Business principle:
HEALTH

We have a systematic approach to health, safety, security management in order to achieve continuous performance improvement.

Health department work in 2022

Occupational Health

The results of the implemented targets that were set to minimize certain risks and the impact of workplace factors on the occupational health of employees are given below.

Tab. 15. Out targets in health protection

Our 2012 targets	Progress status	Actions taken in 2022	Targets for 2023
Revitalize the Resilience Program once pandemic restrictions have eased. Continue Mental Health Program.	Completed	Educational materials/handouts of the Program modules have been revised with account for the past experience. Volunteers have been recruited from among the Company employees to be further trained as facilitators. Employee Assistance Program is under way. Besides face-to-face, online and oncall consultations, there is a hotline to address emergency calls.	Train facilitators in order to implement the Resilience Program. Launch the Resilience Program among the Company employees. Carry out an interest assessment within the work teams to identify their interest for webinars and group sessions on various psychological aspects. Based on the assessment findings, draft a plan for holding such sessions.
Support Project Execution and Industrial Relations divisions in conducting contractor welfare facility inspections	Completed	Nine contractor welfare facility inspections have been conducted jointly with Project Execution and Industrial Relations teams. A number of non-compliances have been revealed; respective recommendations for their correction have been made.	Carry on contractor welfare facility inspections
Carry on implementing Fatigue Risk Management Program across KPO. Special attention will be paid to Turnaround in 2022.	Completed	The preparation for the 2022 Turnaround included refresher training of KPO employees, as well as the Contractors personnel in fatigue risk management, fatigue self-management.	Update the fatigue risk management guideline such that it applies not only to the safety critical positions, but also to all Company and Contractors employees
Purchase 10 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and install in the Field and Uralsk offices	Not completed	The activity could not be completed due to the limited funding.
Carry on implementing requirements to prevent Legionella risks	Completed	Risk control measures were implemented.	Conduct an audit of the legionellosis risk reduction plan implementation
New targets for 2023
Certify eight operational facilities with regard to labour conditions
Implement Employee Wellness Program in 2023, including a pilot program for the reduction of heart disease risks
Modify the Random Alcohol Testing Program for the Company employees in order to include testing of contractors’ personnel at KPO production facilities
Conduct audits of medical emergency response systems in main KPO contractor companies

Improving the quality of emergency care

Medical Support Section provide round-the-clock medical emergency response in the field and in Aksai offices. Apart from emergency calls, doctors and paramedics of the five sick bays provide outpatient care to patients, carry out pre-shift, pre-trip and post-trip medical examination, undertake health communication activities at industrial facilities, conduct regular sessions and exercises with personnel involved in the general emergency response process.

All 40 members of KPO medical team have received internationally recognized ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) and ITLS (International Trauma Life Support) certificates, which account for high level of prehospital care standards.

Tab. 16. Healthcare deliverables in 2022

Medical support indicators
Number patients who admitted to clinics	2,092
Number of emergency calls	121
Number of patients delivered to medical facilities	105
Number of sessions and exercises	276
Number of first-aid trained employees	330
Pre-shift medical examination (drivers / operators / electricians)
Examinations	148,594
Number of “unfitness to work” cases	191
Random alcohol tests	1,688
Positive random alcohol test results	0

Health Department activities during the COVID-19 pandemic

In the period of force-majeure circumstances and the state of emergency in Qazaqstan in January 2022 there was an increase in COVID-19 cases. About 50 employees got sick. The COVID Care Team consisting of Health Department staff and volunteers from other departments continued to provide support to the infected employees, contact persons in overcoming COVID-19 effects. Each COVID-19 case was monitored by the Centre employees up to a full recovery of the employees. COVID-19 spread prevention measures were revised against the possibility of mass disease, with account for warding off the pandemic impact on the personnel and production process.

Throughout 2022, strenuous activities were undertaken as part of the vaccination/revaccination of the Company employees against COVID-19. Numerous meetings were held with the Company and contractors' employees to discuss the importance of vaccination/revaccination, “Ask the Doctor” online sessions were run. COVID-19 vaccination/revaccination progress was updated on a regular basis across Qazaqstan and on the KPO’s Intranet site. KPO Vaccination Centre, based in Aksai District Hospital, operated throughout 2022, where Company employees could undergo vaccination/revaccination any day convenient for them.

