Key projects in the area of ​​occupational health and safety

Legal compliance

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Occupational safety have been identified within the ORLEN Group, taking into account the business in which the companies are engaged. Measures have been taken to ensure that the Requirements are met, and the legislative changes in the area of occupational safety are monitored on an ongoing basis. In 2021, it was an important element of the proces to ensure compliance with respect to the implementation of preventive measures relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of evolving legal requirements. Ongoing monitoring of and response to such changes.

Efforts to counter the COVID-19 pandemic

As regards occupational safety of ORLEN Group employees and contractors, a number of procedures and information materials related to the COVID-19 pandemic have been updated.  The key ones include the Employee Guidance Book (OHS Office area) and the ‘Recommendations for Contractors on the Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Infection’. The Group was also involved in awareness campaigns on the subject, co-organised with other partners.

Safety management of operations involving handling of dangerous goods - ensuring compliance with ADR and RID regulations

A number of activities were carried out in 2021 to ensure the Company’s compliance with ADR and RID regulations during storage, handling, and carriage of dangerous goods. The syllabus for position-specific training was modified to account for the changes in ADR/RID regulations.

Over 2,300 position-specific trainings on operations involving dangerous goods were delivered. The process of preparing shipping documents was reviewed, drivers’ authorisations were verified, and legal compliance of vehicles intended for the carriage of dangerous goods was checked. Labelling of vehicles and individual packages as well as the required on-board equipment were also checked for completeness and correctness. Supervision was exercised over proper storage and labelling of dangerous goods and storage areas for dangerous goods and hazardous waste generated by the production plant in Płock, the PTA plant and CCGT plants in Włocławek, the railway terminal in Płock, and fuel terminals at various locations in Poland. Regulations concerning handling of dangerous goods in place at PKN ORLEN were also reviewed and updated.

An annual report on the carriage of dangerous goods was prepared and submitted to the Provincial Road Transport Inspectorate (WIDT) by the deadline prescribed in the applicable regulations. Regular email correspondence was exchanged in response to inquiries about ORLEN Group operations involving handling of dangerous goods. Our representatives visited the areas of Public Company ORLEN Lietuva and ORLEN Unipetrol RPA involved in handling of dangerous goods, and representatives of those companies visited the facilities in Płock to share experience and analyse internal regulations directly related to operations involving handling of dangerous goods. Applicable sanitary procedures were observed at all times during the visits.

Continuous improvement of the occupational safety management system

The ORLEN Group engages in various efforts to continuously improve its occupational safety management area. These include setting and implementing strategic objectives at the ORLEN Group and company level, monitoring occupational safety KPIs for individual companies and the ORLEN Group, developing OHS improvement plans, performing annual analyses of the OHS situation, projects designed to improve employees’ and contractors’ work safety culture (such as: Safe Contractor, Safe ANWIL, Report a Hazard, Behaviour-Based Safety programmes, Work Safety and Health Protection Days at the ORLEN Group, etc.), external and internal control and audit systems, an extensive employee and contractor training system, incentive schemes addressed to employees and contractors (such as: the OHS Incentives Programme, competitions: Safety Eagles, Best Practices in Personal and Process Safety of the ORLEN Group, and Millions  of Accident-Free Man-Hours of ORLEN Group Employees and Contractors), implementing post-audit recommendations and preventive and corrective measures identified in the occupational safety area, implementing best practices identified in the fuel and energy industry.

Consultations with external advisors and cooperation  with universities are carried out with a view to improving the safety management system. In 2021, consultations on the ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety Management System were held at selected companies, while PKN ORLEN continued to pursue its strategy of cooperation with universities. ORLEN Group companies pursue their occupational safety objectives and perform their occupational safety tasks with the use of in-house OHS functions, supported by ORLEN Eko’s resources, or complemented by limited outsourcing of OHS services.

Best practices are identified on an ongoing basis through experience sharing across the ORLEN Group and drawing on the lessons learned by other oil and gas companies with global footprint. Projects completed in this area include the LOTO System and the Employee Support System.

Employee Support System (ESS)

It is a behavioural programme aimed at encouraging safe behaviours while eliminating unsafe ones. Its implementation is one of the multidimensional actions aimed at improving the safety culture at the ORLEN Group. In 2021, a workshop was organised for ESS Consultants to develop effective training skills and share knowledge and experience with employees of PKN ORLEN and its contractors. The workshop employed various methods of knowledge transfer. A vital element of the system is the ESS Consultants’ engagement in a dialogue with PKN ORLEN employees and contractors. For this reason, ESS Consultants should be able to communicate effectively so that their message best reflects their intentions and is understood correctly by employees.

