Nornickel held a seminar in Norilsk to mark the launch of a pilot project to roll out a reliability rating system for its contractors. More than 70 participants, including heads of production units, gathered to discuss how to transform safety oversight into a systematic, collaborative partnership.
The business session of the seminar was opened by Nadezhda Platonova, Director of Nornickel’s Industrial Safety Department.
"We cannot assign an inspector to every single contractor—we simply don’t have the resources for that. The rating system helps us understand who we are working with, allowing us to allocate our efforts more rationally. If a contractor is a leader in safety, why would we need to hover over them every single day? Conversely, if a contractor has a low rating, we need to provide support, training, and closer supervision," she explained.
Viktor Gofman, Head of the Industrial Safety and Occupational Health Division within Nornickel’s Industrial Safety Department, explained why the company needs a unified rating system. "Our goal is not just to issue fines, but to ensure our contractors are reliable. (...) One site means one culture. We must integrate our contractors into our corporate culture," he emphasized.
According to Dmitry Mikhailov, an advisor to Nornickel’s Vice President for Legal Affairs, the implementation of this new rating system is aimed at improving industrial safety standards among contractors, thereby preventing accidents at the Group’s facilities.
The urgency of this issue is underscored by tragic statistics: in 2026, a number of fatal accidents involving contractor employees occurred at the company’s facilities.
As Platonova pointed out, the common factor in these tragedies was the inadequate organization of work. A new rating system and a competition among participants in the replication process are intended to change this situation, making safety an integral part of the production process rather than just a formal contractual addendum.
Alex Shishlo, Editor in Chief of the European Bureau, Rough&Polished
