Incheon port, where heavy machinery and workers frequently share tight spaces, is rolling out an AI-based automated safety management system to address the high risk of on-site accidents.
The Incheon Port Authority announced Wednesday that it has launched a pilot project to automate risk assessments using an AI agent. The system lets workers enter basic data — including work procedures and on-site photographs — and then automatically identifies hazards by zone, assigns risk ratings and recommends safety measures, all in a single process.
Under the existing approach, port safety officers had to manually cross-reference past incident records and regulatory documents to complete each risk assessment. The process drew repeated criticism for producing inconsistent results depending on the assessor's experience level, while placing a heavy administrative burden on frontline staff.
With the new system, an officer registers the work details, equipment to be deployed and photographs taken at the scene, and the AI draws on accumulated accident history data to identify risk factors within seconds.
The system is particularly designed to analyze visual data and proactively detect hazards that are easy to miss in paperwork — including fall-risk zones and points where equipment and worker paths intersect.
The authority has steadily expanded its use of AI across port operations, deploying AI-enabled CCTV for safety monitoring, an automated pothole-detection and repair robot, and an AI fire-surveillance system for solar panel facilities.
Through this pilot, the authority aims to extend AI adoption into the pre-work risk assessment stage, completing what it describes as a data-driven precision safety management framework.
"Risk assessment is the critical first line of defense against serious accidents at port worksites," said Jeong Sang-gu, the authority's executive vice president of operations. "We will actively introduce advanced AI technology on the ground to build an environment where workers can do their jobs with peace of mind."
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
