The government has announced a sweeping set of workplace safety measures aimed at preventing industrial accidents and embedding a culture of safety — including heavy fines, license revocations and the incorporation of safety performance into financial and investment assessments in capital markets.
Safety has become a core management indicator for companies. Yet regulations and rules alone have their limits in preventing every accident. Ultimately, a voluntary safety culture — one in which workers themselves recognize and act on the importance of safety — must underpin any effective system.
Seoul Energy Corp. (president Hwangbo Yeon) held a "Safety Culture Day" event to embed that kind of safety culture across the organization.
The event was designed to let employees see, hear and feel the meaning of safety firsthand, through a mental-care program examining the link between workers' psychological states and safe behavior, as well as the delivery of safety-wish messages.
A special guest at the event was internationally recognized master calligrapher Son Young-hee, who presented a hand-lettered artwork bearing the message: "The safety we uphold becomes the energy we deliver to our citizens." The piece conveyed that each employee's commitment to safe practices ultimately forms the foundation for a stable energy supply to the public.
In addition, Son wrote personalized calligraphy pieces for participating employees — words they wanted to say to themselves — creating a moment for self-reflection and a deeper appreciation of mental well-being.
"Safety is something achieved not because someone tells you to, but because you yourself recognize its importance and act on it," said Hwangbo, president of Seoul Energy Corp. "Through the active interest and participation of all our employees, we will build a healthy safety culture that citizens can trust."
Seoul Energy Corp. has also introduced a "mental care" program for field workers, based on the recognition that psychological distress can lead to unsafe behavior on the job. The program helps employees reflect on and manage their own mental states, addressing not only physical risk factors but psychological ones as well.
The corporation plans to continue expanding the mental-care program to further strengthen its preventive safety management framework.
At Monday's event, the corporation also distributed cooling supplies to contractor workers performing field operations to help them cope with the extreme heat, and closely checked whether heat-illness prevention guidelines were being followed.
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