Based on the undertaken activities, the following KPO local employees’ vaccination performance was achieved as of 31.12.2022:

1 dose – 3,607 (94.3 %)
2 dose – 3,603 (94.2 %)
3 dose – 3,292 (91.4 %)

In 2022, the turnaround activities were carried out at the field facilities in parallel to the COVID-19 outbreak. Owing to the efforts made by KPO Planning and Turnaround Department and Health Department, the contractors involved in the turnaround were ready for undertaking all works in the face of possible next wave of the pandemic.

Social Aksai Hospital Emergency Capability Upgrade Project

The Aksai Hospital Upgrade Project was launched in January 2020 with the aim to upgrade the Hospital’s emergency and intensive care capability by achieving international standards within five years. The latest project delivery report shows an improvement of key performance indicators of hospitals (e.g. surgical mortality rates, intensive care mortality rates, and overall mortality rates). Foreign specialists are successfully delivering the continuous medical education program, which is critical for the success of the project and sustainability of the introduced changes.

In December 2022, KPO jointly with the Hospital conducted an exercise to test the project deliverables and practice interaction while providing emergency medical assistance in case of a major accident. The exercise has shown that the hospital personnel is capable of conducting a proper triage, putting together a medical treatment plan and providing a competent medical assistance.

Disease control in employees

Medical insurance

KPO employees and their families are provided with medical insurance that covers medical services in addition to those available through guaranteed free health care and mandatory RoQ medical insurance.

In 2022, based on the KPO employees survey results and with account for suggestions from the Trade Unions, Health Department, jointly with Human Resources and Contracts & Procurement Department, started to revise and expand the scope of provided medical services as part of medical insurance. A benchmarking analysis of the medical insurance services provided by the leading oil and gas companies to their employees was undertaken in order to fully understand the opportunity to improve the current insurance scope.

Digitalization program in Health Department

Electronic System of Medical Examination is a project of digitalization and optimization of the pre-shift medical examination process, which allowed conducting automated pre-shift, pre-trip and post-trip medical examinations. ESME units were purchased and installed in five KPO clinics. In 2022, there were 148,594 medical examinations conducted; 191 employees were not admitted to work due to medical reasons.

Another digitalization project was the update of the electronic medical database of employees. Bed-side notes and periodic medical examinations modules have been updated. The system sends automatic notifications to employees when they have to undergo a regular medical examination and revaccination. After completing the medical examination, employees receive the results automatically.

Sick leave absence monitoring

In 2022, the sick leave absence rate in KPO employees was slightly higher compared with 2021. There is a growing number of respiratory diseases, which is seasonal, and also results from a periodic increase in COVID-19, ARVI incidence in the country.

Graph 6. KPO sick leave absence rate, 2015–2022

Note.: KPO uses the following method to calculate the sick leave absence rate:

Sick leave absence rate = actual number of days lost due to absence from work (due to illness) x 100/total number of employees. There is no information about the days of absence from the workplace for other reasons.
KPO has adopted a methodology for calculating employees’ absence from workplace by the number of employees (not man-hours), since this methodology is a regulatory requirement.

Occupational diseases

Health protection is one of the key Company’s priorities and plays an essential role in the professional life field. A work activity must not lead to a health damage under any circumstances, i.e. Health protection is above the work efficiency.

The Company provides employees with such working conditions so they could adequately perform their job tasks without compromising their health.

In 2022, no occupational diseases were registered among KPO employees.

Fitness for work

Continuous monitoring of employees’ health condition allows diagnosing illnesses at an early stage, undertake respective prevention measures, avert their progress and provide medical treatment as needed. It is a good opportunity to maintain and care for occupational health.

In accordance with the regulations, mandatory medical examinations of the company employees are carried out at the Employer’s account

Such examinations allow revealing counter-indications for working under certain conditions and whether an employee is capable of performing given job duties.

In 2022, the percentage of mandatory medical examination coverage was 96 %, specifically:

Number of employees due for mandatory periodic medical examination as of 01.01.2022 – 1,945
Number of employees who have completed mandatory periodic medical examination – 1,869
Number of employees who failed to undergo medical examination due to resignation, long leave, long-term illness – 76
Number of employees classified as fit for work – 1,869
Number of employees classified as unfit for work – 0
Number of employees diagnosed with an occupational disease – 0
Number of employees classified as fit for restricted work – 5

Apart from the mandatory medical examinations, all KPO employees, who do not work in a harmful working environment, are also offered to undergo a medical check-up at the employer’s account to have their general state of health assessed.

