NLMK Services and Tools for Working with Contractors

From Control to Service: The Evolution of Working with Contractors

Managing contractor safety is one of the most complex challenges for large industrial holdings. The traditional approach, based solely on strict requirements and fines, often leads to the concealment of incidents and formal compliance with rules. A natural stage in the industry's development is the transition to a service model, where the client company creates a convenient and understandable safety ecosystem for the contractor. In his presentation, Georgy Adzhienko uses the NLMK Group as an example to detail how the principles of systems engineering and customer focus help reduce injury rates among 18,000 contractor employees.

Optimizing Admission and Practical Training

Incident analysis shows that in nine out of ten cases, the root cause of contractor incidents is a low level of competence. The speaker demonstrates by example how resource-intensive admission and training processes can be transformed into effective tools.

• Automation of induction training. Multi-hour face-to-face lectures have been replaced by specialized videos (20 minutes for non-production and 70 minutes for production personnel) followed by testing. This reduced the procedure time by seven times, and test results are automatically integrated with the access control system (ACS).
• Practical skills assessment. For high-risk work (working at heights, hot work, lifting operations, electrical safety), mandatory short-term training at training grounds has been introduced. The worker must practically demonstrate the ability to put on a harness or use an anchor line.
• Linking training and admission. After successful verification, the worker receives a special distinctive mark (a "contractor passport"). On-site supervisors check for this mark when admitting a crew under a permit-to-work, excluding the work of unqualified personnel.

Safety Infrastructure: Modular Scaffolding and Analytical Supervising

Ensuring the physical safety of workplaces requires standardization of the equipment used and a deep analysis of violations.

• Centralized scaffolding provision. The company abandoned the use of non-inventory contractor scaffolding. Instead, modern modular scaffolding is provided for rent, assembled by specialized scaffolding organizations. Crew admission is carried out only after the scaffolding is checked by a supervisor and a green tag is hung.
• Scaffolding training. Practice has shown that even safe scaffolding can become a source of risk if workers arbitrarily dismantle ledgers or platforms. The introduction of a mandatory 30-minute briefing on the rules for operating modular scaffolding has significantly reduced the number of such violations.
• Safety index. Supervising has been transformed from simple oversight into an analytical tool. A safety index is generated monthly for each type of high-risk work. Detailed statistics allow for a substantive dialogue with contractor managers at regular forums.

Involving Managers and Targeted Use of Fines

For a sustainable reduction in injuries, the active participation of top contractor executives in occupational safety issues is necessary.

• Notebooks for line walks. Many managers avoid safety audits due to a lack of specialized knowledge. The development of pocket checklists with visual cues (what to look at, what typical violations to look for) made the process of line walks simple and understandable for CEOs.
• Offsetting fines. Penalties have been channeled into development. The contractor has the right not to pay the fine directly, but to direct an equivalent amount to eliminate the root causes of the violation — for example, to purchase high-quality safety harnesses or pay for personnel training at a training center.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to reduce the time spent on induction training for contractors by several times without losing quality?
• How to technically and organizationally link practical skills assessment with the permit-to-work system?
• Why does the introduction of modern modular scaffolding require mandatory additional training for line personnel?
• How to motivate contractor managers to regularly conduct line walks using visual checklists?
• How does the mechanism of targeted offsetting of fines work and why is it more effective than direct collection of funds?