SK Chemical Introduces Safety Management System Utilizing Generative AI

Discovering Potential Risk Factors with AI

SK Chemicals is introducing a safety management system utilizing generative artificial intelligence (AI) at its production sites.

On the 21st, SK Chemicals announced that it has established an AI-based risk safety assessment system at its Ulsan plant, which produces green materials. This is the first time a domestic company has implemented a safety, health, and environment (SHE) system using generative AI in a production environment.

An SK Chemicals employee is checking the risk assessment items recommended by artificial intelligence in the Safety, Health, and Environment (SHE) system before on-site work.
[Photo by SK Chemicals]

SK Chemicals digitized decades of safety management documents, know-how, and case studies accumulated from operating the Ulsan plant. Based on this, they developed a system where the AI GPT-4 recommends and suggests potential risk factors that may arise during actual task execution.

By utilizing the newly established SHE system, SK Chemicals plans to support risk assessments of tasks within the workplace and enhance the level of safety management at production sites.

Kim Dong-ryul, head of the SHE office, explained, "By introducing an AI-based system, the AI can independently learn and analyze elements that we have never experienced before, detecting risks. This will allow us to manage the complex and diverse work processes of chemical plants more safely and innovatively."

Meanwhile, this system originated from ideas proposed by production site workers and was developed in collaboration with SK Discovery DX Lab. SK Chemicals plans to listen closely to voices from the field to discover tasks and promote digital transformation so that innovation in working methods using AI can be realized.

Yoo Ho-seop, head of the Production Infrastructure Division at SK Chemicals, said, "The Ulsan plant inputs and produces dozens to hundreds of safety and process-related figures and information daily. We will continue to systematize production site data and increase AI utilization to enhance not only the safety system but also the sophistication and efficiency of all operational areas at the production site."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.