Ensuring the health, safety, and security of our employees, contractors, and assets is fundamental to OMV’s dedication to maintaining workplace safety. Inadequate occupational health and safety management, combined with complex shift and rotation patterns, project-related pressures, and challenges in accessing grievance mechanisms, can negatively impact workers’ health. For details on our material IROs for S1 Health, Safety & Well-Being, see ESRS 2 General Information.
ESRS 2-SBM-3 Interaction of Material IROs with the Strategy and Business Model
All OMV employees (e.g., engineering and technical staff, operational field staff, HSSE, project managers, supply chain and procurement, legal and compliance) and non-employees (leased personnel, self-employed people, or people provided by third-party undertakings primarily engaged in employment activities) are included in the scope of the disclosure. All other workers on OMV sites, called contractors and sub-contractors, are subject to the material impacts of our operations and reflected according to ESRS requirements under the S1-14 disclosure regarding health and safety metrics. The potential negative impact identified is widespread within limited groups of employees, such as those working complex shift patterns in refineries or offshore operations which could potentially be triggered by insufficient health and safety management.
No material risks and opportunities were identified for this reporting period. However, we do recognize the benefit of the continuous developments that align with our “Committed to Zero Harm” vision and prioritize health and safety. We have identified that those who work in the field in exploration, refining, and chemicals generally have, due to the nature of the job, a higher potential for negative impacts, especially in the event of unexpected incidents, than those who are not involved in operations. These potential negative impacts can be reduced/mitigated to a minimum by robust health and safety management. The identification was conducted based on the results of internal consultation and assessments with P&C, and Human Rights and HSSE experts.
No material risks and opportunities were identified for the topic of health and safety during the materiality assessment. Under the internally used claim “Protecting what we care for,” we commit ourselves to a health and safety culture of care. A variety of actions and projects derive from this and are being implemented under this motto.
HSSE Strategy
The OMV Group HSSE Strategy sets out the mid-term strategic goals and targets to support the Group’s business strategy. In light of the comprehensive update to the OMV’s transformational business strategy (OMV Strategy 2030) in 2022 and the significant changes in the regulatory environment, a major review of the HSSE Strategy was conducted in 2023, leading to an updated HSSE Strategy 2030. While proven HSSE management concepts will be continued and enhanced, the review identified a need for a stronger and more up-to-date strategic focus on HSSE culture, contractor management, and certain aspects of safety and environmental management in the coming years. The strategy revision process involved numerous stakeholders, particularly managers that are specifically affected by the change to our traditional business approach, such as the low-carbon and recycling business. Proposed strategy updates were then discussed with all Executive Board members of OMV, OMV Petrom, and Borealis and approved.
The updated HSSE Strategy 2030 is strongly linked to the Company Values and can be summarized as follows:
- We care about safety and the physical and mental well-being of our people; for the planet we live on; for the people we interact with; for our locations and assets.
- We’re curious about our future partners, contractors, and technologies so we can develop the business relationship together to achieve the highest HSSE standards.
- We progress to enable the successful transformation of our Company toward sustainability and to become an industry leader in HSSE.
Through our revised HSSE Strategy, we will continue to improve the health and well-being of our employees, with an added focus on mental health. In high-risk industries like ours, it is also crucial that everyone contributes to our goal of zero incidents. We are committed to preventing work-related fatalities and fostering a culture where safe behavior and caring for yourself and others are deeply embedded in the mind of everyone working for us.
While we have a solid foundation for the strategic development and integration of various HSSE disciplines in the business, we have identified key areas that will require significantly more focus on how we manage HSSE in the future.
- We aim to cultivate a company culture where HSSE shapes decision-making at all times and at every organizational level, founded on highly committed leaders, a competent workforce of employees and contractor employees, and an atmosphere of openness where everybody has the confidence to speak up.
- Given the high degree of contractor work in our business, we will further strengthen our supplier and contractor management capabilities. We aim to improve the selection process to ensure that only contractors with appropriate HSSE capabilities work with us. When needed, we will put effort (e.g., training, supervision) into helping contractors reach the expected HSSE performance levels. We will focus our efforts on long-term, trust-based relationships with our key contractors and further grow our HSSE culture.
- We will leverage the opportunities afforded by new technologies to improve our systems and tools to manage HSSE, including product stewardship.
The HSSE Strategy encompasses all white- and blue-collar employees of OMV, regardless of their contract type, as well as all non-employees that are crucial to our business, which includes all our suppliers and contractors.