The Art of Achieving Balance

Context and Challenges: Why Efficiency and Safety Are Inseparable

In modern industrial realities, an unspoken conflict of interest often arises: production departments strive to fulfill plans and reduce costs, while HSE departments focus on compliance with rules, which is sometimes perceived as an obstacle to operational efficiency. However, as practice shows, these two goals are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, they mutually reinforce each other, creating a foundation for the sustainable development of the enterprise.

In his presentation, Nikolay Denisov, Business System Development Director at KAO Azot, examines in detail how to overcome this hidden conflict and build a system where safety becomes a driver of operational efficiency. The speaker emphasizes that given the increasing complexity of technological processes, stricter government regulations, and supply chain volatility, ignoring safety issues inevitably leads to financial and reputational losses.

Key Principles of Integrating Safety into Business Processes

To achieve a balance between production performance and occupational safety, the speaker demonstrates the implementation of four fundamental principles using the example of KAO Azot:

• Safety as part of the operational strategy. All projects for production development and equipment modernization undergo mandatory risk assessment. An important step was the initiative to include the Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) in the KPIs for the entire top management team, including the financial and commercial directors. This compels leaders across all departments to seek ways to influence safety and consider it when making management decisions.
• Leadership and management engagement. Building a safety culture is impossible without the personal example of leadership. The introduction of standard practices, such as regular line walkarounds and safety dialogues, helps managers demonstrate their commitment to HSE principles in practice.
• Transformation of Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) audits. Abandoning strict targets for the number of BBS audits and shifting to a qualitative approach helped avoid formalism. Managers conduct audits consciously, focusing on real issues, such as the correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE), which provides an objective picture of the situation in the workplace.
• Data transparency and continuous improvement. The use of dispatch centers, video analytics systems, and data visualization tools (e.g., dashboards) ensures process transparency. Projects like "Safe Workspace" and "Risk Hunting" engage employees in identifying and eliminating hazards. A crucial success factor was the rejection of a punitive approach during commission walkarounds: instead of issuing citations, action protocols are generated, which fosters openness and trust.

Unconventional Approaches to Assessment and Motivation

The presentation details KAO Azot's unique experience of including off-the-job injuries in the LTIFR calculation. Although this makes direct comparison with other companies irrelevant, this approach provides a more complete picture of the impact of injuries on workforce availability and overall enterprise efficiency.

In addition, the speaker analyzes the process of "coming out of the shadows" — overcoming the practice of hiding micro-injuries and minor incidents. Declaring an "amnesty" and building a culture of trust led to an expected short-term spike in incident statistics, followed by a steady decline, indicating a real improvement in the situation.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to convince top management (including the CFO) to invest in safety?
• Why including LTIFR in the KPIs of non-production managers changes company culture?
• How to relaunch Behavior-Based Safety audits so they stop being a formality?
• How to properly conduct an incident "amnesty" and survive the inevitable statistical spike?
• How the "Safe Workspace" tool helps integrate safety into the daily work of workshops?