Clear. Fair. Consistent: Transforming the OHS Motivation System at Nornickel

Historically, disciplinary systems in industrial safety were built primarily as a control tool: numerous local requirements, paper-based procedures, differing interpretations, and decisions that depended on the specific site. Over time, it became clear that such a model is not only difficult to administer but also directly affects safety and employees’ trust in the industrial safety and occupational health function.

At Nornickel, the problem was first confirmed by a safety culture study and then by an analysis of how disciplinary measures were actually applied in practice. The analysis showed that the same violations could lead to different measures, while offenses of unequal severity could receive the same response.

In this talk, we will look at how Nornickel moved from a fragmented system of penalties to a unified, clear, and manageable approach.

At the webinar, we will discuss:

• What the old system looked like and why it had to change. How the model of disciplinary measures in occupational safety took shape over time, and why inconsistent practice no longer met the needs of a modern safety culture.

• Same violation, clear decision. How unified approaches were developed based on analysis and joint cross-functional work.

• Tested on the shop floor, not in the office. What the pilot at three completely different sites revealed. Why the main criterion was not the formal correctness of the methodology, but its applicability in a real production environment.

• From pilot to unified approaches across the entire Company. How the operations themselves came to the decision that the piloted unified approaches should be rolled out across the entire Company step by step.

• A clear disciplinary system benefits everyone. Employees and managers get proportionate, clear, and predictable decisions; the occupational safety function gets a transparent system and consolidated analytics; the Company gets uniform rules across all its operations, lower labor and management risks, and reduced costs of administering the process.