Annual Report 2007 - Severstal

Corporate social
responsibility
Our corporate social responsibility
objectives are built on open dialogue
with all our stakeholders: our investors,
employees, people living in the regions
where we operate, and society as a whole.
We work with people and local communities and we
understand that long-term economic and financial success
is only possible under conditions of social stability and
partnership. Our social and charity projects are intended
to achieve these goals.
In 2007, our corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) activities
covered the following areas:
– Health and safety
– Environmental protection
– Social programmes
– Charity.
Last year we paid special attention to health and safety across all
of our operations, especially in our Mining segment.
Our environmental protection initiative focused on the Clean
City environmental initiative at our Cherepovets Steel Mill.
We introduced various new charity initiatives in 2007, including
competitive technologies in the distribution of charity funds.
The grant competition within our Museums of the Russian North
charity programme is just one example of this approach. In 2007,
for the first time we presented integrated data on our social and
charity investments – a step on the way to forming a single system
of CSR management. It helped to objectively evaluate the results of
our activities, define our priorities clearly and develop suggestions
for managing social projects more effectively. The total of our
social and charity investments in 2007 was US$83.8 million,
which is 64.4% more than in 2006.
Health and safety
Health and safety are of utmost importance at all stages of our
production activities: from the extraction of coal and ore, the
production of coke and smelting of cast iron and steel to the
manufacturing of hi-tech metal products and metalware.
Each year we organise a professional evaluation of
approximately 1,000 engineering devices, buildings and structures
in order to determine their technical conditions and to take into
account specific conditions of operation. In 2007, 1,115 objects
were evaluated. When organising and planning these repairs,
we use the recommendations of independent experts from
Cherepovets, Moscow, St. Petersburg and other Russian regions.
Lucchini Group and SNA follow the same process with local
experts.
In 2006, the administration and the trade union of Cherepovets
Steel Mill created the Safety Committee. In 2007, the committee,
acting alongside divisional heads, developed special task
programmes, taking into account specific conditions and root
causes of work-related incidents. Starting from 1 January 2007,
Cherepovets Steel Mill introduced a new standard of Safe
maintenance, which has helped to decrease the number of injuries
on the way to and from work sites from 23% in 2006 to 12% in
2007 of the total injuries.
In 2007, our Mining segment continued to implement its Safety
for All programme, unique in its scale and number of participants.
A good measure of its effectiveness is the stable reduction of the
overall numbers of accidents at the segment. In 2007, the Lost
Time Incident Frequency Rate has decreased by 42% from the
previous year. The same indicator for Russian Steel saw a 17%
reduction, while Metalware achieved an 11% decrease.
Environmental protection
OAO Severstal is focused on implementing the international and
Russian environment standards and legal requirements, and
employs various environmental protection programmes. Each of
our businesses develops their own plans to mitigate environmental
risks by using modern technologies and modernising equipment.
In 2007, Cherepovets Steel Mill modernised dust collection
systems in its sintering production. In 2008 this project will reduce
annual dust emissions by 700 tonnes.
Cherepovets has also been successful in energy saving.
The Complex energy-saving programme has conserved
326 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and 12,400 tonnes
of fuel equivalent for the year. Additionally, Cherepovets Steel
Mill has achieved the highest index of water re-use among all
Russian steel companies through the in-plant recycling system:
in 2007 this indicator amounted to 98%.
Cherepovets Steel Mill also initiated the Clear City programme.
Its goal is to improve the environment in Cherepovets through
activities based on local community initiatives, and was supported
by dozens of the city’s businesses. Last year the programme’s
participants included the plant’s employees and local community
Severstal Annual Report 2007 61