LOTO (LOCK OUT TAG OUT) SYSTEM1

It is a scheduled activity which consists in cutting off power supply to industrial equipment and machinery whenever maintenance or repair work is performed. Lockout prevents employees from switching on the machine until it is disabled. ‘Tag out’ refers to a tag which informs and warns that a given machine is locked out while maintenance work is being performed, and may not be switched on until the tag is taken off. The purpose of the system is to eliminate accidental and uncontrolled switching on of machines or hazardous energy releases during operation, development, repair and maintenance works, and thus prevent accidents and incidents resulting from inadvertent start-up or re-energising of machines, devices, or installations.

1 The LOTO System is a scheduled activity which consists in cutting off power supply to industrial equipment and machinery whenever maintenance or repair work is performed. The purpose of the system is to eliminate accidental and uncontrolled switching on of machines or hazardous energy releases during operation, development, repair and maintenance works, and thus prevent accidents and incidents resulting from inadvertent start-up or re-energising of machines, devices, or installations.

Internal control and audit system at the ORLEN Group

Internal audits of the companies are held regularly at the ORLEN Group. In 2021, there were six consultancy visits (audits) and one re-audit procedure. Furthermore, a number of consultancy and review visits were organised in connection with the incorporation of new companies and groups of companies (ORLEN Transport Sp. z o.o., the RUCH Group, and Polska Press Grupa) into the ORLEN Group. The visits were conducted in compliance with the applicable sanitary procedures.

The audits include an important component called Safety Walks, consisting in safety reviews at the visited facilities. Results of the assessments and observations made during such visits serve as the basis for formulating and implementing correction and refinement plans and workplace health and safety improvement plans. Audits carried out at the Group companies include internal audits, audits by certification bodies, and audits by risk management consultancies.

Regular safety audits of contractors performing work for the ORLEN Group are conducted, as prescribed in the Group’s approved methodology. In 2021, PKN ORLEN, ORLEN Unipetrol RPA, and Public Company ORLEN Lietuva were visited by reinsurers. One of the key issues of interest for the reinsurers was the level of involvement of the visited companies in the Process Safety Management System. According to this international team of experts, this is a critical element that contributes to ensuring and maintaining safe and problem-free operation of industrial facilities.

Cooperation with universities

The fifth edition of Technical Safety lectures was organised in 2021 as part of full-time and extramural curricula of the Chemical Technology studies. It was a continuation of the project carried out in 2017–2020 by the OHS Office and Technology Office of PKN ORLEN, in cooperation with the Płock Branch of the Warsaw University of Technology. The initiative was to deliver a series of expert lectures, conducted in accordance with PKN ORLEN’s concept for educating its future engineering staff in areas relevant to the oil processing and energy industries, under the adopted strategy of engagement with universities. Cooperation was continued with the Łódź University of Technology (via the Education Centre in Płock) in a postgraduate programme on industrial process safety.

The ORLEN Group runs the Best Practice in Personal and Process Safety competition dedicated to ORLEN Group companies. The aim is to spread best practices in safety that promote a pragmatic and modern approach to that area, including any technical, qualitative, efficiency enhancing, communication, organisational and infrastructural solutions. The competition contributes to improving and streamlining the components of OHS management and boosting employee motivation. It also provides an opportunity to share knowledge and experience in fostering safety culture between different ORLEN Group companies.

Another competition for Group companies is Millions of Accident-Free Man-Hours of ORLEN Group Employees and Contractors, designed to promote accident-free work. 2021 saw the 9th edition of Best Practice in Personal and Process Safety and the 7th edition of Millions of Accident-Free Man-Hours of ORLEN Group Employees and Contractors.

Improving the process safety management system

The documentation for plants classified as upper-tier and lower-tier establishments was updated as part of the ongoing process safety oversight of the Company’s facilities, in compliance with the Requirements of the Environmental Protection Law. Analyses of hazards in investment projects as well as periodic reviews and updates were performed. Knowing the actual level of adverse event risk is crucial when making decisions on testing the effectiveness of safety measures taken to prevent failures/incidents.

