Keeping the Lights Shining
Phan Van Dien, a dedicated safety engineer at Cu Chi Electricity Company (under the HCMC Power Corporation), shared that his job selection was inspired by his uncle, also skillful in climbing electric poles to bring power to his neighborhood at that time.
However, after becoming an electricity worker and taking on higher positions, Dien realized the hardships and dangers faced by those working directly with electricity. This motivated him to develop many initiatives to enhance worker safety awareness and improve the working environment.
“Working in the electricity sector, there are usually no second chances," Dien shared. "One mistake can cost you your life." Among his many cost-saving initiatives, Dien is particularly proud of creating clips documenting workers' procedures. These visual aids help electricity workers better understand occupational safety.
At another position in the electricity sector, with over 10 years of experience at Power Transmission Co. No.4 (under the National Power Transmission Corp.), Vo Sy Danh, a technical specialist, has an impressive achievement record. Danh's work involves ensuring the safety of transmission lines.
To protect these old lines, Danh spent months researching, experimenting, and testing before implementing his initiative, “Solution to perfect F85, F87L of 220kV lines in operation”, which has been highly evaluated by the company and applied in practice on 46/51 lines, bringing about a financial profit of VND12 billion (US$481,500).
“Since this is a novel solution, we were initially worried about its performance. Nevertheless, when put into operation, it has been beyond expectations, helping to improve the safety of the lines, to quickly respond to incidents, and to avoid affecting the operation of the transmission grid”, said Danh.
Huge money in Savings from Innovations
Nguyen Hoang Duy Luu, with 12 years of experience at the Hi-tech Agricultural Research and Development Center (under the Management Board of the Agricultural Hi-tech Park of HCMC), has been dedicated to improving agricultural production processes, propagating plants and flowers to help farmers increase productivity and product quality. His "Process of producing rosemary in greenhouses applying drip irrigation system," recognized as a "National Technical Progress" in 2023, is one of his proudest achievements.
Luu shared that after learning about the benefits of rosemary for human health like improving memory and reducing stress besides being considered as a decorative item or spicy herb, he began researching and propagating the plant in Vietnam in 2015. After three years of effort and overcoming several obstacles, he successfully cultivated rosemary. The process has been transferred to three units in the provinces of Ninh Thuan, Phu Yen, and Hau Giang.
Another great achievement of Luu is to turn the saline and alum-contaminated land in Can Gio District of HCMC into a highly economically efficient melon growing area for local farmers thanks to his initiative “Building a process for growing melons on substrates using saline and alum-contaminated water sources in Can Gio”.
Inspired by his love towards the natural environment, Nguyen Thanh Lam, a technical officer in charge of occupational safety at TICO JSC., has also contributed many initiatives to benefit the company and protect the environment. One of his notable initiatives is “Diluting oleum (105 percent) into 75-percent sulfuric acid” to transform waste into a by-product. Used in other processes, this by-product reduces costs for his company while benefiting the environment.
Tran Tien Dat, Head of Maintenance and Smart Automation Project Team at the PBC Site of Unilever Factory (Northwest Cu Chi Industrial Park), has contributed to the factory's automation, optimizing labor productivity and saving the company billions of VND each year.
His initiative, “Flexible bottle positioning mechanism,” which can automatically change the size and capacity of bottles, was the first to be recognized by Unilever globally. To achieve this, Dat and his colleagues went through various obstacles; yet thanks to their determination and efforts, they have helped the company increase production performance, reduce investments, and earn an extra amount of VND2 billion ($80,000) per year.
Chairman Vo Khac Thai of the HCMC Labor Federation commented that the winners of the 24th Ton Duc Thang Award in 2024 are exemplary models in labor, production, and business; they are the core and typical individuals in the workers' movement.
They are people with many innovative ideas, technical improvements, and practical scientific research topics that have been applied in practice. Besides, they are also leading workers who always wholeheartedly mentor and guide young workers to improve their skills. Therefore, they contribute positively to the development of enterprises, building a strong working class, meeting the requirements of industrialization, modernization, and international integration.
