A new approach to safety in Russia

A new approach to safety in Russia

The first stage of a new safety management system was implemented across the breweries of Heineken’s Russian operations in 2008, resulting in notable performance improvements and new efficiencies. The new system covers plant-wide safety procedures, on-site training, new safety equipment for forklifts and the use of the latest personal protective equipment.

“It began with a risk assessment for health and safety in December 2007,” says Aleksandr Khitrov, Group Health, Safety, and Environment Manager at Heineken Breweries in Russia. “During the roll-out phase we held specific training sessions that went through the various controls, safety procedures, audits, the use of Personal Protective Equipment and meetings with suppliers.”

Additional safety management measures were introduced as a pilot project at one of the breweries in 2008. These included a trial audit system, a dedicated safety committee and a new electronic safety tag registration (STR) system designed to monitor safety controls across the entire plant. In 2009, these measures will also be implemented at the other nine breweries.

The STR also allows brewery staff to analyse safety information and processes related to specific areas such as the bottling line, the PET line and warehouse. It helps staff avoid unnecessary meetings by granting real-time access to the system from their workplaces.

“The results from the pilot have been excellent and this is reflected in the unprecedented level of communication that now takes place between the technical and production departments,” says Aleksandr. “We’re aiming to implement STR in all our breweries by 2010.”