Environment
Our Efforts to protect the environment around our operations are rooted in our Health, Safety and Environment Policy which is part of the Code of Ethics. This policy commits us to minimizing our environmental impacts through pollution prevention and environmental conservation. We have implemented the commitments of this policy though our Environmental Management System (EMS) which has been certified to the ISO 14001 international standard. As part of this certification, our EMS is audited annually by our Registrar and had a successful surveilance audit in 2008 with a single minor non-conformance for record-keeping found by the audit team. The nonconformance has been rectified.
Safe Operations
Since our incorporation in 1995 and our first shipment in 1999, the safety and health of our employees and community are a priority for Atlantic LNG. Although we have a history of safe operations, we recognize the need for constant improvement and vigilance.
Atlantic LNG has developed and implemented an integrated approach for responsible operations. Our expectations and requirements associated with the four components of Employee Safety and Health, Process Safety, Environmental Protection and Port Security are addressed within the elements of the Atlantic LNG HSSE Management System:
- Commitment, leadership, accountabilities and responsibilities
- Risk evaluation and management
- Facilities design and construction
- Operations and maintenance
- Management of change
- Legal and other requirements
- Community and external communications
- Training and behavioral skills
- Third party management
- Emergency management
- Incident analysis and prevention
- Assessment, assurance and improvement
- Information and documentation
HSSE Management System Components
Our approach to HSSE Management is founded on the knowledge that most accidents are preventable and occur as a result of ‘At-Risk Behaviours’. The experience of the sector and role model companies in safety has shown that most accidents and incidents occur from inappropriate actions of individuals even when control procedures are in place. Therefore, we have built a management approach that focuses on two principles. First, we eliminate HSSE risks through a hierarchical approach that focuses on substitution and engineering controls for risky or hazardous processes. Only after these options have been exhausted do we rely on training, policy, procedures and
personal protective equipment to prevent incidents.
HSSE Management System Hierarchy
The second principle of our approach to HSSE Management is employee participation. We have learned through our own and the experience of our peers that responsible behaviour and safe practices are followed most effectively when they are designed, developed and implemented by the employees themselves. To generate this level of integration, we have taken a value based approach to developing HSSE management mechanisms. Employees have designed the management system elements and identified the most significant risks in our operations. Additionally, employees
are empowered to observe and comment on potentially unsafe behaviours in a constructive manner through our Safety Observation Checklists. We also use these checklists to record potential hazards and near miss situations.
HSSE is the first point of consideration for all activities within the company. This philosophy is embodied in the directive of the CEO: “We will do it safely, or we will not do it” and captured in each employee’s performance contract.
For 2008, there were 12,700 proactive HSSE interventions.
While our management of HSSE is embedded into the organization through the actions and decisions of our employees, it is monitored and led at the highest levels of the company. The Board of Directors approves our HSSE targets and reviews HSSE performance every month. We also submit our HSSE performance indicators to our
shareholders every month for their review and recommendations.
