Global Ports’ Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) is implemented by complying with state occupational health and safety regulations, making commitments, and applying local documents in the implementation of the processes envisaged by the OHSMS.
The objective of the OHSMS is to protect the life and health of employees during their work activities by preventing occupational accidents and diseases and reducing (eliminating) the exposure of employees to harmful and/or hazardous occupational factors.
The aim of the zero-harm strategy is to remove the risk of harm from all processes. To achieve the goal of zero harm, we focus on creating a sustainable safety culture among employees, contractors, and other terminal visitors, reducing the impact of occupational risk levels to which employees are exposed.
The OHSMS Regulation was approved by Order No.
Our approach to developing a sustainable safety culture is based on three principles:
We constantly monitor health and safety risks to ensure that our risk controls and working practices are the safest they can be. We believe this approach leads to better safety outcomes. Our health and safety management system aims to enforce safety standards to ensure accident-free working conditions based on:
The Board of Directors has overall responsibility for health and safety matters and is committed to continuously improving safety culture and systems. The Board determines the Health and Safety policy, agrees on safety standards, and reviews performance. The Chief Technical Officer (CTO) is the manager responsible for the health and safety of the Global Ports Group’s employees and monitors the efficiency of operations. The Chief Operating Officer (COO) systematically reviews the comments and performance reports submitted by individual divisions. Quarterly performance reports are submitted to the Board of Directors, which conducts regular reviews of the Group’s safety performance and then discusses and agrees on the appropriate measures with senior management.
In 2022, as significant changes occurred in logistics and throughput, Global Ports maintained its commitment to workplace safety, with a strong focus on protecting the health and well-being of our employees, contractors, customers, and suppliers.
Ensuring the safety of operations remains a core focus of our business. The annual safety inspection schedule at the terminals has been rigorously adhered to. Management’s focus on safety continues to contribute to a consistent reduction in the risk of incidents. We recognise the importance of leadership and responsible behaviour in creating a positive safety culture. The daily safety walk programme continues to deliver high levels of compliance.
We also understand the need to listen to the views and comments raised during regular meetings with our employees. The GP Alarm mobile app also continues to work effectively at the Company. Our health and safety awareness programmes and the creation of a strong safety culture have resulted in progress on the priorities we had planned for 2022.
In 2022, new areas of focus were selected as part of the Fatal 5 programme:
The Fatal 5 safety programme, which focuses on the development of five safety areas, resulted in the implementation of most of the planned measures and a reduction in risks in the work process.
Compliance with industrial safety regulations. Inspections of compliance with industrial safety standards and regulations have been carried out at all of the Group’s terminals. Plans to reduce risks at hazardous production facilities have been developed and implemented. Additional training for employees has been conducted.
Work of technical services, including contractors, when maintaining equipment. Inspections of safe work practices during machinery maintenance have been carried out. 5S tools have been introduced at technical and ancillary services premises and workplaces to improve efficiency and achieve a high level of safety. We have implemented a number of improvements to help our colleagues work safely. For example, additional lighting has been installed in workplaces. New samples of personal protective equipment have been tested and purchased.
Handling of hazardous cargo. For all our terminals, we use uniform standards for the handling of hazardous cargo. These standards are based on APM Terminals’ recommendations (one of the Company shareholders in
Development of a safety culture. Developing a safety culture is a broad area that includes developing safety standards, risk analysis, employee assessments, and organising events, training, and development programmes for personnel. The Company holds regular safety seminars to discuss areas of safety development at terminals, opportunities for employee engagement, and stories about incidents and their causes in other divisions, as well as to show videos of incidents and issue-related videos from various internet resources. Workers are told about the delayed consequences of working with hazardous substances. Seminars address topical issues of improving workplace safety and ensure a constructive dialogue with terminal management and the management company.
In addition, as part of its efforts to develop a safety culture, the Company is introducing a workplace risk assessment process. Training has been provided as part of safety culture workshops. Employees are getting involved in the process and paying attention to things that need to be urgently corrected in the workplace. Work has been started on systematic risk assessments of standard operations by operational teams. At this stage, the tasks that need to be performed include reducing the risk for high- and medium-risk jobs to a controlled risk level, developing checklists for safe work preparation, and implementing risk mitigation measures.
Work of contractors in the operational process. Our safety management system aims to protect all people who are located on our premises. At Global Ports Group, the safety culture extends to all visitors to our terminals, including those working for other companies at our terminals. The safety of contractors’ employees remained a priority area for development in 2022. The Company has introduced a process of quarterly audits of contractors’ workplaces, meetings are held with managers where discrepancies are discussed in detail, and a mitigation plan is agreed. Our goal is to create a unified safety culture, where safety is an absolute priority.
In 2022, the Company managed to keep employee injury rates at a low level despite a significant change in the cargo mix, the introduction of new handling and storage technologies not previously used at the terminals, and the forced operation of the Company’s Far East terminal at a higher-than-design utilisation rate. The Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) at Global Ports was 0.89, with no fatal or serious injuries to either the Company’s personnel or contractors working at the Company’s facilities The Company also makes efforts to detect and treat occupational diseases in a timely manner. In 2022, six employees were diagnosed with radiculopathy, a neuralgic syndrome resulting from the compression of spinal roots.
In order to prevent occupational injuries, the Company conducts regular safety training for its personnel. The training is regulated by Order No.
Responding to growing risks, the Company is increasing investments in occupational safety measures. In 2022, total expenditures on OHS activities amounted to RUB 111 million, more than double the expenditure level in 2021.