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The follow-up audit is based on international standard OHSAS 18001
- The regulation ensures that the organization fulfills the legal and regulatory requirements in the area of safety
- The audit team congratulated the La Rábida Refinery on the running of the system, which has made a "significant qualitative leap" since the last review
Cepsa's La Rábida Refinery has successfully passed the audit of its Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems pursuant to international standard OHSAS 18001. This audit is voluntary in nature, carried out at the same time as the regulatory audit under the Spanish Occupational Risk Prevention Law. La Rábida has therefore taken another step forward in the evaluation and monitoring of its preventive system.
With visits to all of the production units, the audit team has completed an assessment of compliance with regulations on safety, preventive measures, safety inspections and work permits. During the presentation of findings, the auditors congratulated the team responsible for operating the prevention management system, which has made a significant qualitative leap based on applying the new electronic work permits and the LOTO system, which refers to the practices and procedures of locking and tagging machinery or equipment in order to protect workers from a potential hazardous release of energy.
Something that also stood out was the preparation of maintenance works and their planning and monitoring, which give everyone, inside and outside of the facility, a great sense of safety. The monitoring of corrective action in investigating accidents and incidents, as well as the meticulous definition and monitoring of prevention objectives throughout the center, are other key elements in Cepsa's safety procedures.
In the words of Francisco Alvarez, head of Safety at the La Rábida Refinery, "safety is one of our key values. The continuous efforts of all staff members throughout the year has ensured a successful overall audit result. The message must be passed on to all of the work teams and they must be encouraged to continue working in this way, with a positive attitude; only as a team can we consolidate the management systems."
The La Rábida Refinery has held the OHSAS certification since 2003. The certification process involves a comprehensive exam of the efficiency of the management system in place, which goes beyond the legal requirements. In order to achieve this certification, the refinery counts on its prevention management system.
OHSAS 18001, an internationally recognized standard, establishes the requirements that must be met by an occupational health and safety management system so that organizations can optimize the performance of their system, as well as effectively control the risks associated with its activities.
safety at cepsa
At Cepsa, safety is an historic and inseparable principle of its activity embodied by all of its employees and the other companies with which it works. In order to achieve the safety objectives, the company carries out training programs and inspections, and it follows preventive standards and procedures.
In addition to the Health and Safety Management System, following OHSAS, Cepsa's La Rábida Refinery operates a Safety Management System to prevent personal and industrial incidents/accidents that could occur and to fulfill the legal requirements of the Spanish Occupational Risk Prevention Law and the regulations on preventing major accidents (SEVESO).
Furthermore, within Cepsa, the HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) internal audit team submits the system to testing, using the international Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series audit criteria as a reference.