Kim Yun-hae, chief safety officer of Hanwha Construction, hands out heat-illness prevention supplies to workers who participated in the quiz. [Hanwha Construction]
Kim Yun-hae, chief safety officer of Hanwha Construction, hands out heat-illness prevention supplies to workers who participated in the quiz. [Hanwha Construction]

Hanwha Construction has launched an effort to protect construction workers from heat-related illness.

The company held a "joint heat-illness response campaign" Wednesday at the Wondan Zone 1 housing redevelopment site in Deokyang-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, it announced Thursday.

Kim Yun-hae, Hanwha Construction's chief safety officer, attended the event alongside company executives and representatives from Lotte Chilsung Beverage to check on workers' health and encourage compliance with heat-illness prevention guidelines.

The two companies operated a beverage truck on site, distributing Gatorade, Icis mineral water and electrolyte drink powder to help workers stay hydrated throughout the day during the heat wave.

An interactive campaign booth was also set up, where workers took a quiz on heat wave response tips and basic heat-illness prevention knowledge. Those who answered correctly received cooling arm sleeves and cooling towels.

After the campaign, Kim toured the site to inspect heat-safety management conditions. He focused particularly on whether the site was following the Ministry of Employment and Labor's five core heat-safety rules: water, shade, rest, cooling gear and emergency response.

Hanwha Construction signed an MOU with Lotte Chilsung Beverage in April last year on heat-illness prevention during the summer season, and has since supplied electrolyte drink powder and mineral water to construction sites nationwide. Wednesday's campaign was organized to strengthen health and safety management for workers amid a prolonged heat wave.

"With the extreme heat dragging on this summer, we must stay vigilant and pay close attention to workers' health until temperatures ease," Kim said. "I hope every member on site puts workers' safety and health first and strictly follows the five core heat-safety rules."

Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, Hanwha Construction was selected as a contractor for a national energy-efficiency research project backed by the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning. The company will form a consortium with Ion Co., Hanyang University and the Korea Electronics Technology Institute to carry out the project, valued at 43.8 billion won ($31 million). Drawing on its experience in data center design and construction, the consortium will develop power and cooling efficiency technology for AI data centers.


quq@heraldcorp.com