Hyundai Motor launches global safety council spanning 12 countries

Hyundai Motor has launched a global safety council to align workplace safety standards across its operations in South Korea, the United States, Europe, India, China and beyond. The initiative aims to create a system for sharing safety management practices accumulated separately in each country and applying them across other production and business sites.

The company said it has established the Global One Safety Council, or GOSC, and will hold its inaugural conference in South Korea Wednesday through Friday.

It is the first time Hyundai Motor has brought together safety officers from all of its global regions in one place. More than 40 safety personnel from 12 countries — covering the Americas, Europe, India, Asia-Pacific and China — will attend, along with Executive Vice President Choi Young-il, the company's chief safety officer.

GOSC was created to share safety issues arising at individual sites and countries and to narrow gaps in safety management standards. The core idea is to allow accident-prevention methods and safety practices that have proven effective at one site to be adopted at operations in other countries.

At the conference, Hyundai Motor will share best safety practices from each region and discuss ways to spread them across its global operations. The company will also examine how to establish common safety management standards applicable across all sites, while accounting for differences in national regulations and production environments.

The three-day event is structured around a different theme each day — strategy, brand and production sites.

On Wednesday, a "Global Safety Session" will be held at the Hyundai Motor Group Human Resources Development Institute's Mabook Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Participants will share the company's overall safety strategy and discuss how to apply it at sites in each region.

Thursday's "Brand Session" will take place at the Yangjae headquarters in Seoul and at Hyundai Motorstudio Seoul. The session will examine accident prevention not only as an internal production-floor concern but also through the lens of corporate trust and brand value.

On the final day, Friday, the group will move to Hyundai Motor's Ulsan factory. Attendees will tour the production facility to observe the safety management systems and related technology in operation on the floor.

Hyundai Motor's push to unify its global safety management framework reflects the growing importance of consistency across sites as its overseas production footprint expands. With a rising share of output coming from the United States, India and Europe, and as manufacturing processes and equipment grow more sophisticated, the need to share safety know-how accumulated at individual sites with other regions has also grown.

"This conference is an opportunity to share the company's safety philosophy and strategy with our global safety leaders," Executive Vice President Choi said. "I hope it serves as a reminder that the safety of our employees is the top priority for Hyundai Motor to maintain its competitiveness as a global top-tier brand."