Production Control, Occupation Safety and Process Safety
ACCIDENT RATES IN THE ELECTRIC GRID SECTOR
The system of recording electric grid facilities’ process failures in the Company’s subsidiaries in 2012 was governed by the following regulations:
- Rules for Investigating into the Causes of Accidents in the Electricity Industry, approved by Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 846 of October 28, 2009, whereby all process failures in any network of 6 kV or above are classified as accidents;
- Guidelines for Calculating the Level of Reliability and Quality of Supplied Goods and Rendered Services for the Organization Managing the Unified National (All-Russian) Electric Grid and Territorial Grid Organizations, approved by Order of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation No. 296 of June 29, 2010;
- Instructions on the Investigation and Recording of Process Failures in Energy Systems, Power Plants, Boiler Rooms, and Electricity and Heat Networks, effective from January 1, 2001 (to the extent that they are not in conflict with the Rules for Investigating into the Causes of Accidents in the Electricity Industry).
In order to expand the system of assessing the performance of its electric grid facilities on the basis of accident information, including making it possible to calculate globally applied electricity supply reliability indicators, the Company the development of up-to-date software for recording process failures and its introduction into subsidiaries. The Company conducted bidding procedures and approved the project implementation schedule in this area in 2012. Additionally, extensive work was done in collaboration with the software developers on the refinement and clarification of specific requirements.
The criterion for determining the reliability rate, based on the generally accepted international indicators and under the documents listed above, is the duration of power outages. The equivalent of the above-mentioned indicator for the electric grid facilities of the Company-managed grid organizations is the System Indicator of the Average Duration of Power Outages (for Power Lines of 6 kV and Above), which was 2.8 hours in 2012, 14% down on 2011.
In order to reduce the accident rate associated with trees falling onto overhead line wires, the Company continued to implement in 2012 a target-oriented multiyear program for its subsidiaries to widen narrow clearings. The efforts of subsidiaries and the managerial arm contributed to decreasing the number of such accidents from 18% of the total number of process failures in 2011 to 15% in 2012.
PRODUCTION CONTROL, OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, AND PROCESS SAFETY
The Company’s subsidiaries operate hazardous production facilities identified in accordance with Federal Law No. 116-FZ of July 21, 1997, “On Industrial Safety of Hazardous Production Facilities.” Most hazardous production facilities are the facilities related to the use of fixed hoisting mechanisms.
All of the hazardous production facilities operated by subsidiaries are registered on the State Register and have the required Certificates of Registration.
Its consistent and well-founded efforts enabled the Company to prove the redundancy of the requirements applicable to classifying transformer platforms as hazardous production facilities. Subsequent changes in legislative acts made it possible in 2012 to remove all transformer platforms from the State Register and abandon the implementation of the relevant regulations. This allowed the total number of hazardous production facilities to decrease from 1,235 to 1,105 although the number of hazardous production facilities classified as such due to the operation of hoisting machines and mechanisms grew from 796 to 872.
Subsidiaries developed and obtained from interregional territorial departments of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision of the Russian Federation (Rostekhnadzor) approval of the Regulations for Production Control of Compliance with Industrial Safety Requirements for Hazardous Production Facilities. The Regulations set forth the structure, powers, objectives, and functions of the persons involved in organizing and exercising production control. As a result of the approval of the Regulations, branches and production units of grid companies appointed the persons responsible for production control.
Changes in the Volume of Occupational Injuries of Individual Subsidiaries and the Company in 2012
Compared with 2011, the number of occupational accidents and the number of injured persons remained unchanged in 2012 (66 and 71 respectively).
The main cause of injuries at the Company’s facilities in 2011 and 2012 was electric shocks and arcing faults affecting personnel operating electrical installations: electrical injuries accounted for 35% and 45% of total accidents in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
This is a major cause of occupational injuries and predominant in fatal accidents (in the range of 60% to 80% in the years under review). The major causes of occupational injuries were the failure to comply with technical regulations prescribing the switching-off and grounding current-carrying parts of operating electrical installations, the failure to use personal protective equipment while approaching ungrounded current-carrying parts, and the negligent handling of operating energized equipment.
- The total occupational safety costs incurred by the Company increased from 2,740,044 thousand rubles in 2011 to 3,048,302 thousand rubles in 2012, up by 11%. Most funds (1,807,185 thousand rubles) were spent to purchase personal and collective protective equipment, special clothes and footwear. The Company’s total per capita occupational safety expenses reached 16.08 thousand rubles in 2012. The Company continuously works to develop and improve measures aiming to mitigate injury risks: videoconferences conducted by the Company’s Executive Director with executives and senior managers of subsidiaries on a weekly basis and with chief executives of branches of subsidiaries on a monthly basis discuss accident information and issue related instructions.
- On a monthly basis, subsidiaries are furnished with analytical reviews of occupational injuries, detailing the circumstances and causes of accidents and, wherever possible, containing annexes, clarifying photographs and graphs, and recommendations regarding accident prevention.
- On a yearly basis, training grounds of subsidiaries host professional competitions among their employees; their winners participate in competitions among the best crews.
- On a yearly basis, meetings are held with occupational safety units of subsidiaries, discussing their performance results and urgent issues with respect to occupational injury risk mitigation.
An analysis of accidents occurring in 2008–2011 found systemic reasons for accidents. Based on the analysis, the technical arm jointly with the Departments for Organizational Development and Management of Personnel formulated the Injury Risk Mitigation Program of the Company for 2012–2013. In late 2012, the program was adjusted with the aim of carrying out high priority measures to reduce the volume of occupational injuries.
