health, safety & environment (HSE)

We realize that without adequate safety measures, both, our employees and our operations would be at risk. For this very reason, we remain committed to providing the safest working environment to our employees, particularly at manufacturing facilities whilst remaining cognizant of our environmental duties and responsibilities.

Our outstanding performance in maintaining the highest health and safety measures is a result of investing considerably in physical infrastructure, as well as creating an institutional architecture where health and safety are monitored at every level of the organizational hierarchy. During the year 2016 we embarked on an ambitious project to reduce the noise levels at the plant and the surrounding colony with an investment of PKR 35 million – thereby making our Daharki manufacturing facility compliant with IFC World Bank standards.

The Company is committed to surpass the standards required by law and adopts much tougher health and safety policies, including those outlined by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration of the United States and the Dupont Workplace Safety Standards. Like every other year, in 2016 we have continued to keep our HSE management systems and processes in line with international best practices. All HSE systems and processes are regularly accessed and audited internally and by third parties. Based on this approach during the year we achieved various certifications including extension of the Green Office certifications to marketing and zonal offices; along with focus on the “Protect & Sustain (Product Stewardship initiative of International Fertilizers Association)” certification which was achieved with an ‘Excellence’ rating granting us the prestigious “2016 Green Leaf Best Progression Award”.

Moreover, a series of initiatives were also worked upon to ensure that our environmental footprint continue to decrease year after year. In 2016 the effluent evaporation ponds were upgraded with an investment of PKR 40 million whereas 5S certifications – a Japanese management concept that describes how to effectively organize a work space – were extended to 4 new buildings during the year, bringing the total sites to 10 at the manufacturing facility. During the year, we successfully and safely disposed off 104 tons of hazardous waste in an environmental friendly manner complying to GoP regulations.

All employees in plant operations at all our manufacturing facilities are provided an outline of the process and operating procedures, with an emphasis on specific HSE hazards, emergency operations and safe work practices. The Occupational Health Program at the Company includes aspects of industrial hygiene and occupational medicine. In addition, all employees are trained and kept abreast of technological changes and safety-related aspects of their jobs. In order to enhance the orientation of our employees through the year we commenced the DuPont Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene program implementation at Zarkhez Plant and Marketing division whilst also conducting HSE perception surveys across these sites to enhance effectiveness of our HSE systems and practices. In addition, HACCP (Food Safety Enhancement) program was also initiated at site for the employees.

A thorough analysis of existing systems was done through the year and 2 key programs have been initiated that include the transition from British Safety Council Environmental Management System (EMS) to Dupont EMS and shifting the relatively outdated safety management system to state of the art SPHERA systems.