details yet.