<Mr. SJ LEE, Director General for Technology at KOSHA, 4^th from the right of above picture>

According to the statistics on occupational accidents, 96.6% of the steel workplaces are worksite with less than fifty workers and 57.9% of them are worksite with less than five workers at small scale business sector.

The workplaces with less than fifty workers, usually partners of the top five steel-making companies, recorded 2,442 cases of accidents or 84.9% of the whole steel worksites.

This means over 8 out of 10 steel workers who experienced accidents are working at the place with workers less than fifty. Looking by types, the most common accidents were: slip & trips, crushes, falls, and being struck by falling or flying objects.

Meanwhile the accident status as of April this year shows 16 partners of the top five steel companies witnessed 12 cases of accidents, reduced by 17 cases this year on last year. The whole industry’s accident rates, however, increased by 96 cases from 848 to be 944.

Accident cases are on the rise as the mill’s operating ratio goes up with growing steel production and export for the first quarter of this year.

On the backdrop, the Ministry of Employment and Labor and KOSHA(president Hun-ki Baek) organized the ‘Leader’s meeting for the OSH in the steel industry’ at POSCO’s Global Safety Center located in Pohang, Gyung-book on 12 June, together with the top five domestic steel companies to find ways to support OSH in their steel mills.

* The top five steel companies are: POSCO, Hyundai’s steel mill in Dang-jin, Dongguk’s steel mill in Po-hang, Dongbu’s steel mill in Dang-jin and Hyundai Hysco.

The ‘Leader’s meeting for the OSH in the steel industry’ serves as a venue to deepen the partnership between KOSHA, MOEL and steel companies recognized as the top five in the steel industry last year, and to enhance the level of OSH for domestic steel industry.

Participants in this meeting forged ‘Win-win program for safety and health’ program that focuses on giving risk assessment and technical assistance to partners of the top five steel companies.

Based on the ‘Win-win program for safety and health’, both mother companies and their partners will launch a cooperative body. Meanwhile the mother companies assess the OSH status, and set up and implement plans to improve OSH. KOSHA also plans to finance consulting for setting up the OSH management system to the steel mills.

Leaders from the top five steel companies including POSCO and Hyundai steel also gave presentations on their efforts to improve OSH for their partners.

A person from KOSHA said that the steel industry affects many parts in Korea’s economy and industries as it supplies the entire industry with primary materials, adding that he hopes to see advancement of OSH in the steel industry through dissemination of the ‘Win-win program for safety and health’. End.