Posco puts safety first with new smart systems
![Posco has come up with a number of new measures to ensure the safety of its workers. [POSCO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2022/06/29/328c0ec7-afbd-40d3-a7c7-5f0dc33853f8.jpg)
Posco has come up with a number of new measures to ensure the safety of its workers. [POSCO]
To achieve this, the company has created technology that can automatically halt a moving forklift and a central task monitoring system. Both systems detect hazards to prevent accident occurring.
Posco has been working on the automatic forklift halting technology since November 2021 in partnership with the Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (RIST), Posco Holdings Future Technology Research Center and other local enterprises.
Posco Holdings and RIST combined image recognition technology and automatic control functions to overcome the practical safety concerns that arise in the use of forklifts.
Through deep learning and artificial intelligence, the newly innovated forklift safety system can identify humans and differentiate them from objects, providing precise measurements between users and surrounding matters. As such, the system is able to recognize and avoid different collision risks.
As the name suggests, the automatic control functions allow the machine to stop itself.
It is a three-step system: first an alarm rings if there is a possible collision within the next 6 meters, then the vehicle automatically slows its speed when moving within 4 meters of the item, before finally breaking completely within 2 meters.
Forklifts are also equipped with measures to halt the risky movement of the vehicle.
Posco says the development of the system was only feasible due to the support of a number of small- and medium-sized companies. Posco aims to increase workplace safety across the country by sharing the system with other domestic firms.
Posco’s central task monitoring system reports possible dangerous procedures, analyses workers in each station and monitors the current status of people on the worksite, all things that previously had to be tracked manually.
The new system was made in partnership with Posco ICT and is being used at all of the company’s worksites.
The central task monitoring system is capable of performing three important tasks.
Firstly, it tracks previous accidents and best practice and categorizes them by station. This information allows workers to be aware of and prepare for possible dangers in their role. What’s more, the specific details of each procedure can be checked handily with a mobile application.
Secondly, the vast amount of information provided by the system can help workers establish a well-structured schedule for who performs which task. Compared to the past, when workers’ personal information was unobtainable, the new system allows the classification of workers according to categories like their training or experience.
Thirdly, a last minute check to see what type of task a worker is currently undertaking is possible. When a worker tags an entrance pass on their smart phone during a “Tool Box Meeting,” which is held before starting a job, the system checks whether the worker matches the identity of that notified beforehand.
The system has been used by more than 11,000 workers since May and has received positive feedback.
BY LEE HYEIN [lee.hyein@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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