Hanwha Aerospace (012450.KS) will simultaneously halt production lines at its nine business sites nationwide for the first time since the launch of its integrated entity in 2023. The move is a follow-up measure following a recent explosion.
Hanwha Aerospace said Wednesday that, except for some essential processes, it will completely suspend production line operations for two days until the 5th while conducting a special safety inspection and employee safety training.
The measure covers nine business sites nationwide, including the Daejeon, Boeun and Yeosu plants that produce propellants and charges; the Changwon No. 1, 2 and 3 plants in South Gyeongsang Province that produce K-9 self-propelled howitzers, armored vehicles and aircraft engines; and R&D campuses in Daejeon, Pangyo and Asan. This marks the first time Hanwha Aerospace has simultaneously halted production lines at multiple sites since the launch of its integrated entity (Aerospace, Hanwha Defense and Hanwha Corporation's defense division) in 2023.
Earlier, an explosion occurred on the 1st during a washing operation for launch vehicle propellant (gunpowder) at Hanwha Aerospace's plant in Oesam-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, killing five people and injuring two.
Hanwha said it will establish and pursue comprehensive high-intensity safety innovation measures on the occasion of this action. It will comprehensively inspect fire and explosion risks, serious accident hazards, unsafe facilities, risk assessments and accident cases across all its sites.
In particular, the Daejeon, Boeun and Yeosu plants that handle explosives will examine, across all processes, protective equipment, grounding, temperature and humidity conditions, jig and tool management status, and aging of safety equipment by each room, while also checking the management status of storage facilities and waste gunpowder.
The company will also pursue unmanned automation for the propellant production and handling processes at these three sites. Currently, unmanned systems have been introduced at some high-risk processes or related facilities are under construction, but the company plans to proceed with unmanned automation extending to processes deemed relatively lower risk, after review.
Special safety training for employees will be conducted in parallel, and at the group level, precise environmental safety inspections will also be carried out at all domestic and overseas business sites of petrochemical affiliates including Hanwha Corporation, Hanwha Solutions (009830.KS), Hanwha TotalEnergies, Hanwha Impact and YNCC.