Promotion of healthy lifestyle

Employee Assistance Program

Employee Assistance programme is aimed at preventing harm to KPO employees (somatic diseases, self-harm, suicides) arising from mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, panic attacks, etc. The programme involves confidential consultations by qualified third-party psychologists using multimedia, video, or face to face sessions available 24/7 via a set hotline, as well as group sessions and webinars. In 2022, 464 employees asked for assistance through various communication means.

After KPO General Director’s address associated with the World Mental Health Day – 10 October, the service provider EAP Lotus MHH had conducted a number of webinars for 340 KPO employees.

KPO Management supported the recommencement of the Resilience Program in 2023, the materials had been revised with account for the past experience, and from the beginning of 2023, new facilitators will be engaged to deliver the Program.

Fatigue risk management

In 2022, a second online fatigue⁸ risk management training was delivered to all company personnel, which included fatigue risk control measures. Total number of employees who took the e-learning course was:

1 module “Fatigue risk management” – 1,813 employees,
2 module “Fatigue risk control measures” – 1,991 employees,
3 module “Fatigue risk management for Supervisors on site” – 2,289 employees.

⁸ Fatigue is a physiological state of reduced mental capacity or physical capability arising from lack of sleep.

Operational control of industrial facilities

KPO regularly monitors the Occupational Health and Hygiene at units and facilities. The below table shows the monitoring data for the last three years.

Tab. 17. Monitoring of workplace factors, 2020 – 2022

Workplace factors	2022		2021		2020
Workplace factors	No. of measurements	No. of non-conformances	No. of measurements	No. of non-conformances	No. of measurements	No. of non-conformances
Noise	420	91	368	83	398	110
Vibration	75	16	63	12	63	15
Electromagnetic fields	3,968	27	3,676	50	3,500	35
Electrostatic fields	2,342	0	2,048	0	1,737	0
Lighting	3,045	27	2,743	730	2,861	660
Microclimate	6,258	575	5,250	360	5,670	430
Workplace air	13,965	0	12,342	0	11,607	0
Total	30,073	736	26,490	1,235	25,836	1,250

Each case of non-compliance with the regulatory requirements is analysed and relevant actions are taken.

Workplace Attestation

Statutory attestation of production facilities, which is conducted every five years, is aimed at evaluating working conditions.

A number of corrective measures, identified as a result of the previous attestations of production facilities with regard to labour conditions, were taken in 2022. Lamps were replaced and additional light sources installed at 123 workplaces, where instrumental measurements showed low light level. As a result of this work, the illuminance was brought to an adequate level.

In 2023, the scheduled attestation with regard to labour conditions will cover 8 facilities, namely, KPC, Unit 2, Unit 3, Main Workshop, Main Warehouse, Chemical Lab, Bolshoi Chagan OPS, Atyrau Terminal. In 2022, all preparations were done, attestations commissions created, work scopes revised.

In order to prevent health impact, a regular health risk assessment and management activity is implemented, ergonomic assessment of workplaces as per the criteria of labour standards is performed, and respective corrective actions are taken. In 2022, 24 workplaces were assessed.

Health Department engagement in the 2022 Turnaround

Key aspects that were followed while preparing for and during the Turnaround (TA):

Preparation of TA Health Plan The document describes the main activities to be carried out by KPO, Contractors and Health Department in relation to health risk management as part of 2022 TA;
Criteria have been developed for the assessment of medical emergency response risks, which were used to conduct audits;
8 audits of contractors sick bays for readiness for TA were conducted;
Interaction with contractors medical teams was established to ensure the concurrence of medical response in case of an emergency;
Arrangements were made and daily random alcohol tests were conducted among the contractors' personnel;
36 catering facilities of contractors, involved in the TA, were inspected;
The TA-involved contractors’ readiness for a possible wave of COVID-19 outbreak was assessed;
Training in health risk assessment was delivered to contractors representatives;
Random checks were done among contractors' personnel to ensure that the results of medical examination for occupational fitness were adequate.

All above listed activities, as well as fruitful cooperation of all departments involved in the TA, allowed completing the whole scope of planned works, at the same time the company has successfully managed to improve operations, enhance the integrity of facilities and the reliability of plant equipment.