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At SembCorp Industries, we recognise that to be a truly
successful company, we must have a strong social commitment
to improving the world around us. We see corporate citizenship
as an integral part of every decision and action we
take. This directly influences how we conduct our business
and how we interact with the world at large. As a responsible
corporate citizen, we aim to make a difference in the
world and communities we operate in and to protect and
enhance the environment we live in.
| Our Commitment
to the Community
| Our Commitment to Health, Safety
and the Environment
Our
Commitment to the Community
Our employees are passionate about making a difference
in the communities we operate in and drive our corporate
citizenship programme through their contribution of
time, financial resources as well as business experience.
In particular, we focus our initiatives for the benefit
of children and education. We believe that the future
of the world rests in the hands of the next generation
and it is vital that we prepare our children well for
the challenges of the future through education, the
critical building block to the quality of life in our
communities. We recognise the importance of education
and continue to develop and contribute to programmes
that lead to far-reaching impacts on the lives of the
individuals they serve.
Children & Education
In making our own unique and identifiable contribution
to society through our corporate activities, our efforts
are focused on children and education. For instance,
SembCorp Marine (SembMarine) has a School Book Assistance
Grant scheme which is targeted at low income households
with schooling children. The aim of this scheme is to
help these families purchase school textbooks, uniforms
and stationery items at the commencement of each academic
year. In December 2003, SembMarine contributed S$202,250
in SchoolBag grants to a total of 1,037 students under
this scheme.
Meanwhile, at SembCorp Environmental Management (SembEnviro),
we have the Local Environmental Management Scholarship
programme for needy and under-privileged children. The
scholarship covers tuition fees, examination fees, stipends
and other compulsory academic fees. Apart from financial
help, SembEnviro also offers these young scholars job
opportunities in the company on completion of their
studies.
Throughout the Group, we are involved in a wide-range
of other programmes and initiatives which support children
and education in a variety of ways. In February 2003,
SembCorp Utilities (SembUtilities) participated in the
National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Lifeforce Campaign
2003 for the benefit of NKF Children’s Medical
Fund, while in November its subsidiary SMOE organised
a Golf Charity Tournament raising S$72,000 in proceeds
for the benefit of the fund.
In 2003, the Jamiyah Children’s Home received
S$20,888 which helped to cover their annual operating
expenses from SembEnviro through a charity carnival.
The Home provides educational, welfare and development
services to disadvantaged individuals between three
to eighteen years of age. SembEnviro presented another
S$20,000 to four designated Children’s homes under
our Bonding Environment Experience Programme. The Muslim
Jamiyah Children’s Home, the Hindu Ramakrishnan
Mission Boys’ Home, the Catholic Canossaville
Children’s Home and the multi-racial Singapore
Children’s Society each received S$5,000.
Community & Volunteerism
Believing that we should also make a difference in our
communities using our business expertise, SembCorp Logistics
joined the Boys’ Brigade Sharity Gift Box Programme
as its logistics consultant. From the Sharity Gift Boxes
set up throughout the island, we helped to collect items
of gifts and food and transported them to our warehouse
where the items were sorted and distributed to 123 beneficiary
organisations. We provided warehouse space and storage
pallets for these gifts, while our staff spent much
of their personal time sorting the gifts.
At SembCorp Industries, we believe in doing our part
for society, even in times of crisis. During the severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, SembUtilities’
power generation subsidiary SembCorp Cogen (SembCogen)
gave utility rebates to Tan Tock Seng Hospital healthcare
workers to show its support for the battle against the
outbreak. To alleviate the economic downturn arising
from the SARS outbreak, SembCogen also pledged a one-time
S$20 utility bill discount for one to three room Housing
Development Board flat owners. Meanwhile, SembCorp Engineers
and Constructors (SembE&C) also conducted the sale
of Singapore Sweep tickets to employees as part of a
broader effort to raise funds for SARS-related community
causes.
In recognition of our SHARE (Social Help and Assistance
Raised by Employees) contributions and fund raising
efforts, SembE&C was conferred the SHARE Corporate
Gold Award and the Corporate Silver Award for the period
spanning from April 2002 to March 2003.
Team spirit, endurance, speed and perseverance. These
are the values we see in athletic commitment, and values
we would like to pass on through brand sponsoring in
sports.
As part of our ongoing support of sports in Singapore,
SembCorp Power (SembPower) and SembCorp Gas (SembGas)
held the “SembCorp Power & Gas Football Challenge”,
a charity football game in January 2003. A friendly
match between Woodlands Wellington Football Club and
Malaysian state teams, the event raised S$60,000 in
total. Being a proud supporter of the local sporting
scene, SembPower and SembGas are also patrons of the
Woodlands Wellington Football Club and the Football
Association of Singapore.
Our Commitment
to Health, Safety and the Environment
SembCorp Industries is committed to responsibly serving
our community and safeguarding the environment. We aim
to ensure that the health and safety of our customers,
employees, the communities in which we operate, as well
as the environment are protected through tight certification,
regulations and more importantly, a culture that recognises
the importance of health, safety and the environment
(HSE) at every level.
