For goals and planned key actions for 2024 and beyond, please refer to the full Combined Annual Report 2023.
Borealis processes large quantities of flammable and/or toxic materials under high pressure and temperatures, which, if not handled properly, could lead to process safety incidents. In a worst-case scenario, leaks, fires or explosions could severely harm people’s health or cause fatalities, both inside and outside Borealis, as well as causing environmental pollution. This could also disrupt supply to customers, with a consequent impact on Borealis’ financial performance. It is therefore of the utmost importance for Borealis to invest in process safety and to professionally design, maintain and operate its plants.
The Seveso Directive is the main EU regulation dealing with the control of onshore major accident hazards involving dangerous substances. In line with this directive, Borealis works closely with national authorities and emergency organizations to ensure the safe operation of its plants and maintain a high level of preparedness in case of incidents. The Group also actively supports industry-wide efforts to enhance process safety, as a member of the European Process Safety Centre.
To reach Borealis’ objective of achieving zero accidents, the Group has put an HSSE plan in place, replacing its former Goal Zero Journey. This covers both occupational health and safety and process safety and is a key deliverable of the Group’s Sustainability Strategy. As Borealis employees are encouraged to see the HSSE plan as a journey to be taken together, it helps establish a collective health and safety mindset.
The Executive Vice President Base Chemicals and Operations chairs the Group-level Process Safety Committee. The Committee’s members are directors and departmental leaders from all the relevant operational streams: Group Health, Safety, Environment & Quality; Manufacturing Excellence; Operations Polyolefins and Operations Hydrocarbons; and Project & Expert Support.
The Group Process Safety department has developed a process safety management system that enhances risk identification and mitigation. The Group policies that are relevant to process safety are the Risk Management Policy and the Responsible Care® Policy. The Risk Management Policy defines Borealis’ risk management framework by providing principles, roles, responsibilities and guidelines for risk assessment, mitigation and reporting. The policy aims to ensure the implementation of sound risk management practices at all levels across the Group. The Responsible Care Policy statement sets out the guiding principles for the Group-wide implementation of Responsible Care at Borealis.
Each production location also has its own health, safety and environment (HSE) Assurance Team, chaired by a nominee appointed by local management. Its members come from different areas within the location, to ensure cross-learning and a link to Group developments. Assurance Teams meet regularly to oversee Borealis’ process safety performance and program, steer the Group’s HSSE plan for process safety, review progress and provide guidance on priorities, key activities and performance measures. Priorities are identified based on reoccurring or severe incidents, leading to a program being launched by multi-functional teams to improve performance. These teams determine best practice and roll it out in the locations, with support and supervision from Group Process Safety.
Group Process Safety also takes an active role in resolving challenges for Borealis’ growth projects, by providing its expertise in an early-stage study.
Borealis is an active member of the European Process Safety Centre, sharing lessons from incidents and supporting process safety developments. The Group also takes part in several forums related to process safety, including the European Ethylene Producers Conference and the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) Plant & Process Safety Network. Borealis also exchanges information with other companies to assess the best technical solutions for preventing and mitigating the escalation of major process safety incidents and scenarios.
In 2023, Borealis undertook a wide range of activities to further improve its process safety performance. These included:
Borealis Blue Audits are an internal audit of a location’s HSE systems and requirements. In 2023, these audits took place at Burghausen (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium), Stenungsund and Itatiba (Brazil).
The Group also completed seven internal health checks on Layer of Protection Analysis and Retrospective Hazard Reviews in Antwerp, Kallo, Porvoo (Finland), Stenungsund, Burghausen and Beringen.
Furthermore, Borealis’ insurance brokers conducted two major surveys and five follow-up surveys. All these audits reassured the Group’s insurance brokers that the Group has a well-managed process to prevent and limit the impact of incidents.
Borealis uses a Loss of Primary Containment (LOPC) Pyramid tool to support its monitoring of incidents, ensure they are investigated and that actions are completed in time to prevent reoccurrence.
The pyramid includes the performance of the safety-critical processes designed to prevent accidents. This performance is measured using indicators such as the status of safety-critical inspections, the testing of critical interlocks and the closure of actions. The leading indicators are followed up annually through a deep dive into overall performance and review by the Process Safety Committee. As well as using its own process safety incident rating tool, Borealis tracks process safety incidents according to Cefic standards.
High-severity (Tier 1) accidents would include, for example, a large fire or explosion resulting in injuries or fatalities, and significant business loss and impact on the environment.
Medium-severity (Tier 2) accidents are those resulting in a loss of containment, with medium consequences for people, planet, and profit. A medium-severity accident would normally result in limited injuries, easy-to-repair damage and a controllable environmental impact.
Low-severity (Tier 3) accidents are those where substances are released but which result in a very low to zero impact. In 2023, the Group’s target was to have a maximum of 16 Tier 1 and Tier 2 accidents.
In 2023, for BC/PO: 1 Tier 1 accident was reported, along with 4 Tier 2 accidents and 461 Tier 3 accidents. In addition, there were 293 Tier 3 non-LOPC incidents, of which 1 was process safety-related with high potential.
In 2023, for Fertilizer Melamine and TEN: 2 Tier 1 accidents were reported, along with 3 Tier 2 accidents and 151 Tier 3 accidents. And no process safety-related high potential incidents.
As general process safety awareness increases due to Borealis’ educational initiatives and campaigns, more low-severity accidents are being reported.
The process safety response rate measures the number of actions closed against the number due to be closed on a 12-month rolling basis. Including all actions for 2023, the response rate (BC/PO) for December was 91% (2022: 91%; 2021: 92%). A total of 1,297 actions were implemented in response to Tier 1, 2 and 3 accidents.
1) Definitions were adjusted in 2021 to align with OMV definitions. A comparison to previous years is therefore not possible. // 2) Due to the divestment, only the first half of the year to June 30, 2023 is reported. The figures are, therefore, not fully comparable.
Definitions
Response rate of process safety incidents: Process safety incidents of a certain severity or risk potential are recorded and investigated through root cause analysis. Corrective actions are defined to prevent re-occurrence. The response rate of process safety incidents is measured as the ratio (%) of corrective actions completed within a defined time period.
High-severity accidents: are Tier 1 accidents according to API (American Petroleum Institute) RP754.
Medium-severity accidents: are Tier 2 accidents according to API RP754.
During 2024, Group Process Safety will focus on the following areas:
The HSSE group will also perform internal health checks on process safety-related elements and a process safety review, as part of the Borealis Blue Audits.
