Occupational
health and safety
Staff safety is a key priority for the LOTOS Group. For this reason, safety at work and health protection take precedence in our business. Its key principle states that ‘no job is too important or urgent that it cannot be done safely.’
The LOTOS Group strives to maintain high safety standards, minimise risks, and raise employee awareness of safe working culture.
The Group has an OHS function in place, acting as the employer’s advisory and controlling body in accordance with applicable laws. The LOTOS Group’s certified Integrated Management System (which also includes an occupational health and safety management system) covers all of its operations, including all employees, workstations and activities carried out by our staff.
To ensure optimum OHS and working conditions for its employees, the LOTOS Group takes wide-ranging measures, including assessment of the workplace risks. By consistently implementing effective controls, we eliminate threats and increase occupational safety.
To that end, we take measures aimed at:
- ensuring proper organisation of the working environment and ergonomic conditions at workstations,
- conducting regular environmental studies,
- applying best possible safeguards comprising technical, organisational and human measures, from collective safeguards at workstations to personal protective equipment tailored to an employee’s individual needs,
- applying best available techniques as process and technical safeguards (BAT),
- fine-tuning the hazard identification and risk estimation systems for the human-machinery-environment triad,
- engaging in regular advisory, supervisory and control activities,
- providing hands-on training and thematic workshops to improve employee qualifications,
- raising employee awareness of and commitment to enhancing the work safety culture,
- engaging in various initiatives that go beyond the applicable legal requirements, also with regard to the oversight of contractors.
At the LOTOS Group there are several whistleblowing channels to report work-related hazards. There are OHS mail boxes available to all employees around the premises, an intranet application for reporting unsafe conditions, and a dedicated email address.
There is also a special policy in place allowing employees to leave their workstation in a situation which, in their opinion, poses a hazard to their health or could lead to injury. The relevant information is communicated to employees i.a. during induction and periodic training.
To improve safety at work, we have formulated a set of golden OHS rules to be followed by the LOTOS Group employees, based on applicable laws and internal regulations. The rules were defined following an analysis of risks and hazards which occurred over the last decade. They aim to reduce the risk of accidents and incidents posing threat to employees’ lives and health, set high occupational safety standards, and foster the right behaviour among employees.
In 2019, an OHS training entitled ‘Know the golden rules of occupational safety for a LOTOS Group employee’ was launched on the e-learning platform.
Golden rules of occupational safety for a LOTOS Group employee
Key training courses and initiatives
All LOTOS Group employees regularly take part in training and educational campaigns which highlight potential risks at the workplace.
Key training courses and initiatives include:
- stress management training;
- initiatives aimed at promoting or ensuring:
- healthy eating habits;
- quitting smoking;
- safety when handling heavy objects,
- physical exercise and activity,
- office ergonomics,
- organisation of work at the workstation;
- safe use of chemicals;
- noise protection.
In order to better familiarise the employees with occupational safety issues, each year ‘OHS Days’ are organised at the LOTOS Group refinery in Gdańsk. During the event, which has been held ten times, employees receive free medical examinations and consultations, attend healthcare workshops and participate in OHS competitions. The LOTOS Group is also regularly involved in a cycling campaign, encouraging its employees to increase their physical activity. In 2019, in addition to covering kilometres in running and cycling events organised for Gdańsk, the Group got engaged in a cycling campaign where we competed with other companies.
Over the last year, we were also involved in various additional initiatives to improve occupational safety and raise safety awareness among our employees. In 2019, we recapped the third edition of the ‘I work safely – Grupa LOTOS’ project, which brought a record-high number of ideas to improve work safety at the refinery. The project is addressed to employees of the LOTOS Group and contractor companies performing work for the refinery.
In 2019, a new project was launched to visualise occupational safety, covering information and motivation signs, infographics and floor markings. The first stage involved the marking of stairs, location of manual fire-fighting equipment and defibrillators.
Other activities
Other activities included:
- OHS reviews conducted by the management;
- tests of new protective clothing made of materials providing greater comfort than those currently in use (in terms of flexibility, summer thermal properties and style). The test results will be used to analyse whether it is reasonable to replace the currently used clothing with new, more comfortable counterparts, with enhanced protective features;
- e-learning OHS training for contractors, in five languages;
- ‘Minute for Safety’ – an initiative consisting in starting various meetings/training/briefings with a discussion of an OHS-related issue.
In 2019, 32 accidents took place at the LOTOS Group (of which 12 at Grupa LOTOS). All were classified as minor. Most of the accidents were related to transport (moving on foot, driving vehicles) or to the operation, repair and maintenance of machinery and equipment.
In 2019, there were no new reports of work-related ill health among Grupa LOTOS S.A.’s employees. Last year, a procedure initiated in 2017 by an employee’s work-related ill health report was continued.