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Environmental, and Health and Safety aspects

Relevance and related risks

The relevant issues that Snam considers related to aspects concerning health, safety and the environment, as required by the Decree, are the following:

  • Health and safety
  • Climate change
  • Energy efficiency
  • Land and biodiversity protection

Air protection and water management are important issues for Snam, but they were not relevant following the analysis of relevance. As far as air protection is concerned, the only significant emissions are those of nitrogen oxides that derive mainly from the combustion of natural gas in the gas turbines installed in the compression plants (thrust and storage).To reduce emissions, a programme has been underway for years to modify some of the existing turbines and to install new units with low-emission combustion systems (DLE).As regards water management, this is not a relevant issue because water resources are used in limited quantities, mainly in the operations of the LNG Italia regasification plant and for sanitary and green care use.

The main operational risk with an impact on health, safety and the environment is represented by breakages or injuries to pipelines and plants, also as a result of extraordinary events such as fires, landslides or extreme weather phenomena due to climate change. These events could cause significant damage in addition to a reduction in revenues.

The complete list of risks to the environment, health and safety is as follows:

  • Climate change risk within strategic risks;
  • Possible violation of rules and regulations risk in relation to the health and safety of workers and the environment within the legal and non-compliance risks;
  • Breakage or damage to the pipeline risk with damage to the environment/people within operational risks;
  • Environmental risks within operational risks.

The most extensive description of these risks is shown in the Chapter Factors of risk and uncertainty of the Report on Integrated Management.

Policies, commitments and management model

In relation to these issues, through the HSEQ Policy and the Sustainable Development Policy, Snam undertakes to:

  • Ensure respect for the protection of health and safety of workers and the environment, through the prevention of accidents, injuries and occupational diseases;
  • Promote actions to fight climate change by implementing operational and management measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
  • Promote energy efficiency and ensure the sustainable use of natural resources;
  • Prevent pollution and ensure the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity;
  • Set up procedures to identify and respond to emergency situations and monitor the consequences of accidents.

The management of the aspects mentioned in the policies and the consequent actions for their implementation are mainly implemented within the management systems developed in compliance with the international standards ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001, regularly verified and certified systems by a third party, of which all the companies of the Group are equipped. These actions are detailed in the Report on Integrated Management:

  • For the development and maintenance aspects of the management systems, in chapter Mitigation of environmental and health and safety effects; in this paragraph you can find the certifications of the Company and its subsidiaries and details on audits conducted and the team of auditors employed;
  • for aspects of health protection and accident prevention, in chapter Mitigation of environmental and health and safety effects; in this paragraph you can find the company involvement initiatives for the prevention of accidents and the company’s health and health surveillance of employees;
  • for aspects of greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, production and use of energy from renewable sources, in chapter Mitigation of environmental and health and safety effects; there are details in these paragraphs of direct emissions from the Company, its initiatives to limit emissions and energy consumption and the type and power and energy produced by renewable energy plants owned by Snam;
  • for aspects of mitigation of environmental impacts and protection of biodiversity, in chapter Mitigation of environmental and health and safety effects; in this paragraph, details on the environmental restoration activities related to the laying of new infrastructures are reported.

The preventive assessments of the effects on the environment and on the safety of new settlements are carried out in the context of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures, at the end of which the administrations responsible, both at central and local level, issue the authorisations required by current legislation. The progress of the permitting activities is shown in chapter Technical investments of the Report on Integrated Management.

Snam particularly oversees the maintenance of plant safety and quality levels and, in addition to investing huge financial resources every year, carries out a regular inspection of the lines on foot, with vehicles and helicopter overflights to detect any situations at risk, and the pipe conditions with smart devices which pass through them and allow for the detection of the presence of possible damages. These actions are reported in detail in chapter Operating review of the Report on Integrated Management.

Environmental and safety requirements in the workplace are considered in the qualification and selection of suppliers. The highly critical suppliers operating in the procurement of works, the most significant category for core activities, in particular for health and safety and environmental aspects, are all in possession of certified quality, environmental and safety management systems according to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards.

