Health, Safety, and Security

In 2020, the combined Lost-Time Injury Rate (LTIR) for OMV employees and contractors was 0.32 (2019: 0.34), and our combined Total Recordable Injury Rate (TRIR) was 0.60 (2019: 0.95). We had no work-related fatalities ¹.

In Upstream, our combined efforts resulted in an LTIR of 0.22 (2019: 0.43). This was a significant improvement year-on-year. We had 12 High Potential Incidents (HiPos) which could have resulted in serious or even fatal injuries under slightly different circumstances. We continued our focus on the wellbeing of the workforce and our safety culture. We conducted five global contractor performance meetings, which all had a significant HSSE component. At Hub level, contractor and supplier management continued to offer opportunities for HSSE improvement through auditing and review.

Downstream’s HSSE performance in 2020 was again very good and remained at competitive levels compared to international benchmarks in an overall challenging environment heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Process safety assessments as well as improvement measures were always a high priority. The number of High Potential Incidents (HiPos) significantly dropped from 29 in 2019 to 21 in 2020. The LTIR in 2020 was 0.41 (2019: 0.22). Special emphasis during the year was placed on contractor management, training on various emergency and crisis management scenarios, and leadership engagement.

Employee wellbeing and health are the foundation for successful company performance as they are core elements of ensuring the ability to work. The year 2020 was dominated by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Our medical teams and service providers were challenged to support the emergency management teams in updating and implementing pandemic preparedness plans, guidelines, and health information and supporting COVID-19-infected employees at home and in hospitals. In addition, OMV continued its long tradition of offering healthcare and preventive health programs, such as cardiovascular disease prevention programs, voluntary health checks, vaccinations (mainly flu), and virtual health hours, which far exceed local statutory requirements.

During 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic also brought significant challenges to safety management. At operational level, we implemented protection measures such as strictly separated teams in key areas, hygiene measures, and constant awareness building. Despite travel limitations and thanks to digital communication and collaboration tools, we conducted a number of key safety-related activities:

• We rolled out a newly developed e-learning module about the Life Saving Rules to remind our employees about simple rules to prevent hazards that carry the greatest potential for serious injuries.
• The Safety Culture reassessments were completed as planned, some of them in virtual meetings.
• The coordinators of the safety culture program met quarterly in a virtual forum to exchange best practice across the OMV Group worldwide. The half-yearly meetings with the program owner were conducted online.
• Contractor HSSE management is key to the OMV Group’s safety performance. We therefore trained beneficiaries and procurement staff on the updated internal regulations framework. We conducted strategic supplier meetings with the main contractors to share information, experience, and expectations.
• We introduced a harmonized set of KPIs for process safety. With the goal of developing a Group-wide process safety road map in mind, we worked out a concept and guidance for the ventures, assets, and refineries on how to compile local road maps for their facilities. In addition, we built the OMV Group’s process safety network on an online collaboration platform and held virtual meetings with more than 150 participants, including senior management.
• The rollout of the new cloud-based HSSE reporting tool took place successfully.

Tensions in the geopolitical landscape remained at a consistent baseline at the close of 2020, with all threat and risk profiles confirming previously known trends and patterns. We continue to monitor these geopolitical situations, accelerating our understanding of strategic events to proactively identify any emergent threat and risk profiles that might intersect with our regional business planning. This included incidents of armed conflict, civil unrest, targeted activism, and criminality which have manifested at local, national, regional, and international levels. The Middle East continues to maintain a consistent geopolitical trajectory and therefore remains a crucial region for Corporate Security.

Our Crisis Management and Resilience procedures proved invaluable during the early containment phases of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Local Emergency Management Teams were quick to take the initiative, working closely with their Corporate Management Team to execute the Executive Board’s pandemic strategy. Our unique Integrated Travel Security Platform allowed us to immediately manage and, where required, restrict travel to specific countries as they became subject to heightened infection rates and international travel restrictions. Effective utilization of this platform was fundamental in the proactive relocation of employees and families from countries with critical infection rates.

Corporate Security continued to deliver global operational support, governance, and oversight throughout 2020, and will maintain a comparable and effective security strategy for 2021. OMV will thus be able to further operate in dynamic environments with converging asymmetric threats.