Features of the Environmental Impact Risk Management System at VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation PJSC

Evolution of the Environmental Risk Management System

Environmental risk management at large industrial enterprises requires a systematic approach, especially when dealing with category one negative impact facilities. In his presentation, Andrey Golovin, Head of the Central Testing Laboratory of the Environmental and Occupational Safety Management Department at VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation PJSC, analyzes the evolution of risk management approaches using the example of the world's largest titanium producer.

The speaker notes that until 2015, risk management was primarily based on customer requirements and came down to assessing the probability of contract disruptions. Since 2018, the enterprise has moved to risk management within the environmental management system, introducing the concept of acceptable risk. And since 2021, strategic management based on the concept of risk minimization has been applied, which prevents the occurrence of negative consequences.

Two Approaches: Acceptable and Minimal Risk

The presentation details the effectiveness of a combined approach to risk management. The enterprise identifies more than 4,000 environmental risks annually, and it is impossible to manage them all equally.

• Acceptable risk system is applied to most events. It uses standard solutions that are cheaper to implement and allow operations to be conducted in accordance with legislation. The decision-making level here ranges from the shop manager to the general director.
• Minimal risk system is used for strategic risks capable of limiting the enterprise's activities. Here, individual, more expensive solutions are applied, providing maximum effect. Decisions are made at the level of the functional director and the board of directors.

Practical Cases: From Effluent Reduction to Laser Cutting

Using two implemented projects as examples, the speaker shows how individual solutions help reduce risks to a minimal level, bringing both environmental and economic benefits.

• Reducing oil products in the sewage system. By eliminating leaks, introducing separate collection, and creating an oil recovery site, the enterprise almost halved the need to purchase oils (from 996 to 528 tons per year) and achieved target indicators for the concentration of oil products in effluents.
• Introduction of titanium laser cutting. Replacing waterjet cutting with laser cutting made it possible to reduce the cutting width from 1 cm to 1.5 mm, eliminate the use of water and abrasive (saving 2,000 tons per year), and reduce the generation of titanium slag by 10 times. This is especially important given the disruption of logistics supply chains for imported abrasives.

The Role of Personnel and Automation

Experience shows that the cause of any negative environmental impact is personnel actions. Therefore, the enterprise has built a system in which every employee understands the level of their impact and works within the strict framework of the technological process. A system of mandatory training, mentoring, and motivation for participating in environmental projects has been implemented.

To manage the growing number of risks, the enterprise plans to use neural networks. Automation will help determine optimality criteria, rank risks, and develop standard solutions to keep them within the acceptable risk area.

What You Will Learn from This Webinar:

• How to transition from reactive risk management based on customer requirements to a proactive environmental management system?
• In which cases is it advisable to apply the concept of acceptable risk, and in which — minimal risk?
• How to halve the purchase of industrial oils through separate collection and regeneration?
• What environmental and economic benefits does the transition from waterjet to laser metal cutting provide?
• How to use neural networks to manage thousands of environmental risks simultaneously?