“If You’re Friends with Sports, You Don’t Need Alcohol!”: How Zarubezhneft-dobycha Kharyaga Successfully Implements Anti-Alcohol Policy

The life and health of employees are the highest priority for every company. Recognizing its responsibility for preserving the life and health of workers and creating safe working conditions, Zarubezhneft has adopted an anti-alcohol and anti-drug Policy, which applies to all employees of the Group of Companies and contractors.

The company considers it unacceptable for employees to be under the influence of alcohol, as well as the consumption, carriage, transport, manufacture, or storage of alcohol and narcotic substances at all facilities, and reserves the right to carry out control measures, including medical examinations of employees and inspections of their living quarters.

As part of the Policy implementation at the Zarubezhneft-dobycha Kharyaga (ZNDKh) facilities, annual measures are carried out to improve the discipline of company employees and contractors regarding compliance.

ZNDKh is entitled to apply disciplinary measures to employees who violate the Policy requirements, including terminating employment contracts with staff and revoking access to facilities for contractor employees.

However, the Policy primarily aims to prevent violations. As part of this work, a comprehensive set of additional proactive measures was implemented in stages at ZNDKh in 2024:

• awareness-raising meetings were held with representatives of contractor management, explaining the need to comply with Policy requirements at company facilities and contractor living quarters; information was provided on the potential consequences of violations, as well as the harmful effects of alcohol and drug use;
• in turn, contractor management relayed this information to all employees; ZNDKh representatives held additional awareness meetings with them;
• contractors developed and implemented proactive action plans to comply with Policy requirements at the Kharyaga field: breathalyzers and stationary control systems were purchased, systematic alcohol testing procedures were introduced for personnel before heading to ZNDKh facilities, and awareness materials were placed in common areas;
• joint sports competitions (football, volleyball) are regularly held involving company employees and contractors under the slogans: “If You’re Friends with Sports, You Don’t Need Alcohol!”, “A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body!”;
• together with contractor management, a schedule of joint inspections was developed and is being implemented to monitor the execution of action plans in contractor living quarters.

According to statistics, the number of alcohol consumption incidents in 2024 has decreased compared to the same period in 2023. This result shows that the set of measures being implemented is effective, primarily due to the involvement of contractor management and the informal approach taken by ZNDKh personnel during awareness discussions.

We try to convey information about the dangers of alcohol in the context of its use during work shifts, providing practical examples and modeling situations that could negatively impact the life and health of workers in the event of an accident.

A positive aspect is the involvement of ZNDKh departments overseeing contractor agreements, as well as contractor management, in the implementation process. These activities will continue next year, and we plan to hold sports tournaments aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle on a regular basis.