Health and safety

Mining and steel production are typically associated with high levels of occupational hazards, which is why the Group prioritises the safety of our employees and contractors. The key areas of the Group’s approach to managing occupational health and safety comprise developing a culture of safety among employees and contractors, complying with all applicable legislation and monitoring and managing risk factors.

Health, safety and environment (HSE) management forms an integral part of our business, from strategic decision-making to operational activities. This includes continuously improving processes, management approaches and control systems, as well as providing a unified reporting structure, principles and policies.

HSE corporate management structure

To ensure that our HSE principles are implemented we perform the following actions, which are the core of the HSE management system:

Rolling out initiatives to continually improve HSE metrics
Applying the best HSE practices
Taking into account stakeholder opinions, setting HSE standards for contractors, and promoting respective compliance
Developing, measuring, and analysing HSE indicators and assessing how they comply with both external and internal regulations
Provide transparent information to stakeholders vis-a-vis HSE incentives, goals, and results
Striving to ensure a free and transparent flow of information at all corporate levels, as well as with contractors
Applying industry best practices to mitigate against operational risks and to promote the rational use of resources
Complying with all applicable legislation and other regulations

HSE management process

EVRAZ holds a certificate of compliance with international occupational health and safety standards: the Group’s facilities are certified under OHSAS 18001:2007 and EVRAZ enterprises are planned to be certified under ISO 45001 in 2020.

The Group pays great attention to maintaining emergency preparedness. The identification of hazards and emergency risk evaluation procedures are regulated by the Provision on the EVRAZ Industrial Safety Management System. This is a proactive system that incorporates a set of procedures and documents that are used to prevent an emergency.

EVRAZ HSE principles

A strong safety culture is an effective tool for improving the Group’s overall safety performance, and is also a key component within OHS management. When developing the corporate safety culture we focus on fostering appropriate attitudes towards safety among all employees, the environments in which people work, and systems and processes related to occupational health and safety.

Our regular and comprehensive OHS education courses and trainings is to provide employees with the knowledge and skills that they need to perform their work safely. EVRAZ delivers a variety of training programmes and courses in training centres at its business segments. In line with legal requirements, EVRAZ provides one-week health and safety training sessions for employees twice a year. We also regularly monitor and evaluate the skills and knowledge of our personnel in this area. All employees must pass an examination on safety rules and a working instruction.

Collaboration with contractors remains a priority area for ensuring workplace safety and improving contractor management. Our contractors are integrated into the EVRAZ HSE management system and we continue to make efforts to boost their engagement level. Work with contactors is regulated by the Standard on HSE Contractor Management and consists of a four-stage procedure.

Standard on HSE Contractor Management