Mitigation of environmental and health and safety effects

Accident prevention, Snam’s main health and safety objective, is carried out through the adoption of targeted actions aimed at eliminating or reducing risk factors inherent in employees’ work.

The in-depth analysis of the causes of accidents aims to identify any measures necessary to eliminate, mitigate and correct risk factors, implementing organisational, technical and managerial solutions on equipment, plants and workplaces, as well as evaluating operational and behavioural procedures of employees and suppliers.

In a logic of the continuous improvement of its performance, in the early months of 2018 Snam launched the “Snam4Safety” project, with the goal of further strengthening the culture and awareness of all employees and contractors on the issue of health and safety. Specifically, in 2019 the organisational and IT instruments were completed and implemented to make the new behavioural models in the project operational.

In order to raise awareness among employees on the issue of safety, in 2011 Snam established an initiative called the “Zero Accident Award”, which rewards employees who go 365 consecutive days without an accident in the workplace. Personnel taking part in the initiative are divided into homogeneous teams according to employment/safety manager. In 2019 8 teams out of a total of 810 employees were rewarded.

An awareness raising initiative, the “Trofeo Sicurezza Appaltatori” (Contractor’s Safety Prize), is also dedicated to contractors with the aim of focusing the attention of suppliers on these issues. Specifically, the performance of businesses is evaluated by collecting and analysing specific indicators (such as, for example, accident indices and negative feedback on subject of interest). In 2019, the Contractor Safety Prize (for results achieved in 2018) was awarded for the third year in a row to Max Streicher, a company specialised in the building of energy infrastructure, more specifically gas pipelines.

As far as health and safety training is concerned, in addition to the hours counted in the table, in 2019, 6,685 hours of HSEQ integrated training that cannot be broken down was provided for 1,505 participants.

The protection of workers’ health is based on ongoing monitoring of risk elements analysed in corporate processes and the implementation of adequate prevention and protection measures. Work environment inspections are periodically carried out by the Duty Doctor and the Prevention and Protection department, in order to evaluate adequate and appropriate working and environmental conditions and to identify possible measures for prevention or improvement.

Snam’s workers are not exposed to a high risk of contracting occupational diseases (no cases have been recorded in the last three years). Personnel exposed to specific risk factors undergo periodic medical health surveillance by the appropriate medical staff. These employees can under the specific healthcare protocols defined according to risk, plus any supplementary specialist visits. Employees whose work requires them to travel to non-European countries receive specific preventive care.

The various initiatives run by Snam to promote workers’ health include: a flu vaccine campaign, an early-diagnosis plan to prevent cancer, agreements with specialist institutions, a ban on smoking in the workplace (which also includes e-cigarettes), and a ban on drinking alcohol in company canteens. After a year in which no reports of any kind were received, one case of an occupational illness was reported in 2019 which is being investigated.

Snam contributes to the fight against climate change starting with its energy decisions: in 2019, 95.7% of the Company’s energy requirements were covered through the use of natural gas.

The main greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted into the atmosphere due to Snam’s activities are methane (CH₄), the main component of natural gas and carbon dioxide (CO₂). Methane emissions arise from the release of natural gas into the atmosphere and are generated by the normal plant operation, by operations to connect new gas pipelines and the maintenance thereof, or by accidental events occurring on infrastructure, whereas the CO₂ produced is directly correlated with fuel consumption. In 2019, like last year, the contribution from the use of hydroflurocarbons (HFC) in refrigeration systems was included in the evaluation of direct emissions (equal to approximately 1.48 kt CO_2eq).

Snam intends to develop projects to strengthen its operational excellence and thus contribute to the containment of climate-altering emissions. Lastly, the Company set new targets for reducing its Scope 1 and Scope 2 natural gas and CO_2eq emissions:

• a 40% reduction by 2030 of all direct CO_2eq emissions (Scope 1) and indirect (Scope 2), from base year 2016;
• a 40% reduction in natural gas emissions by 2025 from base year 2016 (target increased by 15 percentage points compared with last year).

Various initiatives were adopted to achieve these targets including the recompression of gas in the transportation network and compression systems, the production of electricity from photovoltaic plants, the purchase of green electricity, the installation of LED lighting systems to replace other lighting equipment with greater consumption, the savings from the redevelopment of buildings, the continuation of the smart working project. All of these interventions made it possible, globally, to prevent the emission into the atmosphere of 181,800 tonnes of CO_2eq, the highest value recorded in recent years (+17% compared with 2018).

As far as the use of electricity produced from renewable sources and from photovoltaic plants owned by the Company is concerned, in 2019 it represented 44% of total electricity consumed: from this year the Enna compression plant (transportation) will also procure green electricity. This plant joins those of Messina and Terranuova B. (SRG), Brugherio (STG), the Panigaglia LNG Plant and several areas of Snam4 Mobility.

In addition, in February 2019 Snam issued the first Climate Action Bond, used to finance projects relating to the reduction of CO₂ emissions, the development of renewables, energy efficiency and the development of green projects based on environmental criteria.

Snam considers safeguarding nature in the areas where it operates to be of particular importance. For this reason during the realisation phase of its works it is implementing the most appropriate project decisions to keep the impacts on biodiversity to a minimum. Once the infrastructures have been completed, the Company will put in place environmental restoration and monitoring projects in agreement and in collaboration with the responsible bodies.

The objective of vegetation restoration, in particular reforestation, is not merely to reconstitute forest areas but to reconstitute the landscape in general and to revive the biological functionality of vegetated areas, understood especially in their role as habitats for fauna with specific biodiversity characteristics. Restoration and reforestation is followed by the implementation of “cultivation treatments”, i.e. the care and maintenance, for a period of at least five years, of the plants which have been planted.

The monitoring projects involve sections of several pipelines that interfere, even only marginally, with natural areas high in fauna and ecological value. These programmes are aimed at checking the renaturalisation process of the areas affected by the works, based on the comparison between the conditions after the restoration (“post-operam”) and the original conditions (“ante-operam”). Monitoring is normally performed for the most significant habitats identified in the design phase. The km of pipelines subject to replanting depends on the km of lines laid in the year and the environments they have passed through.