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Safety first

CEZ as the operator of production capacities during its entire activity clearly prefers the superiority of basic safety principles. Such attitude has always been, is, and will be the main imperative of our strategy and simultaneously a major guarantee for the entire society and the environment, in which CEZ creates values.

Safety

The performance of a working activity is more risky than regular private life in many regards. Workplace safety, its observance and requiring therefore stand foremost during all activities of companies across the entire economy. How good would creating profit, exceeding production plans, or salary growth be for a company and its employees, if the achieving of these goals was not strictly bound to simultaneous adherence to basic safety principles? Right the rigorous adherence to safety is meanwhile a guarantee that the economic and social successes of the firm will have a chance to continue for a long term and will not end with the first large operating accident, loss of lives or company bankruptcy due to ignoring basic safety principles. Safety costs are never low. In comparison with the incalculable values of possible disasters caused by non-observing the safety rules, however, it is a small and reasonable price.

Safety and Environmental Protection

The top document in the area of safety and environmental protection is the “Safety and Environmental Protection Policy”. The top management of CEZ, a. s., shows via this document that it is fully aware of and without reserve accepts the responsibility pursuant to valid legislation and international obligations of the Czech Republic for the securing of the:

  • Safety of its production resources,
  • Protection of individuals, the company, and the public,
  • Environmental protection.

For the fulfilment of this responsibility, it undertakes to create and develop corresponding conditions and sufficient human and financial resources, efficient control structures, and checking mechanisms.

We understand safety as an integral part of all activities performed within the CEZ Group.

The Safety and Environmental Protection Policy

The safety policy of the CEZ Group is implemented through fulfilling the following determined safety goals and adhering to many safety obligations, which are applied by a graded approach depending on the seriousness of the risk and the seriousness of the potential consequences.

  1. We prioritise protection of life and health of people over other interests.
  2. We enforce safety and environmental protection as an integral part of control.
  3. We fulfil the legal regulations and public obligations and consider acknowledged practices.
  4. We permanently improve the level of safety and environmental protection.
  5. We regularly evaluate risks, prevent them, eliminate them or decrease them to an acceptable level.
  6. We secure that the equipment fulfils the technical, safety, and economical requirements in the long term.
  7. When choosing and evaluating suppliers, we consider their attitude to safety and the    environment.
  8. We openly and efficiently communicate safety topics.
  9. We provide enough qualified and motivated employees and suppliers.
  10. We control key knowledge.

Safety Culture

Safety culture is defined as a set of characteristics and personal conduct in the organisation and thinking of people, which secures that problems of safety are given the highest priority, corresponding with their significance.

The safety culture is described by the following principles [source: WANO]

  1. Everybody is personally responsible for safety.
  2. Managers demonstrate their attitude to safety.
  3. We introduce an atmosphere of mutual trust (for example - we don´t punish unintended errors).
  4. When deciding, we consider “safety first”.
  5. We respect nuclear technology as special and unique.
  6. We support a curious approach.
  7. We learn from errors (we are a learning organisation).
  8. We permanently verify the safety level.

The safety culture level is a quantity, which cannot be measured directly and scientifically, however, it has a crucial influence on the behaviour of employees, the style of management, and the technology level. Therefore, safety culture surveys are periodically performed in the CEZ Group, which allow for defining weak and strong points within individual areas of safety and for reacting to these findings. The comparison of the time series of the surveys allows for evaluating the efficiency of corrective measures.

The safety culture principles are fully integrated into the Safety and Environmental Protection Policy, which was approved by the Board of Directors and issued by an order of the General Manager of CEZ, a. s.