Process safety management system training was provided to newly hired employees (as part of the training programme delivered at the Training Centre) and to employees of the Fuel Terminals. The training proved that knowledge sharing is one of the practical organisational actions that can result in lower risk of emergency events.

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Continuous improvement of the safety management system at the ORLEN Group

The ORLEN Group took a number of measures to integrate recently acquired companies and groups of companies into the Group’s work safety management system, including projects designed to standardise and further develop their respective safety standards. The Energa Group received further support in the pursuit of strategic activities in occupational safety improvement and development set for 2021–2023.

In 2021, consultancy visits (internal audits) were conducted at new companies joining the ORLEN Group (ORLEN Transport, Polska Press Grupa) to review consistency of the rules in place at a given company / group of companies with the safety management coordination model adopted at the ORLEN Group.

Contractor safety is equally important as the safety of its own employees. Therefore, a number of activities were undertaken in 2021 to improve the existing contractor safety management system, e.g.:

  • Contractor accident rates were monitored, and the accident statistics were taken into account in the calculation of the ORLEN Group occupational safety KPIs (a comprehensive analysis of contractor accidents at work was carried out and the TRR was calculated based on this data).
  • Information on accidents at work involving contractors and on remedial actions undertaken in the case of particular accidents was communicated within the ORLEN Group (Safety Alerts; Personal, Process and Fire Safety Reports).
  • The tasks prescribed in the safety standard M2 ‘Subcontractor management’ were carried out.
  • Inspections and audits were conducted to verify work safety and contractors’ preparation for the work to be performed, including inspections and audits required under the ORLEN Group’s technical standard entitled ‘Classification and supervision of safety of third-party companies located on the premises of ORLEN Group companies or providing services to ORLEN Group companies’.
  • The PKN ORLEN Training Centre continued its activities (subject to applicable sanitary procedures).
  • Work safety workshops and webinars were organised for third party employees.
  • Various preventive measures (organisational, educational, informational) addressed to third party employees and aimed at minimising the risk of spreading the SARS- -CoV-2 virus were undertaken, which included preparation of recommendations for contractors.
  • A special section of the ORLEN.pl website dedicated to external contractors was created (External contractors | ORLEN); it contains up-to-date information on safety issues, applicable requirements, training and incentive programmes, and awareness campaigns (Report a Hazard).

Tasks aimed at building work safety awareness and promoting proactive attitudes among our staff and contractors were performed as part of the work safety culture improvement initiatives.

The Employee Support System put in place at PKN ORLEN is one of the programmes aimed at strengthening personal security culture. Research on occupational safety at PKN ORLEN was conducted with partners, covering:

  • Workplace safety culture and climate;
  • Professional and other activity of employees aged 50+ and retirees.

The purpose of the first of these research projects is to design a modern and innovative programme for further development and monitoring of personal safety culture at PKN ORLEN with a view to increasing active involvement of employees in the development of personal safety at and outside work. The second project aims, among other things, at developing and implementing a preventive healthcare programme at PKN ORLEN: Active 50+ Employee and Retiree.

Hazard identification, risk assessment, and incident investigation

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The ORLEN Group companies carry out ongoing hazard identification, risk assessment and incident investigation. The process includes: developing and updating the Occupational Risk Assessment for individual positions, carrying out work environment studies, identifying hazards in work instructions, and monitoring of working conditions. The Report a Safety Hazard programmes run by the companies are an important part of the process.

The process is supported by a system of inspections, audits, job reviews and Safety Walks. Group companies have procedures in place that allow employees and contractors to abandon their work if they identify a potential hazard to their health and life. Conclusions formulated in the process of hazard identification, risk assessment and incident investigation are used as inputs for the continuous improvement of the ORLEN Group’s occupational safety system.

In connection with a fatal collective accident at work involving a contractor that occurred at ORLEN Unipetrol RPA in 2018, remedial and preventive measures were taken at that company, the ORLEN Unipetrol Group, and the ORLEN Group. First, a special team was formed to investigate the circumstances and causes of the accident, and to make recommendations to prevent similar accidents in the future. Industry experts from the ORLEN Group level were delegated to support identification of areas for improvement, formulate conclusions, and design solutions aimed at eliminating the causes of the accident. Another important aspect of their visits was establishment of preventive measures to avoid the occurrence of similar events at other ORLEN Group companies.

