Gwangju Bank leads the financial industry in safety management by obtaining ISO 45001 safety and health certification

Gwangju Bank has obtained ISO 45001 certification for international safety and health management standards, adding momentum to the trend that financial companies should have systematic safety and health management capabilities comparable to those at industrial sites.

Gwangju Bank announced that on April 28, 2026, it obtained ISO 45001 certification for an international safety and health operating system—an international standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization. The certification is designed to evaluate what kind of systematic management system an organization has established to reduce various risks that may occur in the workplace and to ensure employees can work in a safer and more comfortable environment. Its feature lies in the fact that it is not limited to drafting rules and regulations; it also examines operational capabilities to identify hazard factors, check compliance with regulations, and continuously improve.

In this audit, Gwangju Bank passed all detailed assessment indicators at an excellent level. It is reported that, in particular, it received strong evaluations for building and actually operating a safety and health management system across the entire company scope—including the headquarters, business branches, and support organizations. Although a bank is not an industry like manufacturing where major industrial accidents frequently occur, there are still many safety and health elements that must be managed, such as health management stemming from long working hours, facility safety, fire prevention, and accident prevention during customer reception processes. From this perspective, this certification can be viewed as a case in the banking industry where safety and health management has become one of the operational pillars.

Gwangju Bank President Jeong Il-sun said that safety and health operating management is one of the core business issues the bank pursues. He explained that the bank will make employee and customer safety the top priority value and strengthen ESG (environmental, social, and governance) management through continuous improvement and practice. Recently, in corporate operations, beyond profitability and soundness, non-financial factors such as employee protection, consumer safety, and internal controls have also become important evaluation criteria. In this trend, safety and health operating management is seen as a tool to concretely demonstrate social responsibility.

This certification is also of great significance for Gwangju Bank, a regional financial institution, in preparing its internal operating system according to international standards. Going forward, in the financial industry, the trend of further refining safety and health management systems and linking them with ESG management to enhance customer trust and organizational competitiveness is likely to continue.