Health and Safety

NOVATEK is fully committed to putting the life and health of its employees above its business results, and is aware of its responsibility for ensuring accident-free operations and safe labor conditions for its personnel, as well as for protecting the health of the population in the Company’s regions of operations.

Given the scale of the Company’s business, including operations in the challenging Arctic climate, and the significant scope of work associated with developing large-scale projects, NOVATEK strives to maintain an adequate level of monitoring at all levels of operations and continues to implement the existing Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Action Plan, despite the environment created by the new coronavirus spread.

The Company continuously improves its OHS management system, involving its employees and management, as well as contractors. We do our best to implement a “zero injury” culture, wherein a safe environment is the main priority for each employee.

Below are the key principles that all the Company’s employees must follow:

  1. Responsible attitude to the population and the area of the Company’s operations through compliance with all safety requirements;
  2. Continuous development of industrial safety expertise across the working career;
  3. Management involvement in identifying hazards and reducing levels of operational risks;
  4. Acknowledgment of the right to refuse to perform the work in case of danger to the employees life or health; and
  5. Priority of prevention over reaction.

According to effective legislation, workplaces undergo special assessment of working conditions. As of 31 December 2021, special assessment of working conditions was completed at 10,302 workplaces with 9,065 (87.9%) workplaces certified to have acceptable working conditions. At workplaces with harmful working conditions, we implemented a set of measures to eliminate or mitigate harmful factors. No workplaces with hazardous working conditions were identified.

The Company places an emphasis on safety culture, ensures efficient emergency response, as well as records all incidents in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and internal standards, enabling timely root cause analysis and the development of corrective action plans.

The Company is engaged in exploration, production, transportation, processing and sales of natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons, which implies setting up complex technological processes for operating fire and explosion hazardous facilities. Fire and explosion hazardous industrial facilities are operated in accordance with OHS legislation. Group entities have licenses to operate Hazard Class I, II and III fire, explosion and chemical hazardous industrial facilities.

In 2021, regional branches of Rostechnadzor registered 267 hazardous production facilities that are in operation, including:

Class I (extremely high hazard) – 14 facilities;

Class II (high hazard) – 53 facilities; 

Class III (medium hazard) – 174 facilities; 

Class IV (low hazard) – 26 facilities.

For Class I and II hazardous industrial facilities, industrial safety management systems and industrial safety declarations were developed providing estimates and specifying actions for:

To compensate for the damage inflicted to third parties and the environment as a result of an accident at a hazardous industrial facility, all hazardous industrial facilities are insured in accordance with Federal Law No. 225-FZ On Mandatory Third Party Liability Insurance for Owners of Hazardous Facilities for Damage Inflicted by Accidents at Hazardous Facilities.

Executives and specialists of the Group’s subsidiaries and joint ventures subject to Rostechnadzor supervision undergo certification on industrial safety rules on a regular basis. Industrial safety assessment commissions are set up in the entities to evaluate staff and permit them to independently work at hazardous production facilities using the Unified Testing Portal Information System.

OHS training is mandatory for all categories of employees and is in place at all entities. In accordance with the Russian legislation, chief executives, their deputies, and managers in charge of workplace organization receive safety training and undergo knowledge check in licensed training centers. To offer in-house training to white-collar employees, the Company has developed training programs and set up certification commissions to assess trainees’ knowledge of OHS regulations. Training classes in each entity are equipped with process flow diagrams, dummies to practice first-aid skills, information boards and training materials. 

As of the end of 2021, 14,979 employees received OHS training, which is in line with the established training plan. In 2021, standing OHS control commissions carried out 631 compliance checks in subsidiaries and joint ventures. The results were documented in relevant reports and special measures were elaborated to eliminate identified non-compliances. Employees in charge submit monthly remedial action reports to their respective OHS units to further analyze risks of possible hazardous situations.

In 2021, the Compaby continued targeted audits of its subsidiaries and joint ventures for compliance with OHSE requirements by a NOVATEK committee. In the reporting year, targeted audits of YARGEO, NOVATEK-Ust-Luga and ARCTICGAS were performed. Based on the findings, relevant reports were produced and remedial actions were developed.

At the Company level, data are collected and analyzed regarding remediation of all violations of both scheduled and unscheduled audits carried out by the government supervisory authorities and integrated and targeted audits of the Company’s committee.

To prevent accidents and incidents at hazardous operating facilities:

  1. Each year the Company develops and consistently implements technical inspection, certification and test schedules for various types of technical equipment (external and internal inspection, hydrostatic and pneumatic tests, and industrial safety audits). In 2021, the Company performed industrial safety audits of 630 equipment items and extended their safe operating life.
  2. The Company organizes drills and exercises on possible accident containment and response scenarios and actions for the personnel involved in the maintenance of equipment items, buildings, and structures within hazardous production facilities. 5,658 training sessions were held in 2021.

Cooperation in the area of industrial safety

PAO NOVATEK is one of world’s leading producers of natural gas, including LNG. Industrial safety and the health of employees are our key priorities. We use state-of-the-art equipment and innovative technologies in our operational activities to ensure safety and efficiency as we operate in the harsh climatic conditions of the Russian Arctic region. For that reason, The Company attaches great importance to applying the world’s best practices in this area.

In January 2020, PAO NOVATEK and Total signed a Memorandum of Understanding in occupational health and industrial safety. Its main goal is exchange of respective best practices, expertise and know-how as well as familiarization of experts and managers with the most advanced methodologies in industrial safety.

Print Close