Hanwha Construction expands tailored safety training for foreign workers

Hanwha Construction is expanding nationality-specific safety training for foreign workers at its construction sites, combining in-person instruction in workers' native languages with hands-on emergency response and CPR drills.

Hanwha Construction held a "customized safety and health training for foreign workers" at the Hanwha Forena Cheonan-Asan Station construction site on Wednesday. The session covered nationality-based safety education, situational first-aid response and CPR practice, and was supplemented by a video training session broadcast to all sites.

The company said it recognized a growing need for safety education that accounts for language and cultural differences as the share of foreign workers at its construction sites has consistently risen. In response, it has since last year partnered with the Korea Career Competency Development Institute and the Central Emergency Care Education Institute to regularly deliver customized training through certified foreign safety culture instructors.

This session covered workers from five countries — China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar. Safety culture instructors from each of those countries led the sessions, explaining emergency response procedures in the workers' native languages.

The hands-on portion of the training included practice in the Heimlich maneuver for airway obstruction, CPR and initial response for cardiac arrest, and the use of automated external defibrillators. Participants ran repeated drills using mannequins and AED units in simulated emergency scenarios and received feedback from professional instructors.

The company also operates nationality-based "safety and health leaders" to encourage foreign workers to take an active role in workplace safety. These leaders support pre-work safety briefings and foreign worker safety education sessions. To help them develop their skills, the company also covers their registration fees for the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK).

"As the number of foreign workers at construction sites continues to grow, practical safety education that takes language and cultural differences into account is essential," said Kim Yun-hae, head of the safety and environmental management division at Hanwha Construction. "We will keep expanding in-person and hands-on training so that foreign workers can recognize hazards on their own and build the safety capabilities to respond to them."