Among other things, the program focuses on improving the system of occupational safety management, supervision over safe performance of work, technical standard documents, and the methods and techniques for safe performance of work. In addition, the program includes measures to improve industrial training and personnel training and develop a system of personnel motivation for compliance with safety requirements.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Operations of distribution grid companies do not involve a material adverse environmental impact that can cause irreversible environmental changes or disasters. Environmental safety requirements applicable to electrical installations are established in the equipment design phase. Environmental measures include protection of soil from oil products (construction of oil receivers and drainage systems under oil-filled equipment containing more than one tonne of oil), protection of people and animals from exposure to current-carrying part (prevention of accidental touch or penetration), etc. The principal areas of the Company-managed distribution grid companies’ protection of the environment against the adverse impact of their production activities are specified in the Programs of Environmental Policy Implementation.
Environmental protection efforts in 2012 included as follows:
AIR PROTECTION
The following measures were taken in this area:
- controlling the harmful content of vehicle exhaust emissions to prevent unreasonably excess values, adjusting vehicle fuel systems, and replacing gasoline systems with gas-powered systems;
- replacing vehicles and special machines on the expiration of their standard operating life with new vehicles conforming to the Euro 3 emission standards;
- renovating and landscaping land;
- putting into operation dust-collecting units for woodworking machines.
Some branches of subsidiaries where the key adverse factors were the noise generated by the cooling systems of supply transformers in the case of substations rated 35 kV and above that were located near residential areas and the exhaust gas emitted by vehicles in the case of motor depots located near residential areas worked to develop and justify sanitary protection zones.
A slight increase in air emissions in 2012 on 2011 is due primarily to a greater number of vehicles (including the previously leased vehicles that were returned to companies) and the higher accuracy of recording emissions after the development of standards for maximum permissible emissions.
As related to air and forest protection, the Company and its subsidiaries organized and held the All-Russia social and environmental event The Electricity Distribution Grid Sector for Environmental Protection and the target-oriented communications program Let’s Conserve Forest Energy resulting in tens of thousands of trees planted by employees of distribution grid companies.
WATER PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION
The following work was done in this area:
- exercising compliance control with respect to maximum permissible concentrations in effluents in sewerage systems;
- obtaining permission for the nonpoint discharge of water;
- repairing drainage systems to prevent effluents with exceeded maximum permissible concentrations from coming into sewerage systems or ground water;
- improving drainage systems, complying with laws with respect to making payments to specialist organizations for the receipt and treatment of effluents;
- obtaining sanitary-and-epidemiologic opinions about the design of the sanitary protection zones of water wells and carrying out chemical tests of water samples from artesian wells.
Overall, water withdrawal remained almost unchanged in 2012.
LAND PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION
Work in this area focuses on disposing of production waste, transferring production waste to specialist organizations for subsequent processing and dumping, setting limits on waste disposal, and providing equipment for temporary waste storage places. In 2012, the Company generated 89,938 tonnes of waste and transferred 88,683 tonnes for processing and dumping, which is more than in 2011. The increased amount of waste is mainly due to a growth in annual repair and rehabilitation operations involving distribution grid facilities because of the development of the electric power industry.
Land rehabilitation
141.82 hectares was rehabilitated in 2012.
Technical measures
Much attention was given in 2012 to the following technical measures:
- oil-filled circuit breakers were replaced with vacuum equipment;
- repairs were carried out to oil receivers, drainage systems and a disposal was made of trichlorodiphenyl-filled static compensator battery cells, etc.
This equipment is disposed of in a phased manner according to its technical condition and depending on planned replacement and disposal expenses. A phased draft of the schedule for disposing of capacitor cells was made for 2013–2025.
In spite of an inflationary spiral, the Company continued to reduce payments for permissible and above-level emissions, effluents, and waste disposal. Their amount was decreased by 9.2 million rubles compared with 2011. This is due largely to the preparation and approval of permits at most subsidiaries, which reduced the volume of fivefold payments.
Problems are the obtaining of permits and the fivefold payments unjustifiably imposed for the disposal of Hazard Class 4 or 5 waste outside duly licensed waste dumps because some regions do not have such dumps.
Given the sector’s specific features, measures to reduce an adverse environmental impact focus on the following:
- new construction, rehabilitation, and technical upgrading of overhead lines rated 1,000 V and below use self-supporting insulated wires and 6–20 kV overhead lines with protected cables are built, which decreases the area of cut-over land and protects birds from an electric shock;
- noise screens are installed in 110 kV substations to reduce noise in residential areas to the maximum permissible limit in accordance with the applicable sanitary rules and regulations;
- oil-filled and oil-poor circuit breakers are replaced with vacuum equipment that does not contain oil products contaminating land;
- trichlorodiphenyl-filled static compensator battery cells are replaced and disposed of in a phased manner to ensure their safe operation, decommissioning, and disposal without causing harm to people;
- oil-filled feeders are gradually replaced with solid- or polymer-insulated feeders to prevent oil product spills from contaminating land;
- rehabilitation and re-equipment of oil-filled supply transformers rated 6–10/0.4 kV is accompanied by their gradual replacement with oil-filled sealed, dry transformers, which makes it possible to minimize oil product spills contaminating land;
- construction and repair of cable lines use modern cables with insulation made of cross-linked polyethylene and heat shrink tubing, which reduces the use of lead;
- new construction in large birds’ nesting areas does not use towers with pin insulators; bird barriers are installed;
- bird protection equipment, including visual and acoustic repellents, is mainly installed in large bird habitats and migration paths. Given their objective financial capabilities, IDGC of Siberia, IDGC of Volga, and IDGC of Center and Volga Region pay appreciable attention to protecting birds from electric shocks.