GWANGJU — Kia's AutoLand Gwangju plant is stepping up efforts to strengthen safety management at its suppliers.
The plant said on the 6th that it is running a 2026 safety and health cooperation project between large and small businesses, aimed at supporting small and medium-sized suppliers, providing risk-assessment consulting and safety equipment to 14 suppliers working on and off the plant site. The project aims to prevent industrial accidents and raise safety management standards at the suppliers, with a total budget of 78 million won ($56,000). The cost is shared by AutoLand Gwangju and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency.
The suppliers will receive outside consulting on risk assessment along with safety and health equipment. Under the consulting program, external specialists will help each supplier identify and address hazards at its own worksites. The plant said the approach is designed to build preemptive risk management systems at each supplier and improve how effectively safety rules are carried out.
Equipment support will run in parallel. AutoLand Gwangju will supply automated external defibrillators (AEDs), safety shoes, protective gear and other items needed on site to reinforce safety infrastructure at supplier workplaces.
"Through this project, we will continue to raise our suppliers' ability to manage safety and health," an official at Kia AutoLand Gwangju said. "We will take the lead in spreading a culture of safety across industrial worksites."
