Operating communication channels, strict safety management and change management tailored to local standards… Creating a happy workplace without accidents

POSCO-Thainox acquired TLS 8001(Thai Labor Standard 8001) certification from the Thai Ministry of Labor on August 1.

The Thai Ministry of Labor comprehensively evaluates the fulfillment of social responsibilities in labor, environment/safety, and human rights protection by companies and grants TLS 8001 certification, the Thai labor standard, to excellent companies. Certified companies can enhance their corporate image by using the official TLS logo on their websites, pamphlets, and other marketing activities.

▲POSCO-Thainox acquired TLS 8001 (Thai Labor Standard 8001) certification from the Thai Ministry of Labor on August 1. From the fifth from the left, Director Manop of the Rayong Provincial Labor Office and POSCO-Thainox CEO Shin Hyeong-gu.

On this day, Director Manop of the Rayong Provincial Labor Office visited the POSCO-Thainox Rayong Plant, awarded the certificate, and confirmed excellent cases of compliance with labor standards, such as installing safety facilities on the production line.

In addition to legally obligated items, Thainox improves employee work satisfaction by regularly operating communication channels such as the department-wide Harmony Communicator and the company-wide Welfare Committee. It also creates a happy workplace without accidents by carrying out strict safety management at the head office level and continuous change management activities tailored to the perspectives of employees.

POSCO-Thainox acquired eco-friendly company level 4 (Green Culture) certification, which means the top 1% in environmental management, from the Thai Ministry of Trade last year and also received an official certificate in the social sector from the Thai government in recognition of the company’s growth into an excellent ESG enterprise that fulfills its social responsibilities.

▲Director Manop of the Rayong Provincial Labor Office, visiting the POSCO-Thainox’s Rayong Plant on August 1, looks around the plant.

“POSCO-Thainox is carrying out high-level CSR activities in the labor sector. We thank you sincerely. Please create a workplace where Thai people can work safely and happily with continued attention and improvements,” Director Manop of the Rayong Provincial Labor Office said.

“Fulfilling social responsibilities is a natural thing that a Thai-listed company should do. We will continue to take the lead in establishing an ESG management system to become a respected company in the Thai community,” POSCO-Thainox CEO Shin Hyeong-gu said.

*This footage was taken before the outbreak of COVID-19.

In the first series of ‘How Do You Like POSCO?’ POSCO Newsroom sat down with the employees of PT.KRAKATAU POSCO in Indonesia. This time, the newsroom headed to Thailand to meet the special guests of today. Thailand is known to be the largest automobile market in Southeast Asia and one of the world’s Top 10 automobile manufacturers.

Among the three manufacturing subsidiaries that POSCO operates in Thailand, POSCO-Thailand PC(Processing Center) is the oldest. Launched in 1997, POSCO-Thailand PC is still under operation and supplies automobile and home appliance steel products. In 2011, POSCO acquired Thainox, the sole stainless rolling mill in Thailand, to expand the product range. POSCO ventured further by establishing POSCO-TCS in 2016 to meet the demands of global automobile steel products. POSCO-TCS manufactures premium galvanized steel for automobiles.

All three subsidiaries sit in ‘Rayong,’ Thailand’s largest industrial complex located 170 km away from the capital, Bangkok. POSCO Newsroom met with four employees of POSCO-Thainox online and got a chance to hear their stories.

■ “Making History with POSCO-Thainox!”

Q1. Tell us briefly about yourself and how you became to join POSCO-Thainox.

Q2. Tell us about your job in detail.

Q3. How do people around you react when you tell them you work at POSCO-Thainox?

■ “Growing Together with the Best Colleagues”

Q4. What makes POSCO-Thainox special compared to other local companies?

Q5. How are your Korean colleagues? How do you get along with the local employees?

Ever since POSCO and Thainox came together in 2011, POSCO-Thainox has grown into Thailand’s No.1 stainless steel plate producer. POSCO Newsroom hopes the four employees here — along with the 568 employees working at POSCO-Thainox — will grow with POSCO and become the leaders of tomorrow. At the end of the interview, Paiboon, Prateep, Sujira, and Ji-Yeon expressed their hopes for the company.