In some ways, 2003 has been a milestone year for SembCorp
Industries with regards to HSE.
It saw the creation of the first SembCorp Industries
Environmental Committee. With non-executive Board Director
of SembCorp Industries, Richard Hale OBE, as Special
Advisor and Loh Wai Kiew, President and CEO of SembCorp
Environmental Management as Chairman, the committee
comprises representatives from all our key business
units and exemplifies SembCorp Industries’ resolve
to instill a keen interest and commitment to HSE across
the Group and at every level.
With a view to develop and drive SembCorp Industries’
environmental strategy and action plans, the committee
aims to ensure best practice compliance, continuous
improvement and innovation in our delivery of service
and the responsible management of our environmental
impacts.
During 2003 the environmental committee focused on assessing
our current status and carried out an initial review
of the potential significant environmental impacts of
our businesses. In the year ahead, the aim is to set
a clear environmental strategy for the future so that
we can take planned and solid steps to meet HSE challenges
ahead with innovation and determination. We hope that
these measured steps will enable us to move towards
becoming a more responsible and sustainable company
and address issues that are important to our stakeholders.
There are however challenges ahead. We have a broad
portfolio of businesses, and each of them differ with
respect to the nature of their operations and environmental
impacts. However, with the progress made in the past
year, we hope to have made the first small steps in
our journey towards environmental sustainability.
Commitment to excellence
Periodic review of our operations and procedures is
part of an ongoing effort to maintain excellence. Our
company adheres to the guidelines of the Quality Management
System for ISO 9001 and Environmental Management System
ISO 14001 to provide the highest quality of service
while carefully weighing environmental factors. We ensure
a safe working environment for all employees by following
Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Management
System OHSAS 18001 guidelines.
The aim is to ensure that our operations not only meet
the basic guidelines and comply with local regulations
and standards, but that responsibilities for environmental
protection are clearly defined. We remain committed
to continuous improvement and employing the framework
for the Malcolm Baldridge award. We seek to continually
improve our operations, and conduct research and continuous
education while responding to stakeholders’ concerns.
We will continue to roll out HSE management systems
across our operations. Figure 1.0 (right) summarises
our overall progress towards certification.
The
SembCorp Industries
Health, Safety and the Environment
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Units |
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ISO
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OHSAS
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certified |
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certified |
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certified |
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| Utilities |
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| SUT Sakra |
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| Construction Technology |
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| Reliance Contractors |
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| SembCorp (Tianjin) Construction Engineering |
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| SembCorp Simon-Carves |
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| SembWaste |
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| SembWaste Medical |
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| SembWaste Municipal |
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| SembWaste Industrial |
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| SembSITA |
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| SembVISY Recycling |
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| SembVISY Recycling MRF |
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| SembEnviro Alex Fraser |
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| SembEnviro Tay Paper |
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Our environmental impacts
We recognise that managing our impacts is critical to
the success of our business and the health of our environment
and the communities in which we operate.
In 2003, we took the first steps in mapping out the
potential significant environmental impacts of our businesses
through an initial review. We intend to further develop
on this initial survey so as to define our key environmental
impacts, establish environmental performance indicators
and set clear and definable targets to work towards.
The key environmental impacts identified by our initial
review are:
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Energy |
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Air emissions |
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Water use |
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Waste |
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Other impacts (odour and noise) |
We have taken steps to reduce these key impacts, and
increase the beneficial impact that SembCorp Industries
can have on the environment. Below is a brief summary
of some of the measures that we have taken to date.
Energy
Energy consumption occurs throughout all sectors of
our businesses.
As part of monitoring energy consumption in our operations,
we will pay special attention to operations fuelled
by less environmentally friendly fuel such as diesel
and work towards using less of such fuel. For example,
SembEnviro currently operates a fleet of refuse collection
vehicles that runs on diesel. However, we have minimised
this impact by route optimisation exercises and have
reduced the number of vehicles on the road to an optimum.
Apart from monitoring and minimising energy use in our
operations, we are focused on creating solutions that
would help reduce energy consumption for our industries
and customers, and are also at the forefront of promoting
cleaner fuels and renewable energy.
Our cogeneration facilities in Singapore (Jurong Island),
Australia (Kwinana) and China (Qianan and Shanghai)
reduce the impact on the environment by lowering emissions
and resource consumption through the use of cogeneration
technology. Cogeneration is the combined production
of heat and electricity from the same plant and is often
referred to as Combined Heat and Power (CHP). As opposed
to classical power plants, where the only product generated
is electricity and the heat generated in the process
is wasted and lost to the environment, cogeneration
provides an opportunity to save fuel because heat energy,
wasted in classical plants, is harnessed for use. Cogeneration
helps to bring fuel utilisation up to the region of
70% to 75% efficiency levels, as opposed to 50% to 60%
for conventional power plants, thereby making more efficient
use of our energy resources.