The aspects of health and safety and environmental management are also part of the evaluation phase of the services rendered.

The fight against climate change not only takes the form of actions to reduce emissions and energy efficiency projects, but it is also expressed on a strategic level through increasing the use of natural gas as a key factor in the decarbonisation process, with particular reference to biomethane and the use of natural gas in the transport sector.

Performance Indicators

The following are representative indicators of the results of the environmental, health and safety management aspects, with indication of the GRI reference standard. The 2017 results show a slight increase in the number of employee accidents compared to 2016, while for contractors the number of accidents is unchanged, but one of these has unfortunately proved fatal.

The increases in the energy consumption values and related emissions are due to a greater volume of gas transported in the network and to a different network set-up to respond to the new method of appointing gas, which has passed from daily to hourly.

 Download XLS (22 kB)

Indicator

GRI Standard

Unit of Measurement

2015

2016

2017

(*)

Number of working days lost (calendar days) due to accidents at work resulting in absence of at least one day per thousand hours worked. Data is calculated including the contribution of fatal accidents, for each of which 7,500 days of absence were considered.

(**)

For the purposes of calculating the employee absenteeism rate, all hours worked (paid and unpaid) were excluded, excluding holidays and recoveries. The rate of absenteeism does not include Managers.

(***)

CO2eq emissions have been consolidated according to the operational control approach. The GHG gas included in the calculation are CO2 and CH4 and the emissions are calculated with a GWP of methane equal to 28, as indicated in the scientific study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) “Fifth Assessment Report IPCC”.

(****)

The percentage of electricity produced from renewable sources and consumed by the Group depends on the individual national electricity mixes. For Italy, there is also a self-consumption of electricity from renewable sources, as better specified in the lines below.

(*****)

Natura 2000 sites are special protection areas/sites of Community interest. The indicator gives the km of line laid in these sites in the year.For 2017, the Natura 2000 sites affected by the laying of infrastructures were: Severe areas and wetlands in Brenta; Valli di Comacchio; Valle del Mezzano; Marshes of Brusà; Gessi bolognesi/Calanche dell’Abbadessa; Low course and banks of the Ticino/Forests of Ticino; Bacino former Argelato and Golena sugar mill of the river Reno; Walloons and pedegarganic steppes/Promontory of the Gargano; Fiumara di Melito.

Employees’ accident frequency index

403-2

Accidents for 106 hours worked

0.62

0.81

1.24

Contractors’ accident frequency index

1.07

0.71

0.54

Severity rate for employee accidents (*)

Work days lost for 103 hours worked

1.55

0.04

0.05

Contractor accident severity index (*)

Work days lost for 103 hours worked

0.07

0.05

0.83

Employee accidents (of which fatal)

no.

3 (1)

4 (0)

6 (0)

of which due to a traffic accident

no.

1

0

1

of which due to a professional accident (maintenance, inspection, checks)

no.

2

1

1

of which due to a general accident (slipping, bumpage, tripping)

no.

0

3

4

Contractor accidents (of which fatal)

no.

8 (0)

5 (0)

5 (1)

Recognised cases of professional diseases

no.

0

0

0

Employee absenteeism (**)

%

4.4

4.7

4.7

CO2eq emissions – scope I (***)

305-1

103 t CO2eq

1,373

1,439

1,500

NOx emissions

305-7

t

400

434

532

Energy consumption.

302-1

TJ

9,087.3

10,957.4

12,582.3

of which natural gas

8,688.6

10,541.7

12,153.2

of which diesel

83.7

84.4

77.9

of which gasoline

1.9

2.2

2.3

of which LPG

0.5

0.4

0.4

of which electricity purchased on the network (****)

296.8

311.7

335.3

of which thermal energy purchased

13.7

14.5

10.8

of which electricity from renewable sources

2.1

2.5

2.4

Transport network within Natura 2000 sites (*****)

304-1

km

11.0

8.7

12.6
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