OREANDA-NEWS. The management and chief specialists of the transport and logistics departments of Metinvest Group's metallurgical enterprises participated in an HSE conference at Ilyich Iron & Steel Works of Mariupol's Railway Shop. Experts discussed problems with HSE systems and ways to improve transport safety.

At the initiative of Metinvest's Logistics Directorate, the conference included representatives of Azovstal, Yenakiieve Iron & Steel Works, Avdiivka Coke, Khartsyzsk Pipe and other Company assets. Participants analyzed injuries in the transport departments, and shared positive experiences with organizing preventive measures against incidents.

Special attention was given to innovations implemented at Metinvest enterprises to create safe working conditions. According to participants, sharing experiences in this field is very important for solving problems.

For instance, Ilyich Iron & Steel Works of Mariupol is involved in the active development of a "five star" system that allows employees to provide ideas for reducing the injury rate and improving the production process improvement. A real breakthrough in HSE was an innovation at Yenakiieve Steel: implementation of a video control system and daily log that helps track all violations in the last 24 hours. Five Azovstal locomotives that supply raw materials from Ilyich Iron & Steel Works of Mariupol's sinter plant to the blast furnace shop were equipped with GPS navigation units. If there are unsafe deviations in the speed of the locomotives, the navigation system gives a signal to dispatcher, which enables prompt responses to similar situations and prevents the development of incidents.

Vasiliy Klat, transport & logistics director at Azovstal:

"With the introduction of GPS, freight rail transport between Ilyich Iron & Steel Works of Mariupol and Azovstal has become safer. Practice has shown that the new system effectively prevents violations and deviations. And if there are no violations in work, then injury and incident risk falls by many times. Metinvest requires the observance of strict HSE standards at its enterprises and we need to strengthen cooperation and share advanced practices on this issue".

Aleksandr Tkachuk, acting transport & logistics director at Ilyich Iron & Steel Works of Mariupol:

"Today rail transport is high risk. That is why such conferences are necessary. We agreed that we will put in contact the transport and logistics departments of the enterprises and exchange useful experiences. The participants of the conference became interested in our developments. This includes the "five star" system, which has already shown significant results, and the implementation of a special device to place brake shoes to minimize the risks for operating shunters. In turn, we consider their projects more precisely".

Aleksey Rybalkin, head of the internal logistics department of Metinvest Group's Logistics Directorate:

"The life and health of our employees is our first priority. We must work safely and then we think about financial performance. The Management Company is setting a goal to create conditions for effective cooperation and exchanging experience between all of the transport departments of Metinvest. This will allow us to improve occupational safety on a systematic basis. There are many interesting developments among projects that have bene presented. For example, enterprises that transport hot ingots such as Zaporizhstal and Azovstal learned about an idea implemented at Ilyich Iron & Steel Works of Mariupol about a special device to place brake shoes. Using this device, shunter workers can avoid a risky situation. Another benefit is that spreading this experience requires no investments".