NorNickel’s Polar Division, Norilsk, Russia

S. Yu. Shilenko, Director of Center for Rapid Emergency Response and Rescue
I. I. Pereverzev, Deputy Director of Production Safety and Labor Protection Department
A. A. Akulinkin, Director of Production Assets Efficiency and Reliability Department
V. P. Marysyuk, Chief Geotechnical Engineer–Director, Center for Geodynamic Safety, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, MarysyukVP@nornik.ru

Spotlight is on improvement of production safety at the Polar Division of Norilsk Nickel. The selected methods include a proactive approach to production control targeted at anticipation and prevention of potential incidents and accidents. The Polar Division operates 42 hazardous production facilities of various class of risk, which governs high standards imposed on the system of safety and accident / incident prevention. The article describes a three-level production control system including verification on the scales of management, functional units and production areas. Emphasis is laid on introduction of Automated Control, Management, Safety System (Russian abbreviation AS KUB). AS KUB ensures transparency of management, quality control of business processes, optimization of resources and reliability of data. The authors present a risk-oriented approach to technical evaluation of buildings and structures with regard to specificity of the Arctic zone of permafrost. In this approach, diagnostics of mine shafts uses GPR facility OKO-3. This facility enables nondestructive testing of annular space behind the lining in mine shafts, with detection and assessment of voids and damages in the lining structure at early stage. Regular monitoring using OKO-3 makes it possible to plot detailed charts of defects in the annular space and to undertake prompt cure measures. Importance of early detection of disintegrations in lining to prevent accidents and downtimes in the critical mine arteries—shafts—is highlighted. Improvement of production control system, and introduction of innovation approaches and advanced technologies allows great enhancement of production safety at mines of the Polar Division. This is a key to the safety and sustainability of the Company, ensuring continuous operation and persistence of industrial assets in the harsh conditions of the Far North.

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