Best Practices for Promoting Employee Health and Wellbeing as the Foundation of Enterprise Sustainable Development

Health and Wellbeing in Extreme Conditions: The Arctic Experience

Ensuring the health and wellbeing of employees at remote production facilities is one of the most challenging tasks in HSE. When operations are located above the Arctic Circle, in harsh climates with limited transport accessibility, standard approaches to medical care prove insufficient. In her presentation, Irina Abyzbaeva, Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Group at Rusvietpetro, shares practical experience in creating a comprehensive health care system for oil workers in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

The speaker emphasizes that the coronavirus pandemic acted as a catalyst for change, demonstrating the need to transition from reactive responses to proactive health risk management, encompassing not only physical but also mental wellbeing.

Digitalization of Medical Examinations: Speed and Objectivity

One of the key solutions was the automation of pre-trip medical examinations. The implementation of a hardware-software complex with a Face ID system solved several problems at once:

• Elimination of the human factor: the system ensures maximum reliability of data regarding the employee's condition before granting clearance to work.
• High throughput: the terminal serves up to 60 people per hour, significantly reducing wait times and minimizing contact between employees.
• Scalability: over 62,000 automated examinations are conducted annually.

On-Site Medicine: Mobile Complexes

Organizing periodic medical examinations for shift workers is a logistical challenge. The speaker analyzes the practice of conducting examinations directly at the field using mobile medical complexes, which include occupational screening and diagnostic imaging units.

Why is this important? Employees undergo examinations in the same climatic conditions in which they work, allowing for a more accurate identification of risk factors. Furthermore, it eliminates the problem of dubious "home clinic certificates" and saves time for employees, who no longer need to spend their inter-shift rest days traveling to clinics.

Telemedicine: Emergency Care and Routine Consultations

In conditions remote from major medical centers, telemedicine becomes a vital tool. The presentation details two areas of its application:

• Doctor-to-Paramedic: emergency consultations for medical workers at the field. Data from bedside monitors (heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation) and mobile electrocardiographs are transmitted online to specialized air ambulance doctors, enabling prompt decision-making in critical situations.
• Doctor-to-Patient: routine consultations for employees via tablets installed in health posts. This allows for treatment adjustments and advice from specialized doctors without traveling to the "mainland."

Education and Prevention: "Health School"

Morbidity analysis showed that circulatory system diseases (arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease) hold the leading positions. To work with this risk group, the "Health School" project was launched.

Classes are held in small groups and include both theoretical and practical components. Employees learn to assess their individual cardiovascular risk using the SCORE chart, keep health diaries in mobile apps, and monitor their physical activity. This approach increases treatment adherence and motivates employees to take responsibility for their own health.

Wellbeing Infrastructure: Sports and Recreation

Care for wellbeing is not limited to medicine. Using the example of a unique sports and fitness complex at the Severo-Khosedayuskoye field, the speaker demonstrates how creating modern infrastructure impacts the quality of life for shift workers. Gyms, sports grounds for team games, and the work of professional trainers help employees recover after shifts and maintain their physical fitness.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to organize periodic medical examinations at a remote field without losing working time?
• Which telemedicine technologies are most effective for emergency care of shift workers?
• How does the automation of pre-trip examinations help eliminate the human factor?
• How to engage employees in monitoring their own health through the "Health School" project?
• What infrastructure elements are necessary for the comprehensive rest of personnel in Arctic conditions?