Changes were implemented at ORLEN Unipetrol RPA and the ORLEN Unipetrol Group with respect to drafting and issuing work authorisations and communication among work supervisors. In addition, a series of trainings on contractor supervision were conducted for production installation employees. The ORLEN Group carried out a Lessons Learned process, including an incident alert and presentation of causes of the incident and potential areas for improvement for the companies. Implementation of ORLEN Group Safety Standards covering, among other things, subcontractor work safety management, system of written authorisations, and the LOTO system ensuring secure energy source isolation, was completed.

Programme is an incentive scheme addressed to the Company’s employees. It includes the Report a Safety Hazard competition as a component, where employees or their line managers report safety hazards and propose remedial actions via an electronic system. Best entries are rewarded.

There are structured systems in place at ORLEN Group companies to eliminate any reported and identified hazards, and the respective conclusions inform the Plans for Improvement of Occupational Health and Safety Conditions and other documents.

The implementation of preventive and corrective measures is verified based on the existing inspection, audit, job review and Safety Walks systems. For contractors, this process is executed through, inter alia, an existing system of written authorisations and training (including hazard training) dedicated to third party employees, and through development of Safe Working Manuals by contractors. Some ORLEN Group companies have also launched a Report a Safety Hazard to Contractors system.

The system is dedicated to the employees of external companies. Anyone who identifies an occupationalsafety hazard may report it by sending a text message to a designated telephone number.

Execution of the hazard identification, risk assessment and incident investigation process at the ORLEN Group level

The process of hazard identification, risk assessment and incident investigation is carried out at the company level and the ORLEN Group level. In the latter case, it uses the following tools: Safety Alerts, Lesson Learned, event tree analysis of accidents at work, Safety Meeting.

Any accidents or emergencies that occur at the ORLEN Group are analysed and assessed in terms of the likelihood of their recurrence.

Communication of near misses and emergencies is based on Safety Alerts. In the case of emergencies, Lesson Learned actions are organised based on checklists designed to identify preventive measures in different ORLEN Group locations. Special tools have been implemented for analysing the potential risk of accidents at work and emergencies, and the findings of such analyses serve as the basis for taking preventive measures. Process hazards are reviewed at the ORLEN Group using a range of methods, including HAZOP, which is used to establish the probability of hazards in industrial facilities. HAZOP consists in a systematic review of design assumptions and processes for potential deviations from predetermined parameters.

A uniform methodology for analysing workplace accidents at ORLEN Group companies.

It is a chart representing information about the incident, its causes and effects, and decisions taken based on the conclusions reached.

A continually improved element which requires wider development across the ORLEN Group is interdisciplinary Safety Meetings of representatives of the personal, process and fire safety functions, the Technology Office, and other areas of the organisation.

They are held to analyse emergency events that occurred at the ORLEN Group by identifying their causes and collecting information about their consequences. On the basis of collected information and available source materials, such as Reports from Emergency/Technical and Reliability Teams (investigation reports), various measures are formulated, which are then addressed to relevant areas of the ORLEN Group companies. The aim of this exercise is to capture lessons learnt and minimise the risk of similar incidents in the future. All information analysed during Safety Meetings is stored in an internal database of PKN ORLEN.

Occupational health services at the ORLEN Group

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Employees of the ORLEN Group companies are provided with access to basic medical care. It includes occupational health services, for instance employer-funded preventive care examinations during working hours, where possible. The services include issuance of medical opinions and assessment of employees’ capacity to work, monitoring the health of employees in risk groups, examinations for diagnostics of occupational diseases and other work-related illnesses. An occupational medicine doctor is involved in the process of identifying workplace hazards in particular positions as part of the Occupational Risk Assessment, which is developed and then updated as necessary, attends OHS Committee meetings, and is consulted on the contents of first aid kits.

In some cases, the scope of services is extended to include additional benefits, e.g. occupational psychology advice. Work environment tests are carried out for particular work posts. The companies also run additional health prevention campaigns and initiatives, such as preventive vaccinations (including against COVID-19), medical examination packages and disease prevention programmes (e.g. hearing and vision exams, prostate cancer screening, ultrasound and mammography exams, blood tests, densitometry, diabetes prevention, COPD prevention, etc.), SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests, a programme researching the impact of work environment on health, assistance with the cost of prescription eyeglasses for employees. Also, ORLEN Group employees and their families are offered additional healthcare packages and benefit from various initiatives organised by the companies (ultrasound scans for employees’ children, etc.).

