PetroKazakhstan's Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) Policy is the basis for defining and implementation of the Company’s HSE targets and objectives. PetroKazakhstan's HSE priorities are:

• Protect people’s health and safety and the natural environment as far as reasonably practicable;
• Integrate HSE  into all the Company’s businesses and operations; 
• Commit to sustainable development of the Company, the communities where it operates and the Republic of Kazakhstan.

To reach the defined targets and objectives, the PetroKazakhstan group of companies has successfully implemented HSE management system that corresponds to the requirements of such international standards as ISO 14001:2004 (environmental management standard), OHSAS 18001:2007 (occupational safety and health management standard) and ISO 50001:2011 (energy management standard). 

Health and Safety

HSE Guiding principles of the Company are: 

1. HSE shall be a priority in all decisions made.
2. Working safely is a condition of employment. 
3. Company is obliged to provide HSE training to employees.
4. Line management is directly responsible and accountable for HSE in ones’ work scope.
5. Line Management must participate in HSE audits and inspections in person.
6. Employees are obliged to participate in hazard identification, risk assessment and control.
7. All hazards must be promptly eliminated.
8. All accidents/incidents and near misses must be reported, investigated, analyzed and timely dealt with.
9. Consistent HSE standards shall be implemented in contractor management.

In order to implement the Company's guidelines, PetroKazakhstan Kumkol Resources JSC (hereinafter - PKKR JSC) has introduced the Integrated HSE Management Structure, that consists of the Central Safety Committee and the following sub-committees: 

• Motivation and Communication sub-committee, 
• Incident Investigation sub-committee, Behavioral Safety Audit (BSA),
• Risk Management sub-committee, 
• Contractors Management sub-committee, 
• Safety Committee at the oil field.

The following best practices were implemented as part of the subcommittees’ operation: 

• conduct of BSAs,  
• implementation of the HSE risk assessment program at the Company's facilities, 
• registration and investigation of incidents, near misses and recording and analysis of BSAs in “SAP HSE Incidents Management Module”,
• a system was put in place to communicate HSE issues from ordinary employees to the top management (cascade meetings) to  accelerate the decision-making.

In 2017 PKKR JSC developed and implemented “Regulations on HSE Management System”. The Regulations structure is adapted to the structure of the international standard OHSAS 18001:2007.

Beginning from 2018, employees with a diagnosis “cardiovascular collapse” are provided with “alarm button” devices in order to monitor their health condition.

The Company is efficiently implementing the “Employee Rewarding Program for Reporting of Near Misses, Unsafe Conditions / Actions”, within the framework of which employees are quarterly rewarded and awarded with certificates and memorable pins.

Every June the Company organizes the HSE Month campaign. The activities that are carried out during the HSE Month are aimed at improving of employees' HSE awareness, promoting safety culture at all levels of management and further improvement of the HSE MS. Conduct of the “Safety First!” competition among the workshops became one of the traditional events of the HSE Month.  

In order to promote fire safety among the personnel, the Company annually holds a competition among the structural subdivisions on the topic - "Fire is Better to Prevent Than to Extinguish!" The competition is timed to the Day of Fire Service of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In order to improve the level of traffic safety and reduce the number of motor vehicle accidents on the roads of PKKR JSC and to recognize the priority of life and health of people involved in road traffic over the economic results of operation activities, a Transportation Safety Memorandum was signed between PKKR JSC and subsoil users of Kyzylorda oblast using motor roads of PKKR JSC.

The Company regularly participates in the republican contests in the HSE nominations.  Thus, in 2018 the Company was rewarded with I place in the republican contest "CENIM-2018" in the nomination “The Best HSE Department”. 

Environment Protection

Environment protection at production facilities is one of the priority tasks of the Company. Investing in the efficient environmental management, PetroKazakhstan builds infrastructure allowing the environmental situation to be improved at all the production facilities and adjacent areas.

In order to reduce the impact of production processes on the environment, the Company annually allocates significant assets on nature protection measures and implementation of the resource saving technologies and processes that meet international standards and Kazakhstani legislative requirements. 

PetroKazakhstan is an active participant of social and environmental projects. Together with non-governmental organizations it carries out annual tree-planting campaigns in the cities where the company has its structural subdivisions and at its production facilities. 

PetroKazakhstan is an active member of the Coordinating Council for Ecology, Social Responsibility and Transparency established under KAZENERGY, the Kazakhstani Association of the Oil and Gas Producers.

Preventing large environmental accidents and complying with requirements for atmospheric emissions, wastewater and solid waste processing, waste reduction, recycling and re-use are one of the key trends in the Company's nature saving activities.

In PKKR JSC more than 90% of the total produced gas is now recycled thanks to the implementation of an Associated Petroleum Gas Recycling Program and electricity generation and gas re-injection infrastructure built under this Program.

PKKR JSC is the only oil producer in its region that has the largest number of environmental facilities, which allow significantly mitigating negative environmental impacts from operations. These facilities include:

1. Biologic ponds for wastewater treatment at Kumkol oilfield.
2. Biologic ponds for wastewater treatment at Aryskum oilfield.
3. A landfill for disposal and processing of solid waste at Kumkol oilfield.
4. A landfill for disposal and processing of solid waste at Aryskum oilfield.
5. An oil-contaminated waste recycling site at Kumkol oilfield.
6. A temporary low radioactive waste storage facility at Kumkol oilfield.
7. A drilling waste recycling site at Kyzylkiya oilfield.

While following the concept of industrial waste management system based on its own environmental protection infrastructure, PKKR JSC reconstructed its drilling waste recycling facilities at Kumkol field. As part of the upgrade project, design, survey, and construction were completed, and equipment purchased to enable the handling of oil-contaminated soil and treatment of oily wastewater produced during various repair and maintenance works at the oil fields.

The company made steps to equip its own drilling waste disposal and processing site.  The drilling waste generated from well construction is transported to this facility. 

During the last two years, the use of the recycled drilling waste has allowed to fill up more than 3 hectares of depleted pits.

In the short term, all this will facilitate problem solving in connection with managing production waste from the moment it occurs.