Industrial safety and safety at work

The principles of prevention are continuously applied, with the aim of improving working conditions and reducing the number of negative HSE events. In the field of safety and health at work, the standards applied by NIS and the existing practice go beyond existing legal obligations. Business decisions are made in accordance with the requirements of national legislation and above the legally prescribed minimum, in order to ensure effective risk management. Contractor safety is managed and they are required to adhere to NIS standards.

Protecting and improving physical and mental health, preventing injuries at work and promoting a healthy lifestyle are part of the daily concern for the well-being of NIS employees.

Risk management and industrial safety

In accordance with the Company’s HSE Policy and the best global practice, a HSE risk management system was defined and established based on risk assessment and the establishment of barriers, in order to identify all potential hazards present in the workplace and in work activities, define adequate risk control measures and thereby eliminating risks for our employees, contractors, visitors, processes and equipment, as well as the environment, or reducing them to the lowest acceptable level. In order to ensure safe working conditions for our employees and contractors:

• An Act on risk assessment at the workplace and in the working environment was drawn up in accordance with the Law;
• Instructions for safe work are prepared for standard work activities, and for non-standard activities, a job safety analysis is performed immediately before performing work activities in the field;
• High-risk activities have been identified for which a work permit system has been established;
• Specialized studies in the area of ​​risk assessment and analysis (HAZID; HAZOP; BowTie) are being prepared;
• HSE risks are assessed in all phases of investment project management and during organizational changes;
• Care is taken to raise awareness and competence in the area of ​​risk management, both for employees and our contractors, through the training process, educational supervision visits, implementation of campaigns, production and distribution of leaflets, brochures, manuals.
• Monitoring of the implementation of the defined risk management system is carried out through supervisory and inspection visits, where non-conformities are determined and measures for further improvement are defined.

The company is constantly improving process safety management with the aim of:

• Minimize the risks of accidents that may have consequences for people, the environment, property, production and reputation;
• Ensures the presence and timely use of the necessary mechanisms for mitigating the consequences and preparedness for emergency situations in the event of incidents;
• Provide a database related to incidents in the field of process safety, such as Tier 1, 2, 3 (tier – spills of chemical, dangerous and other substances);
• Expands risk awareness through learning from incident investigations, thereby improving safety culture and preventing recurrence of incidents;

In addition, for all facilities where hydrocarbons are produced, processed and stored (refineries, gathering stations and warehouses), the Company performed a risk assessment and prepared, in accordance with legal regulations, safety reports, accident protection plans and an accident prevention policy, at all locations regular exercises are performed periodically and the operator’s knowledge is checked periodically.

Traffic safety

NIS employees travel an average of 110,000 km every day, as a result of which they are exposed to a large number of risks in traffic. NIS pays great attention to the safety of its employees in traffic in order to minimize these risks.

NIS a.d. Novi Sad, as a socially responsible company, constantly takes measures to improve safety and increase the traffic culture of its employees, with the aim of reducing the risk of unwanted events both during and outside of working hours.

The company realizes its commitment to reducing the risk of traffic accidents by implementing activities such as:

• Compliance with regulations and internal requirements of the Company
• Practical and theoretical training for drivers and users of NIS vehicles, in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense.
• Application of continuous vehicle and driving style monitoring (IVMS – In Vehicle Monitoring System).
• Investigation of traffic accidents and implementation of preventive measures with the aim of preventing their recurrence.
• Campaigns and informing employees about risks, dangers and tips for safe behavior in traffic.
• Cooperation with relevant institutions and state institutions (Faculty of Traffic, Ministry of Defense, Traffic Safety Agency, etc.).
• Monitoring key indicators of traffic safety efficiency, as well as the coefficient of traffic accidents (RAR – Road Accident Rate).

HSE Training

In order to reduce injuries at work and improve the HSE culture, the Company has established a continuous HSE training system that enables employees to acquire knowledge and skills for risk management at their workplaces, as well as the development of HSE competencies necessary for efficient work performance and improvement of work quality. HSE trainings are aligned with business needs so that the educational content is focused on the development of knowledge and skills for the safe performance of work activities, but also on the development of leadership competencies and raising the awareness of all employees about the importance of improving the safety culture and their role in that process, and includes all forms education and training that do not belong to the domain of acquiring formal education. Following world trends, for the needs of HSE training, a modern electronic training method has been developed that approaches the content in an interesting and interactive way.

Management of contractors

The company NIS j.s.c. Novi Sad continuously works to improve the process of managing contractors from the aspects of occupational safety and health, environmental protection and fire protection.

Thanks to the efforts of NIS employees in establishing contractor management processes, over the past seven years, many contractors have adopted our practice in order to improve HSE practices.

Applying it in their companies, they raised the level of security to a higher level, respecting not only the legal minimum, but also the additional requirements required by NIS.

In our company, the efficiency of the contractor management process is permanently controlled from the aspect of HSE in all organizational parts of the Company.

Communication, management and investigation of HSE incidents

Our company has established a HSE Incident Management process, which includes transparent notification and reporting of HSE Incidents, research into the causes of HSE Incidents, monitoring of financial impacts, as well as sharing lessons, i.e. learning from HSE Incidents. By HЅE Incidents, we mean Incidents that have consequences such as injuries at work, fires, traffic accidents, equipment failures that can threaten the safety of people and/or negative impacts on the environment. In accordance with the above, the main objectives of the management of HSE Incidents are to:

• We react in a timely manner and mitigate the consequences, that is, we manage HSE incidents
• We act preventively, that is, apply measures that will prevent the recurrence of similar incidents
• We are improving the management system of HSE
• We learn and share lessons from incidents with our employees and contractors