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Wednesday, 02 December 2020

INDUSTRIAL SAFETY: A NEW REALITY

Security, as the main value of humanity, has a long history of its origin and development. An integral part of it is the quality of life and the condition for human survival. The quality of safety at work is assessed by the absence of accidents and injuries. Therefore, leading companies pay special attention to improving the level of safety culture at work, improving working conditions and introducing information technologies. The analysis of the regulatory framework reveals the fundamental coincidence of the requirements for the main elements of the Industrial Safety System in the practice of individual countries and international organizations. In the Table, this is illustrated by the example of the Russian Federation and the United States, as well as the International Convention for the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents adopted by most European countries and the International Program for Safety in the Chemical Industry (the latter program was implemented with the participation of the International Labor Office).
Modern information technologies create a qualitatively new situation in the computer support of the Industrial Safety System. This applies primarily to two key tools – computer simulators for training operational personnel and computer programs for analyzing potential hazards.The analysis of the regulatory framework reveals the fundamental coincidence of the requirements for the main elements of the Industrial Safety System in
the practice of individual countries and international organizations. In the Table, this is illustrated by the example of the Russian Federation and the United States, as well as the International Convention for the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents adopted by most European countries and the International Program for Safety in the Chemical Industry (the latter program was implemented with the participation of the International Labor Office).
Modern information technologies create a qualitatively new situation in the computer support of the Industrial Safety System. This applies primarily to two key tools – computer simulators for training operational personnel and computer programs for analyzing potential hazards.
An analysis of the regulatory framework shows that, in practice, individual countries adhere to the International Convention for the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents and the International Programme for Safety in the Chemical Industry. They describe tools that take into account modern information technologies, including the use of online platforms for registering potential hazards.
JSC "Samruk-Energo", as one of the largest energy holdings in Kazakhstan, assesses the importance of improving the quality of safety at work and introduces new approaches to the development of culture among staff. Also this year, the project "Safe Production" is being implemented in a number of subsidiaries and affiliates in the pilot format, which involves automating the registration of nonconformities. Taking into account the complexity of production and process control systems, this is an extremely necessary measure to eliminate the positive dynamics of accident statistics, reduce industrial and environmental risks.
Murat Baitemirov, an employee of Ekibastuz GRES-2, has been working in the production for about 30 years. Currently manages the production safety of the plant.

"For a quarter of a century, I have repeatedly witnessed industrial accidents and seen many deaths. The reasons were different: employee negligence, insufficient security measures, and so on. I am really pleased with the information progress and proposals to simplify and streamline the recording and recording of facts that threaten the safety of our employees."

Transparency of processes, availability of data – one system for all.
The project is being tested on three large assets of the holding: Ekibazstuzskaya GRES-1 LLP, Ekibazstuzskaya GRES-2 JSC and AlES /CHPP-3 JSC. The information system based on "ASPANS" of domestic production in the market of Kazakhstan is relatively recent – since 2015. But it has managed to prove itself well and it is used by some production facilities of KazAtomProm. It allows you to register nonconformities online, as well as analyze and identify system problems of the enterprise and search for root causes to solve them. In the future, the platform can become a single technical infrastructure for the effective operation of emergency and support services.

"Many employees initially took this initiative with hostility. All records have been kept in paper journals for many years, which is more common, but not effective, especially in the age of digitalization. We conducted training, and our employees were introduced to the platform and new features. There are still a number of systemic issues, but they are in the process of being worked out. I think with the support of the station's management, we will be able to solve them, " says Murat Baitemirov.

300 employees at GRES-1, 200 – at GRES-2 and 130 – at CHPP-3 of the Almaty station were trained to work in the application. Employees of the SDCs began to register potential hazards that could lead to consequences. According to the project monitoring, during the first week after the training, about fifty warnings from the station staff appeared in the system. Among the most active and first participants, the project team identified employees of Ekibastuz GRES-1 and GRES-2: Alexander Novikov, Alexander Kuliyev and Viktor Polegaev.
In the system, employees indicate the fact of the violation and what preventive measures they have taken.

- "The employee struck with a sledgehammer without using the safety glasses that were available."- "A conversation has been held.
The employee agreed that there may have been an eye injury. I put on my glasses and continued working."
In fact, the success of the project is not that the system will take root or that employees will be able to retrain and make records not "on the knee", but on the Internet platform. The more signals from employees appear, the brighter and clearer the picture will become of how much each of the employees is interested in improving the level of safety, whether there is an awareness of responsibility for their own safety and that of their colleagues. International practice shows that prevention, careful attitude to one's own life, caring attitude and high corporate spirit can prevent accidents.

There is such an aphorism among labor protection workers as: "Safety rules are written in blood." And there is some sad truth in this. Therefore, the steps that companies take when applying new technologies are aimed at introducing a risk-based approach and achieving a level of zero tolerance for injuries.