"High-Risk Tasks by Robots"… POSCO Showcases Industrial Health Smart Technology Applications

Co-hosted with the Korean Society of Occupational Health
Improving Workers' Working Environments with Smart Technologies

POSCO announced on the 21st that it held a roundtable under the theme of 'Application Cases of Industrial Health Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Smart Technologies' at the 60th Korean Society of Occupational Health 2025 Winter Academic Conference.

POSCO Quadruped Robot. Provided by POSCO

This event was co-hosted by POSCO and the Korean Society of Occupational Health from the 19th to the 21st at the Suwon Convention Center in Gyeonggi Province.

Recently, cases utilizing 4th industrial technologies such as AI, Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics in industrial sites have been increasing. This roundtable was organized to share cases where smart technologies contributed to improving workers' working environments and promoting health in the field of industrial health.

At the roundtable, POSCO presented cases where robots and smart protective gear technologies contributed to improving workers' working environments and health promotion, while Hyundai Motor Group introduced cases of industrial wearable robots. Experts from government, academia, and industry discussed directions for integrating increasingly advanced smart technologies into the field of industrial health.

The quadruped walking robot introduced by POSCO is a robotic solution that can replace high-risk manual labor. POSCO is utilizing the quadruped walking robot to diagnose and inspect equipment with limited accessibility.

Equipment inspection at steelworks is an important task to maintain production equipment in optimal condition. The quadruped walking robot is deployed for equipment inspection tasks previously performed by workers, autonomously driving along inspection routes while automatically collecting inspection data and detecting abnormal situations, representing smart health technology.

Prototype of smart earplugs. Provided by POSCO

The hearing protection integrated solution introduced next is a smart earplug applying IoT noise measurement technology that measures sound pressure and frequency. It features noise cancellation tailored to different situations and short- and long-distance communication functions between workers, minimizing noise exposure in noisy workplaces while allowing communication among workers wearing the earplugs. POSCO and the Pohang Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (RIST) have completed the development of the hearing protection integrated solution and plan to introduce it in phases.

A POSCO official stated, "We are advancing beyond the existing smart factory to evolve into an 'Intelligent Factory,' an intelligent autonomous manufacturing process through collaboration among humans, AI, and robots. In particular, we will lead the development and application of digital innovation technologies in the field of industrial health to realize a people-centered safe and healthy workplace and focus on promoting workers' health and safety."

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