HD Hyundai Heavy rolls out mobile snack cart to protect workers from summer heat

HD Hyundai Heavy has launched a company-wide campaign to protect workers from the summer heat, deploying a mobile snack cart called "Hwachae de CEO" and expanding rest facilities and break times across its Ulsan worksites.

The name blends the French preposition "de" — meaning "of" or "by" — with the Korean phrase "hwachae deuseyo" (please have some hwachae), yielding the meaning "hwachae prepared by the CEO." The cart will make 44 rounds through early September, with executives and department heads visiting major worksites each time during the 3 p.m. break to serve 1,000 portions per visit — 44,000 servings in total.

Alongside the snack service, the company is operating more than 270 rest facilities across worksites, aboard vessels and inside ship cabins — an expansion from last year — to help prevent heat-related illness. To improve accessibility, it has added a variety of rest spaces throughout the sites, including mobile bus-type rest units, portable shelters, shade structures and Mongolian-style tents.

Lunch breaks will also be extended by 30 minutes through Aug. 31, and additional rest time will be granted whenever the apparent temperature reaches 33 degrees Celsius or above. The company has also expanded cooling equipment, including ice makers, spot coolers, ventilation fans and portable air conditioners, and is distributing heat-season supplies such as iced water, saline-glucose drinks, air jackets, fan vests and clip-on fans.

"Worker safety in the heat is our top priority, so we are also continuously conducting education on heat illness prevention and monitoring employees' health," a company official said.