OREANDA-NEWS. March 22, 2012. NPO Saturn OJSC hosted a visit of the officers from the state labor inspection for Yaroslavl region. As a result of inspecting the company’s production and test facility infrastructure, the NPO Saturn training center and meeting with the company’s administration and the union leaders on the subject of respecting the labor code regulations, NPO Saturn has demonstrated full compliance with the Employer Commitment certificate requirements.

The Employer Commitment certificate was first awarded to NPO Saturn back in 2010 as an employer who conscientiously observes the requirements of the effective labor legislation. The audit carried out by the state labor inspection confirmed the validity of the previously awarded certificate having demonstrated that it is economically advantageous for the company to conform to the regulations in the field of industrial safety, fire prevention and environmental safety while maintaining a high level of labor protection.

Just in the course of 2011 the company’s activity in this field was distinguished by 10 different awards. In 2011 NPO Saturn entered the ranks of the best companies in Russia and Kazakhstan with regard to the environmental friendliness and power use efficiency, it had also won the regional competition administered by Profavia for the title of ‘the company with the best system of providing its employees with the uniform, safety boots and means of individual protection’, NPO Saturn was also rated the ‘Leader of the nature preservation activity in Russia in 2011’.

During the last few years, NPO Saturn has carried out a number of initiatives aimed at the technological upgrade and re-equipment of its production infrastructure. New production units have been put into operation; the company continues to industrialize the use of the new-generation cutting tools while the level of technological maturity of the company is rightfully considered high and in many respects comparable to the world industry leaders. The state-of-the-art production infrastructure allows not only to boost labor output but also to substantially decrease the impact of harmful factors on the servicing personnel and the environment.

- It is now a demonstrated fact that NPO Saturn honors its commitment to its employees.  The Employer Commitment certificate has been fully validated, – says Evgeny Maslennikov, head of the state labor inspection for Yaroslavl region. – The company’s new production facilities, high-tech equipment, state-of-the-art administrative-recreational offices – indeed leave a favorable impression. The company has achieved considerable success in the field of occupational safety. It’s worth noting that since 2010 (from the moment when the certificate was awarded) NPO Saturn has not had any accidents, nor serious personal injuries or accidental escapes of harmful pollutants. The number of instances when the employees of NPO Saturn turn to the labor inspection for intervention is decreasing drastically. All these are the results of diligent work carried out both by the company’s top management, its line managers and the employees themselves who have now become much more conscious of their health seeing that the employer does care about them.

One of the objectives of visiting NPO Saturn was the feedback that the state inspection wanted to elicit from the company’s employees. ‘It is very important, – says Aleksandr Lyand, deputy head of the state labor inspection for Yaroslavl region, - for people to know where they can go in case of some vocational trouble arising in the process of carrying out their daily activities, so that we could render them professional help within our scope of competence – advise them, tell them what their guaranteed rights are and, if necessary, come on site with an expert examination.

This time we have examined how Saturn administers work with reclamations and complaints addressed by employees to their employer. We find what we saw satisfactory and I think we need to disseminate this positive experience to other companies operating in the region’.

According to NPO Saturn chief engineer Vladimir Stogov, right now the company sets new ambitions goals in the field of occupational safety. We are talking about a transition from the compensation-based and costly model of managing labor protection to a modern system of managing vocational risks.

One of strategic ways of moving towards that goal is the activity focused on creating an integrated system of managing the company which incorporates the environmental management (ISO 14001), safety management (OHSAS 18001), quality management (ISO 9001) and the social standard (SA 8000) which serves as an additional aspect giving the company a competitive edge and ensuring the company’s success in the future.

NPO Saturn has already started working on creating an efficient system of environmental management to comply with the ISO 14001 requirements ready to undergo certification in 2012. The BS OHSAS 18001 and SA 8000 certification is planned for 2013-2015.

 Research and production association Saturn OJSC – an engine-building company specialized in design, manufacture and aftermarket support of gas-turbine engines for military and civil aviation, power-generation and gas-pumping installations, the Navy boats and commercial ships. NPO Saturn OJSC is part of United engine corporation – a 100% subsidiary of the united industrial company OBORONPROM OJSC with the objective of engine-building asset management.

United industrial company OBORONPROM OJSC – a multi-field machine-building group of companies founded in 2002. It is part of GK Russian technologies. Its main fields of business: helicopter building (Helicopters of Russia OJSC), engine building (MC ODK) and other assets.