Occupational health and safety

The Company has in place an Occupational Health and Safety Management System aligned with health and safety standards generally recognised in the countries of FESCO’s operation.

In 2021, we achieved the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) certification under the following standards: GOST R ISO 9001:2015 Quality management systems, GOST R ISO 14001-2016 Environmental management systems and GOST R 54934-2012/OHSAS 18001:2007 Occupational health and safety management systems. Requirements.

FESCO’s key document in the field is its occupational health and safety policy, which defines its HSE principles, goals, objectives, and core activities.

In 2021, we implemented the following Group-wide occupational health and safety initiatives:

• improved the Occupational Health and Safety Management System, which sets the framework for the relevant internal controls;
• held centralised mandatory employee training in occupational health and safety, as well as fire, environmental and industrial safety;
• held regular audits of FESCO companies to check their compliance with statutory requirements in occupational health and safety, as well as fire, environmental and industrial safety;
• took measures to assess professional risks. As a result, we identified potential threats to lives and health of our employees and recorded them for further mitigation and elimination.

FESCO assesses the effectiveness of health and safety initiatives of its units through a system of indicators based on the number of lost time injuries occurring in a workplace per 1 million hours worked (LTIFR). According to the assessment, FESCO has had no accidents involving injuries for two years, which proves that our health and safety initiatives are effective.

Our activities aimed at reducing occupational injuries include:

• a three-stage system for monitoring health and safety at workplaces;
• preventive measures;
• analysis of occupational injuries and professional skills;
• analysis of diseases in order to assess occupational injuries and implement relevant corrective actions;
• mandatory investigation of all incidents occurring in the Company.

FESCO has an effective occupational health and safety system, which is proved by the ISO 45001:2018 and GOST R ISO 45001-2020 Occupational health and safety management systems certificates issued by certification bodies of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping and the Interregional Centre for Advanced Professional Training.

Response to COVID-19

Like all companies in Russia and around the world, FESCO still faced COVID-19-related challenges in 2021.

In order to retain its team and business in general, the Company had to promptly adapt to the difficult conditions.

Efficient teamwork ensured smooth transition to working from home and uninterrupted operations.

In 2021, we improved the monitoring of our employees’ health and implemented a number of measures to lower the morbidity rate and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As at the end of 2021, 82.9% of FESCO employees were vaccinated, which is 20% higher than the vaccination rate across the regions of the Company’s footprint.

In 2021, we took the following steps to maintain our operations amid the pandemic:

• a response team was created to prevent the spread of COVID-19;
• employees at all sites and locations were provided with PPE, and a system was built to forecast PPE consumption and organise restocking;
• training and onboarding programmes were automated and switched to the online mode;
• management underwent training on leading remote teams;
• internal communications were strengthened to foster the team spirit;
• at least 10% of the employees present in the office had regular COVID-19 tests;
• a mobile COVID-19 vaccination point was organised;
• a tool was developed to book desks at the office and trace contacts;
• a document flow procedure was established for remote workers;
• the number of employees going on business trips was cut by 70%;
• a task-tracking tool was introduced;
• salaries and wages were paid in full.