Hanwha Aerospace Launches 'Safety Culture Innovation Committee' with 11 External Experts Participating

Moon Il, Renowned Chemical Engineering Professor at Yonsei University, Appointed as Committee Chair
Comprehensive Inspection of All Sites Handling Hazardous Materials, Including Explosives
Joint Labor-Management "New Safety Culture Innovation Proclamation Ceremony" Scheduled for September

Hanwha Aerospace is launching the independent "Safety Culture Innovation Committee," which includes 11 external experts. Following the explosion incident at the Daejeon plant, the company plans to comprehensively diagnose its occupational safety and health management system and take full-scale measures to prevent recurrence of such accidents.

Hanwha Officer Building. Provided by Hanwha

Hanwha Aerospace announced on the 14th that it has launched the Safety Culture Innovation Committee.

The committee consists of a total of 13 members, including 11 external experts such as Moon Il, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Yonsei University, who will serve as the chair, and 2 employees recommended by the labor union. This composition is intended to ensure independence, expertise, and objectivity.

Chairman Moon Il is an authority in process safety and chemical engineering, having served as the president of the Korean Institute of Hazardous Materials and as the head of the National Research Foundation of Korea's national research division. By the end of this month, Hanwha Aerospace plans to appoint two experts from each field—including systems management, safety culture, industrial safety, chemical safety, and military explosives—to serve as committee members.

To ensure that the practical experiences and opinions of on-site workers are reflected, two representatives recommended by the labor union will also participate as committee members.

The Safety Culture Innovation Committee plans to reexamine the overall safety management level at all worksites from scratch and identify structural vulnerabilities in the organization's systems, procedures, and operations in order to completely overhaul the occupational safety and health management system.

In the first phase, the committee will assess the status of hazardous materials and process risks at sites handling explosives and other hazardous substances. It will conduct a thorough inspection and diagnosis of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and the safety management system, and establish safety management measures.

In the second phase, the committee will develop improvement plans for the entire safety management system, including responses to major industrial accidents, safety investments and budget management, and the organization and decision-making structure related to safety. At each stage, the committee plans to actively communicate with on-site workers and coordinate safety-related improvements.

Based on the committee’s diagnosis, Hanwha Aerospace will promptly implement necessary improvement measures and will also hold a joint labor-management "New Safety Culture Innovation Proclamation Ceremony" in September.

Hanwha Aerospace has continuously expanded its investment in improving safety and environmental conditions. General safety and environmental improvement investment increased from 53.8 billion won in 2023, to 111.4 billion won in 2024, and is set to reach 247 billion won in 2025, more than doubling each year. The investment scale for 2024 and 2025 corresponds to approximately 7% and 12% of the company’s operating profit for each respective year. This year, Hanwha Aerospace plans to invest 452.4 billion won in improving safety and environmental standards.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.