Health, Safety and Environment
Securing the health and safety of our personnel and people working for SN Power is a key focus area throughout the company. Promoting health and safety is one of our core business principles.
While we aim for zero accidents in all operations and projects, accident statistics and audit reports show that HSE needs continual attention by our managers at all levels in order for us to succeed.
HSE the SN Power way
Developing and embedding a good HSE culture in the organisation takes time and requires continuous follow-up. Processes and guidelines must be established to ensure a consistent, standardized approach that is easy to understand and practical to follow. People must be motivated too, to consider health and safety a personal responsibility.
For a growing company like SN Power, operating in markets with different physical and cultural environments, it is particularly important to establish a common “SN Power way of doing things”. While recognizing that improving health and safety conditions is a continual process, several important milestones have already been successfully achieved. We have seen significant improvements in the safety performance of our projects. A HSE culture training program for SN Power and joint venture company managers has recently been rolled out. Other highlights include the introduction of a HSE reporting system, companywide emergency response procedures and travel safety and security policies.
High standards
SN Power’s approach is to define and implement a high health and safety standard in our projects and operating plants based on international best practice and the competence gained through the development of hydropower plants in Norway. Safety performance is monitored and improvement areas identified through regular audits. New measures are introduced as a result.
Key elements in our work to ensure high standards of health and safety are:
HSE is an integral part of SN Power’s Project Management System
Competence transfer based on Norwegian hydropower experience
Best-practice sharing among projects
Regular auditing of projects and operating plants by SN Power's experts
The HSE requirements to contractors are defined in contracts
Qualified contractors
SN Power also recognizes that there are large variations in the health and safety standards, both among countries in which we operate and among individual contractors employed in projects. The use of qualified contractors with proven records on HSE is therefore an important aspect of the company`s project management system.
Transportation safety measures
Accidents in transportation have in the past been the main cause of fatalities on our sites. To prevent this type of accidents, we have implemented transportation safety management systems including such measures as:
Education of drivers
Checking of road worthiness of vehicles
Implementation and enforcement of safety rules including speed limits
Improved road quality and installment of road-side barriers
Access control and emergency alert routines