•Meet SV Min Keun Bae – The Master of POSCO-Thainox

Back in September 2016, 28 ASEAN heads of state, education ministers and representatives of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization gathered together and committed to tackling the problem of youth without regular education. The Project for Out-of-school Children in ASEAN is a follow-up to the declaration, and it’s the first project that UNESCO is carrying out this year alongside an enterprise.

The POSCO 1% Sharing Foundation is aiming to leverage the Flexible Learning Strategies (FLS) program developed by UNESCO, to provide alternative education for the children of the underprivileged, ethnic minorities and migrants in cooperation with the education ministries of individual countries.

The 3-year project will be supported by the POSCO 1% Sharing Foundation, using the donated 1 percent of members’ salaries. The project will kickstart in Thailand, where they have the highest percentage of out-of-school children in ASEAN (7.6 percent). POSCO plans to cover 2,000 children in 4 regions (Chiang Rai, Ranong, Songkhla and Rayong) where POSCO Thainox, POSCO-TCS and POSCO-TBPC are based, and expand the project to Indonesia and Myanmar.

Jeong-sik Kwak, head of the ER Office of POSCO, and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay signing the agreement.

“I hope that this partnership with a world-class steelmaker like POSCO will become a model of providing opportunities for quality education to underprivileged children and youths,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. “I hope that these activities will spread throughout the world, and everyone will make concerted efforts to make sure that the notion of out-of-school children will become a thing of the past.”

At home, one of the core focus areas of the POSCO 1% Sharing Foundation is facilitating the self-reliance of future generations. Starting this year, the foundation increased the number of people eligible to receive support from the Chinchin Rainbow project to 70. The customized career project will support 70 children of migrant families such as multicultural families and North Korean defectors. Last December, it also entered into an MOU with the Children’s Self-Reliance Support Team of Korea Human Resource Development Institute for Health & Welfare to help children transition smoothly from welfare facilities and foster homes to society.

Cover photo courtesy of UNESCO.

More than 100 people attended the dedication ceremony, including Jeong-sik Kwak, the head of POSCO’s External Relations Office, the vice-governor of Rayong, Thailand, the representative of Habitat for Humanity Thailand, the POSCO Group Employee Volunteer Corps and members of the local community.

Jeong-shik Kwak, head of the ER Department of POSCO said, “The Thailand love houses are especially meaningful because the employees of POSCO Group donated 1 percent of their salaries and participated in the construction process. I hope that these love houses will give hope to locals in need.”

POSCO representatives and locals at the dedication ceremony of the love houses in Pluak Daeng, Thailand.

The construction was completed by 50 volunteers of the POSCO Group Employee Global Volunteer Corps from Korea, and 30 employees of POSCO Thainox, POSCO-TCS and POSCO-TBPC.

New resident Tun Kedwarin was moved to tears and stated, “In my old house made of wooden boards, water kept leaking and the house was in danger of collapsing. I was always worried, but now I can sleep without fear, and I am truly happy. I am grateful to POSCO and the government who built me a house.”

POSCO Group Employee Global Volunteer Corps members and Pichamon, a new resident of the love house.

POSCO Group Employee Global Volunteer Corps was established in 2015, and consists of employees of POSCO Group and outsourcing partners who donate 1 percent of their monthly salary. It’s all a part of POSCO’s unique culture of volunteering and giving back to communities.

This year, the members spent 8 days in Thailand starting from August 5, during their personal vacation days and also visited a local school to introduce Korean traditional culture to the students.

OSCO Group volunteers and Thai global staff members worked together for the construction of the love houses.

POSCO also completed 104 houses in Vietnam last May, and donated them to low-income families. In Korea, POSCO constructed steel houses made from PosMAC and donated them to victims of fires and low-income families around the country, all as part of the effort to give back and build stronger communities around the world.

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