This photo taken on April 29, 2020 shows flight attendants at the departure hall of Incheon International Airport in Incheon, just west of Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea’s biggest carrier, has announced the details of an initiative expected to launch next year that would ensure systematic management of flight attendants’ exposure to cosmic radiation.
Korean Air’s labor and management factions held negotiations last month to consult on such issues, industry sources said Sunday.
Flight attendants’ exposure to cosmic radiation increases when planes use Arctic routes or operate at a higher altitudes.
The company plans to establish a program to manage flight attendants’ flight routes and hours and start operating the program from next year.
Previously, it was possible for the airline’s flight attendants to search for information on how much they were exposed to cosmic radiation on a cumulative basis through an in-house information site.
The new program, however, will automate the calculation on the amount of exposure to cosmic radiation and changes in flight schedules.
From now on, flight attendants whose annual amount of exposure to cosmic radiation is close to 6 millisievert (mSv) will automatically be assigned to short-haul flights rather than Arctic routes.
Moreover, Korean Air also plans to conduct an actual survey on the amount of cosmic radiation exposure for Arctic routes.
Recently, a pilot who developed acute leukemia after working for 32 years at Korean Air had cosmic radiation exposure recognized as an occupational hazard for the first time in South Korea.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