Consultation of employee representatives on health and safety, and communication

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OHS Committees are in place at ORLEN Group companies (PKN ORLEN, ORLEN Laboratorium, Basell ORLEN Polyolefins, ANWIL, ORLEN OIL, ORLEN Południe, ORLEN Serwis, ORLEN Ochrona, IKS Solino, ORLEN KolTrans, ORLEN Eko, ORLEN Centrum Usług Korporacyjnych, ORLEN Centrum Serwisowe, ORLEN Administracja, Polska Press, ORLEN Transport, Energa Group companies in which establishment of an OHS Committee is required). There is an equal representation of the employer, including a doctor responsible for preventive health care, and trade unions, including Company Social Labour Inspector, on each OHS Committee.

Responsibilities of an OHS Committee include:

  • Issuing opinions on proposed changes in workplace organisation and equipment;
  • Analysing conclusions from the Occupational Risk Assessment;
  • Issuing opinions on standards for employee personal protective equipment, clothing and footwear;
  • Reviewing periodic assessments of health and safety at work;
  • Issuing opinions on measures to prevent accidents at work and occupational diseases;
  • Preparing conclusions and issuing opinions on the Plan for Improvement of Occupational Health and Safety Conditions, and assessing its implementation.

OHS Committee proceedings are held regularly, at least once a quarter. In addition, committees with a similar scope of responsibilities operate at the ORLEN Unipetrol companies, Public Company ORLEN Lietuva, ORLEN Deutschland and ORLEN Baltics Retail.

As regards consultations on occupational health and safety issues at ORLEN Group companies, employees are represented by employee representatives and trade unions. Employee representatives and trade unions are a party in consultations on occupational safety matters, such as development and updates of the Occupational Risk Assessment, employee entitlements to protective clothing and shoes and prophylactic meals and beverages, determination of the scope of basic medical care for employees, and identification of solutions to improve occupational safety. They are also involved in the activities of OHS Committees.

The ORLEN Group provides access to information on occupational safety through the Company’s internal communication system, including the PKN ORLEN intranet available to employees of the ORLEN Group companies. This information is also disseminated during Occupational Safety Days and Topics of the Month as well as through security alerts and special programmes for employees such as the Employee Support System.

Employees are involved in the development and improvement of work safety through the Report a Safety Hazard system.

Occupational Safety Day at PKN ORLEN and Topic of the Month

Topic of the Month is a project carried out on the first Thursday of each month. It includes self-assessment of OHS, fire protection and process safety issues by heads of organisational units, Short Talks on Safety with the employees, and a discussion of a Topic of the Month. The topic to be addressed in a given month is prepared by the PKN ORLEN Occupational Health and Safety Office. It concerns a selected work safety issue or promotion of healthy lifestyles and good balance between work and rest. The project’s objectives are to:

  • Identify threats, including psychosocial threats, and ways to protect against them;
  • Look for safer ways to perform specific work activities and additional precautions.

Occupational Safety Day is an initiative aimed at raising awareness of hazards and threats, including those of a psychosocial nature.

OHS training

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The ORLEN Group organises mandatory training programmes on safety for its employees and contractors to familiarise them with the safety standards applicable at the Group companies. The programme focuses on raising the employees’ and contractors’ awareness of the importance of correct assessment of the situation, knowledge of potential risks and risk mitigation methods, adherence to OHS rules and procedures, proper use of protective systems and equipment, and the need to report potentially dangerous incidents. The programme includes tools for checking the employees’ and contractors’ knowledge.

OHS training provided to ORLEN Group employees includes initial and periodic training on first aid, fire safety, evacuation exercises, as well as other training with elements of OHS. The training is provided free of charge to employees during working hours and, where needed, in different language versions. Its effectiveness is assessed by holding theoretical and practical examinations.

ORLEN Group companies’ contractors receive training on general OHS, fire safety and process safety issues, working methods, local hazards, and specialist training with elements of OHS. Theoretical and practical examinations are carried out to assess effectiveness of the training, with the system for auditing contractors’ work serving as an additional verification tool.

PKN ORLEN and ORLEN Unipetrol RPA operate Training Centres.

