Companies that fail to shift their paradigms in terms of safety will fall behind others in the long run, said an executive at SK Innovation, a leading oil refinery and battery maker in South Korea on Friday.

Yoo Jae-young, head of safety, health and environment division at the company, said in an internal interview that SK Innovation has turned the latest coronavirus outbreak into an opportunity that has enhanced its workplace environment monitoring system.

“The company has stepped up its daily protection measures in order to minimize risks of virus contamination during work hours within workplaces,” Yoo said.

The COVID-19 outbreak has given a valuable lesson to companies across the world, he pointed out.

“Companies have learned that they might face any black swan threat that can’t be dealt with by the existing safety system at any time,” he said. “Having a sound system for safety, health and environment will be the key to companies’ competitiveness in the future.”

Businesses should not only focus on minimizing such risks, but also realize their efforts to secure safety, health and the environment as one of their responsibilities for society, he added.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)