We integrate health and safety into every aspect of our operations, creating a strong safety culture where every team member is responsible for maintaining safe work practices.
Santos integrates process safety and asset integrity into its sustainability framework to prevent major incidents and foster safe, reliable operations.
Our material topics
Santos is steadfast in pursuing safety excellence and is committed to conducting business activities in a manner that allows all employees and contractors go home healthy and safe.
Our approach
Santos is committed to being one of the safest, most reliable operators across the globe through a proactive and systematic approach to health, safety and security. Our commitment to safety is led from the Board and Executive Leaders demonstrating this commitment through regular site visits to engage directly with our workforce and observe safety practices first-hand.
Guided by our Always Safe value and Code of Conduct, the SMS encompasses comprehensive policies and operating standards for health, safety and security. These standards articulate our strategic direction and minimum mandatory requirements across the organisation, while allowing flexibility in how these standards are achieved operationally.
Read more on risks and opportunities, our process and due diligence and our actions and performance in the 2024 Annual Report.
Asset integrity, process safety, life saving rules, and incident and crisis management are core parts of our prevention approach.
Our approach
Santos aspires to be the safest energy company where we have a presence by preventing harm to people and the environment. A failure to manage asset integrity and process safety can result in a major accident or environmental events. Using our improved safety risk assessment methodology, multiple independent barriers are identified and implemented to prevent a loss of containment and mitigate the escalation potential should it occur.
Read more on risks and opportunities, our process and due diligence and our actions and performance in the 2024 Annual Report.
Important topics
Our approach
At the core of our organisation is the unwavering commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of our people, and those who support our operations. While we emphasise proactive measures to prevent incidents, we maintain a robust capacity to respond effectively should an emergency or incident occur. Our response framework is built around clear prioritisation principles, focusing first on people, followed by protecting the environment, then our assets, reputation, and liability. This structured approach ensures that we address emergencies and organisational crises in a methodical and responsible manner.
Our comprehensive crisis and emergency management framework starts from organisational Environment, Health and Safety policy and standards flowing through to operationalised procedures, setting clear minimum standards for preparedness.
The Santos Emergency, Incident and Crisis Management Operating Standard outlines a three-level tiered response framework for managing the response to emergency or crisis events with supporting Technical Standards.
Incident and Emergency Management Technical Standard
- Level 1 Incident Emergency Response – Asset Level
- Level 2 Incident Management – Regional Business Unit Level
Crisis Management and Business Continuity Technical Standard
- Level 3 Incident Crisis Management – Corporate Level
From asset emergency response teams to our regional incident management teams, the approach ensures all actions are consistent, systematic, and well-coordinated across all levels of our organisation. Emergency response and preparedness is integrated into our broader risk management framework, playing a key role in mitigating identified risks. Directly linking our emergency response requirements to our key risks guarantees that we have the right people with the right resources to safely and effectively respond to all foreseeable events.
Our Process and Due Diligence
We take a proactive approach to performance monitoring throughout all phases of planning, implementation, and execution. This allows for the early identification of opportunities, ensuring a continuous cycle of learning and adaptation. Emergency response assessments are integrated into our project development processes, as well as all routine operational activities ensuring that the necessary plans and strategies are in place relative to the risks, before progressing. Regular emergency preparedness evaluations are conducted across all operational levels, verifying that the right plans are consistently maintained and ready to action.
We continuously track the availability of response personnel and critical resources to ensure that our response capabilities remain robust and effective. To ensure high capability, our response teams are thoroughly trained and assessed, with our plans and personnel undergoing routine testing and exercises designed to continually refine our response plans and capabilities.
In addition, we conduct regular verification and assurance activities at multiple levels. These include front-line, in-field assessments of resource availability and suitability, as well as regional evaluations of emergency preparedness systems and processes through to independent internal and external compliance assessments to ensure that our operations meet the highest standards of readiness and effectiveness.
Key programs and initiatives include:
- Increased assurance through robust governance and enhanced information management.
- Developing our people and elevating capability through tailored and targeted training programs.