Safety Production Culture

Every year, the INK Group assesses the level of safety culture using the Hearts and Minds international methodology. It considers employees' opinions on various aspects of safety, such as: leadership, rewards, training, hazard management, interaction with contractors, and so on. In addition, each employee can give his or her wishes and suggestions, which are considered in the development and implementation of measures to move to the next level of safety culture. Based on the results of the assessment, the Group develops and implements plans and programs to develop safety culture further.

An important role in the development of safety culture was played in 2017 by the creation of a special horizontal structure at the initiative of Marina Sedykh, one of the founders of Irkutsk Oil Company LLC — the “Team of great opportunities (TGO)”, which included members from various divisions. In their spare time, the GGO members implement projects, primarily in the area of occupational health and safety.

Over the course of two years, more than 160 employees on 13 teams worked on various ideas under the motto “Growing the safety culture”. Currently the TGO teams are renewed: the scope of projects is expanding and now it covers all aspects of the ESG agenda.

Behavioral safety conversations (BSC) are an element of safety culture development. Each employee can conduct such a conversation at a process site if he or she notices that the work is carried out unsafely or, conversely, in compliance with all the rules. The BSC cards can be filled out electronically on the corporate portal, which allows all employees to be involved in this practice. In 2020, 11,640 behavioural safety conversations were conducted, resulting in the prevention of 7,173 hazardous situations and actions.

Modern digital solutions aimed at improvement of Safety Culture:

• simulators for practicing skills required in emergencies and during hazardous operations,
  
• a module for issuing electronic work permits for hazardous operations;
• the “Hazard Hunt” mobile app, in which any employee can record a hazard found at work: take a photo and provide a description of the hazard. The message is automatically sent to the person in charge to rectify the situation.
  

The increased safety culture speaks to the effectiveness of the tools used, but Irkutsk Oil Company LLC continues to search for even more innovative technologies and solutions to ensure safe working conditions.

Process Safety Management

In 2021, Irkutsk Oil Company LLC launched a large-scale project — Process Safety Management (PSM). The project is implemented in cooperation with an international consulting company, a member of the Big Four.

Process safety is a system of key interrelated production and control processes that are integrated in the behavioural culture of the team and create a manageable state of safety and continuity of the production cycle. This way of managing facilities prevents injuries, accidents and incidents. The process safety system consists of 12 key processes..

The core of the process safety system is the design, operational and technical integrity, as well as risk management. When these processes reach operability, a cumulative effect — a manageable state of safety — is created.

Each of the 12 processes that make up the system is important and is complementary to the others, so the process safety management system is balanced and sustainable, able to evolve, becoming part of the company's “cultural code”.