Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Airbags, robots and cooling vests: Korea pushes smart safety
Mannequins wearing Safeware’s airbag-equipped safety vests are displayed at the Korea International Safety & Health Show 2026 at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Jung Min-ho
By Jung Min-ho
Firms showcase AI-powered protection as officials tout decline in industrial fatalities
GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province — Last month, a worker in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, fell backward from a crane platform roughly 4 meters off the ground. In the seconds that followed, an airbag vest sensed the fall and deployed around his neck, spine and head — limiting what could have been a fatal injury to a fractured arm.
The vest, developed by Safeware, was among the artificial intelligence-powered safety devices on display Wednesday at the Korea International Safety & Health Show at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, where 320 companies gathered as Korea marks Occupational Safety and Health Month. The event run through Friday.
A demonstrator dropped a mannequin from a stool to show how the vest works, the airbag deploying in an instant around its neck and shoulders, turning what could have been a hard, head-first impact into a soft landing.
"We receive about 30 such life-saving reports each year," a company official said.
A four‑legged inspection robot developed for Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power walks across a demo stage at the Korea International Safety & Health Show 2026 at KINTEX in Goyang, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Jung Min-ho
A few booths away from the airbag vests, a four-legged robot paced across a circular stage, its joints flexing as nuclear engineers explained how it is being trained to go where humans should not.
Developed for Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power using a base platform purchased from Rainbow Robotics, the HAMSTOR system is designed to enter high-risk areas inside nuclear plants — confined spaces, underwater structures and zones of elevated radiation — and measure dose rates and visual conditions before human experts step in.
Equipped with radiation sensors and cameras, the robot can also relay images of damaged components and map where radiation spikes, allowing workers to lower exposure levels and plan repairs from a safe distance. It is only one piece of a broader robotic toolkit now under development for nuclear safety, according to officials.
Visitors look around booths featuring smart safety gear and workwear at the Korea International Safety & Health Show 2026 at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Yonhap
At another booth, cooling jackets and vests — each paired with a ring of capsules designed to sit around a worker’s neck — drew attention from visitors. Its designer said the workwear and safety apparel brand Boldest began developing the products after consecutive extremely hot summers pushed outdoor workers to dangerous heat limits.
“Korea recorded its highest summer temperatures on record last year,” the designer said. “We developed these cooling products to protect outdoor workers from increasingly worrisome heat-related illnesses.”
Over the past year, the Lee Jae Myung administration has made a “society where life and safety come first” as one of the core governing goals, declaring a war on industrial accidents and rolling out aggressive policies to cut workplace deaths.
The Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency (KOSHA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Employment and Labor, have responded by tightening inspections on sectors particularly vulnerable to industrial disasters, while closely checking whether employers are conducting proper risk assessments and building reliable safety management systems.
Through such efforts, the number of fatal industrial accidents in the first quarter of this year decreased to 113, the lowest first-quarter number recorded since 2022.
With the policy focus and better technologies, KOSHA President Kim Hyun-joong said expressed confidence that Korea can keep industrial fatalities on a downward path.
“I hope to see these smart technologies spread across workplaces so that safety becomes a habit, not an afterthought,” he said. “We will continue to do our utmost best to ensure fewer families lose loved ones to workplace accidents each year.”