Health & Safety

Safety is the top priority for everyone in INEOS

Our goal is zero injuries and product spills, which we pursue through rigorous application of best practices and a positive safety culture that recognises that all accidents are preventable. Health and safety of our employees, contractors, and site visitors is the highest priority for INEOS. Collectively and individually, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of health and safety.

We meet or exceed regulatory requirements and do not compromise our standards for commercial benefit or any other reason. Although our safety record already ranks among the best in the industry, we believe there is always room for improvement.

We take three approaches:

1. We believe excellence in safety can only be achieved if we are expert in what we do, so we make sure that we give our people and teams all the training, development and support needed to become expert.
2. We have put in place rigorous principles, practices, and procedures which all of us, and anyone who works on our sites with us, must follow. We back this up with audits and checks. Each one of us in INEOS is accountable for following these best practices.
3. We review our performance on safety at every business team and monthly board meeting. It is the top priority on every agenda and for everyone in the company, from our owners to technicians. Bonus pay is conditional on achieving our safety performance targets.

INEOS 20 BEHAVIOURAL AND PROCESS SAFETY PRINCIPLES

Our safety principles are captured in the INEOS 20 Principles, which cover both people safety and plant operational safety. Performance against these is audited regularly on every site in INEOS, and any gaps or opportunities for improvement logged and actioned.  These are backed up by (i) our Life Saving Rules, which are mandatory and must never be broken, and (ii) a “near miss” reporting system for all employees, which is designed to capture issues or circumstances which may lead to unsafe conditions if left uncorrected. Finally, at all our sites we invest in continuous improvement of infrastructure and the working environment and audit standards annually.

Our common standards and practices are set out in INEOS Group Guidance Notes (IGGN), which also cover rules for Permits to Work, Inspection of Equipment, and Management of Change. These are available to all employees on the company intranet. Learnings from any incidents are communicated across the company through a system of alerts.

Each business unit reviews health and safety performance on a monthly basis to the Executive Committee, where the business Chief Executive has ultimate accountability for performance.

The shareholders of INEOS are updated on SHE performance monthly at business Exco meetings, quarterly at Functional Exco meetings and annually through our letter of assurance (LOA) process which requires each business to provide an annual report.

BEHAVIOURAL SAFETY PRINCIPLES

1. We believe all incidents and injuries can be prevented.
2. Everyone's first responsibility is to ensure they work safely
3. Everyone has the duty to stop work if they feel the situation is unsafe.
4. The expectations and standards are the same for everyone on the site.
5. Rules and procedures must be observed and respected.
6. We should look out for each other's safety and unsafe situations.
7. All injuries and incidents/near misses must be reported and investigated.
8. Risk assessment must be carried out prior to, during and on completion of work.
9. All team leaders have a special responsibility for promoting and upholding these principles.
10. We must always work within the limit of our competency and training.

PROCESS SAFETY PRINCIPLES

1. The asset operating manager is responsible for its overall integrity.
2. The asset engineers are responsible for maintaining the asset and protective systems integrity.
3. The responsibilities in the organisation for defining and maintaining the correct operating envelopes must be clear.
4. Operating procedures and envelopes must be observed. Deviations must be reported and investigated.
5. Any changes must be properly risk assessed and subjected to MOC procedures.
6. Process hazards are systematically identified, risk assessed, reviewed and managed.
7. All assets must be subject to periodic inspection designed to ensure their integrity and the reliability of their protective systems.
8. Operations must always place the safe operation or shutdown of the asset ahead of production.
9. When in doubt the asset must always be taken to its safest state.
10. We have emergency plans based on assessed risks which are regularly tested.

INEOS HEALTH & SAFETY PERFORMANCE

Over the past decade, the INEOS approach to safety has resulted in a fivefold decrease in the injury rate among employees and contractors. When it comes to safety, health, and environment, we treat employees and contractors alike, which is why we report on their combined performance when working on our sites.