OMV Schwechat Refinery: 1,000 accident-free days
- Outstanding safety performance among company employees and partner companies
- Safety as a lived value
- Safety initiative and electronic work permit system ensure optimal results
Schwechat Refinery and its associated Lobau Tank Farm report that no working days were lost due to industrial accidents among OMV employees for a period of more than 1,000 days. This means that around 3.5 million accident-free hours have been attained.
“This trend is going absolutely in the right direction, and is the result of the personal commitment of all employees,” said Head of Schwechat Refinery Gerhard Wagner. “It is particularly remarkable when you consider that two major routine shutdowns took place in the past two years that involved a great deal of non-ordinary work in the plants.”
“Safety initiative 2010+” was introduced as early as 2009 – also in view of the shutdowns – in order to ensure a safe working environment. Employees of both the refinery and partner companies were made more aware of safety aspects through an information program and focused training courses. “For us, safety is a value in itself,” adds Gerhard Wagner.
Partner companies carry out a great deal of work at Schwechat Refinery, and their safety records are just as important for the refinery. In order to ensure an optimal performance here, only partner companies with a certified safety management system are selected. Furthermore, partner companies are actively involved in safety work. By doing this partner companies have also achieved all-time best safety performances in the past two years.
The introduction of an electronic work permit system in 2009 helps experienced OMV employees to establish the appropriate general conditions for non-routine work in the plant that is carried out mainly by partner companies. The system automatically suggests protection measures for certain types of work.
“Hard work and the awareness of each employee that safe working forms the basis of our success are behind these encouraging results and the newly achieved milestone of 1,000 accident-free days,” says Gerhard Wagner.
Background information:
OMV Aktiengesellschaft
With Group sales of EUR 23.32 bn and a workforce of 31,398 employees in 2010, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Exploration and Production, OMV is active in two core countries Romania and Austria and holds a balanced international portfolio. OMV had proven oil and gas reserves of approximately 1.15 bn boe as of year-end 2010 and a production of around 287,000 boe/d in 9m/2011. In Gas and Power, OMV sold approximately 18 bcm of gas in 2010. In Refining and Marketing, OMV has an annual refining capacity of 22.3 mn t and as of the end of September 2011 approximately 4,700 filling stations in 13 countries including Turkey. In Austria, OMV operates a 2,000 km long gas pipeline network with a marketed capacity of around 89 bcm in 2010. With a trading volume of around 34 bcm in 2010, OMV’s gas trading platform, the Central European Gas Hub, is amongst the most important hubs in Continental Europe. OMV further strengthened its position through the ownership of a 97% stake in Petrol Ofisi, Turkey’s leading company in the retail and commercial business.
Sustainability
OMV is a signatory to the UN Global Compact, and an active supporter to the values enshrined in its Code of Conduct. These include a strong sense of responsibility towards the social and natural environment, especially in economically weak regions. OMV continuously addresses economic, environmental and social issues related to its business in a responsible manner. The company reports on its activities in a sustainability report in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines.