Health, Safety and Environment (HSE)

HSE Annual Letter of Assurance

A HSE Annual Letter of Assurance is issued by each Business Unit Head to the Group CEO at the start of the year reaffirming their commitment to HSE and pledging to work relentlessly to achieving our goal of nobody gets hurt, no damage to property and no harm to the environment, grounded by Wasco’s 5 Safety Principles and underpinned by visible informing, influencing and inspiring leadership.

Hazards and Risk Assessment

We identify all hazards, assess risks from the identified hazards and put in place measures to mitigate risks to reasonable levels based on the hierarchy of controls.

Group HSE Expectations

The Group HSE Expectations document articulates top management’s aspirations on HSE performance and focuses attention on management principles that are arguably the most important for an effective Management System namely, leadership, risk management, continuous improvement and implementation. The document provides a set of Expectations grouped into six (6) elements and seventy four (74) sub-elements of accountability in alignment with ISO Standards. All Wasco Sites have been certified to both ISO 45001:2018 and ISO 14001:2015 Standards.

Group HSE Standards

Standards are documented requirements, rules or instructions that support the Wasco HSE Policy in relation to specific activities or to address specific risks, threats or impacts. Eight (8) HSE Standards have been developed for implementation across the Group. These are HSE Performance Monitoring and Reporting, HSE Risk Management, Incident Investigation, Management of Change, Emergency Management, HSE Audit, HSE Consequence Management and GHG Emissions. All Sites are expected to develop and implement appropriate Safe Work Procedures based on these Standards.

Think Safe Act Safe – 12 Non-Compromising Rules

These Rules are regarded as life-saving rules for the Wasco Group of Companies and there shall be no violations to these Rules (zero tolerance).

HSE Competencies

Staff in HSE critical positions must have the right knowledge, skills and attitude so that work is carried out safely. In many cases the required qualifications and competencies are set by legal requirements. Particular attention is given to those staff occupying such positions in terms of their training, certification and other requirements so that they are always competent in discharging their duties. The objective is to nurture an engaged and proactive workforce having a renewed sense of vulnerability to risk.

Risk Factor and Risk Containment

The Wasco i-START Risk Factor and Risk Containment program, facilitated by DuPont and implemented to bring about a safety culture transformation, has helped to change workers mindsets from 'safety' to 'risk' and to avoid violations to rules and procedures (especially to Wasco’s 12 Non-Compromising Rules) with a view to proactively prevent any incidents. All the above initiatives have been positively received by workers through leadership engagement sessions, training and communication.

CARE Cards

Safety Observations (unsafe acts and unsafe conditions) are carried out daily by all workers at all Sites using an online system.

Insights from these observations (CARE Cards) are used to develop targeted campaigns for corrective actions and continuous improvements. If a competent, trained worker deems that a situation is unsafe or there is imminent danger, they have the obligation and responsibility to stop the work before an incident happens.

Safety Induction

This is a mandatory programme for all new employees, contractors and visitors and shall be valid for a certain period of time. The safety induction programme is updated from time to time.

Management Walkabouts

These are scheduled walkabouts participated by the management to demonstrate their commitment to HSE and also to engage with the workforce.

Constructive Engagements

We undertake constructive engagements with our workers and contactors in the development, implementation, evaluation and actions for improvement of the HSE management system and practices.

HSE Performance Management

Wasco is committed to having a proactive safety culture to prevent major accidents. Prevention of major accidents is about protecting people and the environment, as well as avoiding serious economic and reputational damage to Wasco. It starts with the top-level leadership and requires commitment and capabilities throughout the company.

HSE performance is assessed at two levels. Firstly through a set of 15 activities (Leading KPIs) that we have termed Wasco Care Plus, to prevent incidents from happening. Secondly through monitoring 18 actual outcomes (Lagging KPIs) to learn from mistakes and undertake corrective and preventive actions going forward.

We have clear and firm expectations to record and follow up all incidents. All incidents, including near misses, are promptly reported, incident investigations undertaken to identify root causes and HSE Alerts shared across the Wasco Group of Companies to ensure learning and continual improvements.

Health and Working Environment

A good working environment is essential to employee’s health, operational safety and employee engagement. We ensure that controls are in place to prevent harmful exposures. We provide high-quality medical care and ensure that health is an integral part of our emergency response and approach to social impact.

Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity Management

Wasco is well prepared to respond to incidents, and major security threats to prevent or reduce loss, damage, injuries or other consequences to people, the environment and assets, production and operations, information, financial assets and the group's reputation. All Sites have Emergency Response Plans in place and drills are conducted periodically to test these plans and make continuous improvements.

In order to ensure services are maintained with minimal interruption, major business risks that threaten the continuation of the delivery of products and services are identified, and effective preventive and response recovery strategies developed, implemented and maintained through Business Continuity Plans.

We have company-wide management systems that describe protocols and response governance for Emergency Response and Business Continuity Management. Our management systems incorporate industry good practices, national requirements and ISO standards.

HSE Audit

HSE audits are periodically conducted to provide assurance to management that HSE controls in place are adequate and effective, that all applicable HSE regulatory requirements and standards are complied with, that rules and procedures are being followed, the levels of competency and training of the workforce are good and the HSE Management System is suitable to fulfil the company’s HSE Policy and objectives.

Security

Good security begins with the behaviour and actions of each and every one of us – how we think and act each day at work or at home. By being aware of, and thinking through, our daily routines and actions, all employees contribute to our own and Wasco’s security.

We emphasise that security is everybody’s responsibility. We all have to understand the risks we face, and act to ensure we are secure. Leaders are accountable for protecting our people and business by continuously identifying, understanding and acting to reduce security risks. All employees play a role in being vigilant, complying with security requirements at all times, and reporting incidents and concerns.