Fot 2. Sala do weryfikacji teoretycznej Centrum Szkoleniowego PKN ORLEN SA Fot 2. Sala do weryfikacji teoretycznej Centrum Szkoleniowego PKN ORLEN SA

PKN ORLEN Training Centre

Training Centre is a concept of training employees of external contractors involved in any work at the Company’s production facilities, as well as the Company’s own new hires staffing the production area.

It involves detailed checking of the staff’s theoretical and practical knowledge within four thematic blocks: OHS, machinery, electrical systems, and local hazards at PKN ORLEN’s production facilities.

Knowledge of and skills in mechanical and electric engineering are checked through practical tasks. A similar initiative addressed to employees has been implemented at ORLEN Unipetrol RPA. Selected ORLEN Group companies have systems in place to assess the quality of training through training assessment or service provider assessment procedures.

Information campaigns promoting occupational safety and healthy lifestyles

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Occupational Safety and Health Protection Days at the ORLEN Group

Occupational Safety and Health Protection Days is an annual event dedicated to promoting work safety and healthy lifestyles among the Group’s employees and contractors. Each edition of the project and its planned events present a unique opportunity for employees of the ORLEN Group companies, as well as for external contractors, to participate in activities designed to consolidate and check their OHS knowledge.

Occupational Safety and Health Protection Days are announced annually by the Head of the PKN ORLEN Occupational Health and Safety Office for all ORLEN Group companies at the same time, although each company prepares its own programme of the event, in keeping with the announced main theme. Participants of the successive editions of Occupational Safety and Health Protection Days at the ORLEN Group have had an opportunity to visit the Driver Awareness site, medical booths, VR simulators, gaming and OHS competition areas, as well as exhibitions of OHS businesses and representatives of the ORLEN Group companies.

In 2021, selected ORLEN Group companies hosted the event in-person, operating in compliance with sanitary regime regulations put in place in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Other companies held virtual or hybrid meetings. When preparing the programmes, special attention was paid to prevention and topics related to COVID-19 pandemic containment projects. PKN ORLEN set up COVID-19 vaccination points in three locations: Płock, Warsaw, and Włocławek. Vaccination was offered to employees, employees’ families and contractors. The following were also implemented: an energy bike zone, virtual first aid courses, oxygen bars, thematic workshops (plant terrarium, macramé), medical stands, food and drink areas, games and competitions with prizes. The Energa Group and the RUCH Group also actively participated in the planning and hosting of Occupational Safety and Health Protection Days. First aid training, evacuation drills, webinars, dietary workshops, medical consultations, free vehicle fire extinguisher inspections, health and safety equipment inspections, and many other initiatives for employees were conducted.

Prevention and mitigation of occupational health and safety impacts directly liked by business relationships

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The company has in place a safety standard entitled „Classification and supervision of safety of third-party companies located on the premises of ORLEN Group companies or providing services to ORLEN Group companies”. Implementation of the standard consists in periodic audits of external companies, which are classified in three categories:

  •  Companies of strategic importance, which have a significant direct impact on the company’s functioning, core business, and critical infrastructure – Group A;
  •  Companies providing contractor and execution services, such as day-to-day plant maintenance, and executing smaller investment projects, which have a direct impact on the functioning of PKN ORLEN and ORLEN Group companies located on premises owned by PKN ORLEN, which are not of strategic importance, companies performing particularly hazardous work on premises owned by PKN ORLEN and/or are involved in the collection, storage and transport of dangerous substances produced by the company – Group B;
  • Companies operating ancillary or support processes, which do not have a direct impact on the company’s functioning, have indirect roles in the operation of processes, act as subcontractors to external companies of strategic importance or carrying out plant maintenance activities, which do not work on operating production facilities – Group C.

External companies classified in:

  • Group A are audited at least once a year;
  • Group B are audited using the sampling method at least once every three years;
  • Group C are not audited, but may be audited at the request of the Head of the PKN ORLEN Occupational Health and Safety Office.

The process includes a comprehensive audit covering, among other things: the company’s certified safety management systems, risk and hazard management, accident and crisis identification systems, hazard reporting and mitigation programmes, work safety culture building and improvement area, management of employee conduct, work organisation, fire, process and technical safety.

In addition, the ORLEN Group companies regularly assess suppliers in terms of safety of their work.

Other projects in the field of occupational safety

To the Rescue app on employees’ company phones

The app was designed for ORLEN Group employees to enable them to use professional guidance in the event of an emergency either in and outside the workplace. The GPS location feature will enable the user to quickly call emergency services. The app also provides a comprehensive source of first aid knowledge, contains instructions on how to act in case of fire or an emergency and makes calling for help easier.

Company Fire Brigade

The core responsibility of the Company Fire Brigade is to carry out rescue and fire-fighting activities on the premises of PKN ORLEN, as well as in the entire territory of Poland as part of the National Rescue and Firefighting System and the Assistance System for the Transport of Hazardous Materials (SPOT), and to supervise the readiness of the Company’s facilities for rescue and fire-fighting activities. The Company Fire Brigade provides chemical and technical rescue, seals leaks, mans safety stations under plant emergency conditions and during hot works on the premises of the production plant in Płock, and performs fire prevention functions. Firefighters specialise in firefighting in the refining and petrochemical industry, chemical rescue activities, as well as water rescue, technical rescue, medical care at first responder level and rope rescue activities.

For several years, they have been actively cooperating with fire brigades operating across the ORLEN Group by taking operational and preventive measures for safety improvement. Firefighters are equipped with more than 20 specialist firefighting and rescue vehicles, high volume pumps and water cannons, a rescue boat and specialist protective equipment for staff. A new snow and dry powder fire truck was purchased in 2021. It will replace a vehicle that has been in use for over 40 years. The SCANIA chassis vehicle is equipped with extinguishing dry powder tanks with a total capacity of 3,000 kg, eight 30 kg cylinders with carbon dioxide, and two mobile fire extinguishers with halon alternatives. The vehicle is dedicated to extinguishing fires involving flammable gases and electrical and electronic equipment. In 2021, measures were undertaken to improve and develop fire safety at the ORLEN Group. Employees of PKN ORLEN’s Company Fire Brigade underwent specialist courses and training in rope rescue and chemical safety assessment, which included a course intended for fire safety inspectors.

Regular emergency drills are conducted at the ORLEN Group companies, building employees’ knowledge of how to behave in an emergency. The drills are also an opportunity to improve cooperation with national rescue services a view to minimising the potential consequences of an industrial accident.

In 2021, the Company Fire Brigade conducted an initial test for 77 candidates for Company Chemical Rescuers on the chemical training track, with 70 people having successfully completed the course. As of December 15th 2021, PKN ORLEN had 646 Company Chemical Rescuers.

Projects implemented under the ORLEN Group company fire brigades segment-based management system were continued in 2021. There are nine company fire brigades, located in Płock, Włocławek, Trzebinia, Jedlicze, Mažeikiai, Litvinov, Neratovice, Pardubice and Kolín. The process to implement the segment-based management system included a number of measures initiated and implemented to ensure internal standardisation of the fire protection area.

The longest-to-date overhaul and replacement exercise was carried out at the PKN ORLEN olefins plant’s Olefins 2 unit in 2021. Considering the scope of the project and given the fact it was undertaken during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, multidirectional measures were designed, launched, implemented and supported to ensure the safety of contractors and process plant personnel performing the works. These included continuous oversight by the OHS personnel (ORLEN Eko Sp. z o.o., ORLEN Group OHS and Prevention Coordination Department, contractors), on-going cooperation with the overhaul coordinator, contractor meetings, introduction of ‘day-ahead work plans’, development of a schedule for the Company Fire Brigade’s standby posts, etc.

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The effects of safety measures undertaken at the ORLEN Group were appreciated by independent expert bodies

PKN ORLEN was awarded the Gold Card of Safe Work Leader.

It is the highest national award for the members of the Safe Work Leaders’ Forum, given for special and effective efforts for work safety. The Safe Work Leaders’ Forum evaluated PKN ORLEN’s initiatives to improve work safety. The Company qualified for the prestigious Gold Card award. This reflects its utmost commitment to personal safety and positive effects delivered by its initiatives in the area.

ANWIL won the National Labour Inspectorate’s Employer – Provider of Safe Work competition.

The purpose of the competition is to promote companies which organise work so as to guarantee the highest level of employee safety and health protection, and which diligently observe labour law regulations and the lawfulness of employment. ANWIL became one of the five companies in Poland presented with an award in the current edition of the competition and was included in the Golden Employer List of the best managed, safest and most profitable companies in Poland.

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