Chairman Chung Mong-koo talks to an executive of Hyundai Steel during 

his visit to the steel complex in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province on 

May 2 to inspect safety measures at the steel complex. (Photo: Hyundai Motor)

Hyundai Motor Group has been at work since early this year to prevent accidents at its plants and other workplaces and to improve overall safety.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors passed out manuals on accident prevention and health to their officers and staff and ordered to them to stick to the manuals no matter what, while rechecking safety and health facilities.

Chairman Chung Mong-koo visited the Hyundai Steel Complex in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, on May 2 to personally inspect the safety measures directly, reminding everyone that safety is directly related to human lives and is basic to happy homes and a healthy society, so it should be the highest value in corporate management.

The chairman ordered a review of safety management measures at the steel complex from the start and to reform them if necessary.

He also ordered the investment and budget for safety measures at the steel complex to be increased four times and to also increase the number of safety experts substantially.

As ordered by the chairman, the steel complex boosted its investment budget on safety measures and safety facilities from 120 billion won to 500 billion won with manpower to manage the safety measures increased from 150 to 200 and the number of safety facility inspectors to 300 at the steel complex.

Kia Motors, in the meantime, held a ceremony to officially declare Safety Environment Management at the Production Education Center in Soha, Gyeonggi Province, led by President Lee Sam-woong and leading executives of the automaker. At the declaration ceremony, the leading executives of the motor firm resolved to rebuild a safe environment for three car plants of the automaker in Korea and spread them to other Kia Motors plants overseas. The automaker has set up the safe environment planning office, to oversee all the safe environment management at Kia Motors plants and other outlets in Korea and overseas, the safe health planning team, and the disaster environment prevention planning team to strengthen the auto maker’s disaster prevention management.

The car maker has also decided to launch or expand the safety general affairs office, the production safety section, and the safety working group at each auto plant with the company boosting its budget to back up all the new moves to 23 billion won with the intention to create a safe environment and install the safety equipment to ensure safe production operations at the plants and other outlets.

Hyundai Motor has decided to conduct safety checks on all of its 110,000 medium- to large-sized buses around the country in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The checks will be conducted at highway service areas and car maintenance shops around the country from May 26-June 30 for free. The scale of the checks will be the largest held by the car maker in recent years, taking place just before the summer vacation season begins, a time when a great number of buses will be on the road, each carrying more than 25 passengers, and a lot of accidents occurring.

The free checks will be conducted at six highway service areas along the major highways in the country including the Seoul-Busan Expressway, Yeongdong Highway, Honam Highway, and others, as well as 68 Hyundai Motor maintenance shops around the country and at maintenance shops of bus operation companies around the country including highway bus and inter-city transport companies.

The checks will be on key parts of the buses, such as engine, gears, brakes, tires, and other parts that ensure the safe operation of the buses.