Korea Zinc Receives Official Recognition as "Safety Experience Education Center" from Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency

Beyond Theory-Based Education
Enhancing On-Site Hazard Response Capabilities

On July 24, Korea Zinc announced that the experiential safety training center established at the Onsan Smelter Safety Education Center was recently officially recognized as a "Safety Experience Education Center" by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency. This initiative has been highly praised as a leading example within the non-ferrous metals industry, as it goes beyond theory-based education to focus on enhancing the ability to respond to actual on-site hazards.

Employees are taking a commemorative photo in front of the Safety Experience Education Center at the Onsan Smelter of Korea Zinc. Korea Zinc

The newly recognized Safety Experience Education Center is located on the first floor of the Ulsan Onsan Smelter Safety Education Center, which was completed in February 2025. The facility covers approximately 680 square meters (206 pyeong), including a theory education area. It is designed with 39 pieces of experiential training equipment across six themed zones, enabling workers to experience and learn to respond to on-site hazards in environments that closely resemble real situations.

Since February 2023, Korea Zinc has been operating a small-scale pilot experiential training center. With the construction of the new Onsan Smelter Safety Education Center, the company significantly expanded its training facilities and subsequently obtained official recognition for the Safety Experience Education Center. In particular, following the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, Korea Zinc has greatly strengthened simulation training that recreates hazardous situations such as gas explosions, falls, and fires, in response to the growing need to raise safety awareness at production sites.

Korea Zinc plans to use the official recognition by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency as an opportunity to provide safety experience training not only to its employees but also to partner company workers, employees of other companies, schools, public institutions, and local residents.

Last year, Korea Zinc provided hands-on safety and health training to 1,620 employees and 944 partner company workers. This year, with the completion of the Safety Education Center and the establishment of the Safety Experience Education Center, the company aims to further enhance the safety and health awareness of all members through substantial and tailored training programs.

The Onsan Smelter of Korea Zinc holds ISO 45001, the global standard for occupational health and safety management systems, as well as KOSHA-MS, the leading domestic certification. The smelter also operates its own qualification programs for confined space monitoring, fire watch, signalers, and crane operation, training a total of 3,014 qualified personnel last year (including duplicate counts). This year, Korea Zinc is focusing on further strengthening the professional safety and health capabilities of its workforce by introducing forklift safety training and qualification systems for all employees responsible for forklift operations.

Kim Seunghyun, head of the Onsan Smelter at Korea Zinc, stated, "We have created an environment that moves beyond theory-based safety education to foster the ability to respond promptly to hazards that may occur in the actual workplace," and added, "We will continue to do our utmost to realize our mission of prioritizing safety above all else and to promote a culture of safety."

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