Accidents, Incidents, Emergencies
The Company assesses health and safety risks at all stages of project implementation. Risk analysis is carried out during pre-project activities and at the design, operation and decommissioning stages.
The Company operates more than 200 hazardous production facilities. To mitigate the risk of potential accidents and incidents, industrial safety measures are carried out on a regular basis, including scheduled inspections of equipment; technical inspections; diagnostics of equipment, buildings, and facilities; taking out compulsory civil liability insurance for organizations operating hazardous production facilities; running employee training and certification; etc.
Accident, incident and emergency prevention measures
Emergency Prevention and Response Action Plans are in place at all NOVATEK facilities. In addition, the Company has in place the following emergency preparedness and response procedures:
- Emergency containment and management plans;
- Oil and petroleum product spill response plans;
- Firefighting plans and information cards.
At least once every three years, comprehensive emergency training exercises are held to confirm that the operator is prepared to contain and respond to an oil or petroleum product spill of the maximum estimated volume.
The Company engages with local communities on matters related to emergency response planning and training exercises.
Rapid response scheme when responding to an emergency*
* The rapid response scheme is based on the practices of Yamal LNG.
Emergency emission prevention
The Company strives to minimize emissions and ensures that emergency emission risks are accounted for at the earliest stages of project design. Emergency emission prevention is included in FEED and detailed documentation for field development and the construction of hazardous production facilities. All projects must include provisions for preventing emergency emissions, fires, spills, and other emergencies by various safety systems such as emergency protection, automatic fire suppression and gas detection systems.
Additionally, all NOVATEK’s production facilities undergo annual preventive maintenance and conduct diagnostics of their equipment and pipelines to prevent loss of containment and hydrocarbon release.
Operational Control
Operational control at the Company’s hazardous production facilities is carried out by standing commissions in line with the applicable industrial safety legislation.
Operational control covers buildings, structures, process equipment, production processes, vehicles and workplaces. In addition to occupational hazards, raw materials for the production of food products, semifinished products, finished food products, and potable water are also subject to operational control through laboratory testing.
Key operational control objectives at the hazardous production facilities (HPFs):
- ensure industrial safety compliance at the HPF;
- review the current status of industrial safety, including by organizing necessary expert reviews;
- design initiatives to improve industrial safety and prevent environmental damage;
- follow up compliance with industrial safety requirements set out in federal laws and other regulations;
- coordinate efforts aimed at preventing accidents at the HPF and ensuring preparedness to contain and respond to accidents;
- follow up compliance with certification and test schedules for various types of equipment used at the HPF, as well as schedules for repairing and calibrating instrumentation and controls; and
- follow up compliance with process specifications.
Annually, the Company develops plans for comprehensive and targeted inspections; based on the results of these inspections, reports are drawn and corrective actions are developed to timely eliminate any identified gaps. Within the established timeframe, employees in charge submit corrective action reports to the OHS unit for further analysis of the risk of possible hazardous situations.
Pipeline integrity
NOVATEK consistently focuses on reducing the risk of pipeline accidents, combining measures to improve pipeline reliability and enhance the safety of production facilities, all while increasing contractor accountability. The Company analyses risks to pipeline integrity, considering factors such as corrosion, deterioration, pipe sinking, and other factors that can lead to material consequences.
NOVATEK implements several preventive measures directly from the construction phase to ensure the safe operation of its pipelines. To protect pipelines from corrosion, pipe products with a three-layer polyethylene coating are used. Linear facilities are also protected electrochemically by leveraging cathodic protection stations, deep anode beds of various designs, and sacrificial protection at intersections with water bodies, roads, and railroads.
Leak detection systems were deployed on pipelines transporting liquid hydrocarbons. The systems use high-precision pressure sensors installed on valve assemblies and can track unplanned leaks.
Inline comprehensive technical diagnostics are carried out to analyze risks, ensure safe and reliable operation, and monitor pipeline integrity. To monitor the technical condition of external transport pipelines, NOVATEK conducts monthly inspections, regular inline instrumental diagnostics (based on the results of a previous inspection), inspections of upstream pipelines that do not allow inline diagnostics, and annual heat treatment of bypass lines of upstream pipelines. Upon receipt of technical reports, a schedule for fixing defects is drawn up.