SUT Sakra is in the process of finalising plans to convert
its steam boilers from using fuel oil to natural gas,
a more environmentally friendly and energy efficient
fuel. The conversion will also substantially reduce
the emission of greenhouse gases, sulphur dioxide and
nitrogen oxides per unit of steam generated.
SembCorp Utilities UK is also exploring the generation
of power from renewable fuels such as biomass materials
including crops, forestry wood cuttings and animal fat,
while SembEnviro is in a joint venture to set up a biomass
waste-to-energy plant in Malaysia which will convert
agricultural waste from palm fruits into energy. By
reducing the need for non-renewable fossil fuels, both
projects have potential beneficial environmental impacts.
Air emissions
We endeavour to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases
through energy minimisation initiatives and the development
of renewable energy.
SembGas, the first commercial importer and retailer
of natural gas in Singapore, plays a vital role in encouraging
the use of cleaner and greener fuel. The majority of
our power plants are fired by natural gas, and therefore
have lower emissions of greenhouse gases than conventional
plants. The plants emit a negligible amount of sulphur
dioxide, particulate matter and less carbon dioxide
than plants fired by fuel oil.
SembGas is also the pioneer in introducing Compressed
Natural Gas (CNG) as a new source of fuel and is currently
undertaking a pilot project to introduce CNG fleet vehicles
in Singapore. In 2003, SembWaste also signed a memorandum
of understanding to retrofit trial units of its trucks
with engines powered by CNG. Route optimisation and
fleet rationalisation of SembWaste’s fleet vehicles
have also been carried out to reduce the number of vehicles
on the road, and correspondingly reduce the emission
of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
Atmospheric emissions are produced by SembUtilities’
chemical waste incineration plant, SUT Sakra’s
boilers, the propylene purification plant on Jurong
Island and SembWaste Medical’s incineration plants.
However, these units are equipped with continuous emissions
monitoring systems and meet the national regulations
for air emissions limits. Appropriate pollution control
devices are also fitted, such as scrubbers and bag filters
in the case of the medical waste incineration plant.
While welding activities in SembMarine shipyards produce
metal fumes and gaseous emissions, we are progressively
moving towards carbon dioxide welding which generates
less fumes than traditional welding. We also ensure
that all welding environments are adequately ventilated,
which dilutes the welding fumes generated and put in
place measures such as enclosing blasting facilities
to control the dust emissions from the blasting and
painting of ships.
Water use
From the use of water for cooling purposes at our facilities,
to the washing of our fleet vehicles and activities at
our construction sites, water is consumed across our various
businesses.
Although a comprehensive system of tracking water usage
is not yet in place, we have continued to encourage more
efficient use of our water resources through the innovative
solutions and services provided by our businesses.
Our multi-utility facilities on Singapore’s petrochemical
hub Jurong Island recycles some 30,000 cubic metres
of sewage effluent per day to produce high grade industrial
water which is used as process water for chemical plants
and refineries on the island. This not only reduces
pollution of our water resources as the sewage effluent
would otherwise be discharged to the sea, but also reduces
the consumption of potable water by the chemical companies
by providing them a viable alternative to potable water.
Continuing research and development is also being carried
out on membrane-based water purification technology
and biogranulation technology, which is widely used
in the treatment of many industrial effluents.
In the daily washing of its refuse collection vehicles
in its Singapore operations, SembWaste uses recycled NEWater
in its depots. This reduces the consumption of potable
water.
Our businesses could also potentially impact water resources
through the discharge of effluent. SembLog’s ST Airport
Services (STARS) for example has stringent measures in
place to ensure that the effluent water discharged does
not contain aviation fuel. STARS monitors all effluent
water within the sites to ensure that no oil is released
into the public drainage. All sites are also equipped
with interceptors and these are checked to ensure that
they contain no oil before the water is allowed to be
released.
Waste
Our engineering and construction arm, SembE&C utilises
materials such as concrete, steel bars and timber for
its construction activities. During the construction
process in our projects, systems and procedures are
established to minimise pollution and material wastage.
However, there remains an inevitable amount of construction
debris that is non-incinerable, and needs to be landfilled.
To divert construction and demolition waste from going
to landfill, a joint venture between SembEnviro and
the Alex Fraser Group of Australia was set up in 2003
to operate Southeast Asia's first integrated construction
and demolition materials recovery facility. Located
in Sarimbun Recycling Park, Singapore, the S$8 million
facility can mine up to 2,000 tonnes per day of co-mingled
waste such as metals, wood, cartons and hardcore concrete
from construction jobsites in Phase 1. By Phase 2, an
additional 1,000 tonnes per day is expected to be added
to the capacity of the facility and will focus on single
stream demolition waste. The facility will play a pivotal
role in the recovery of specific construction aggregates
such as sand, and reduce the amount of non-incinerable
waste going to landfill and the dependence on virgin
materials. It also marks a milestone in Singapore’s
efforts to move “Towards Zero Landfill”.
SembLog has also reduced the amount of packaging materials
discarded through the reuse of logistics packaging materials
such as foldable plastic containers and trays, plastic
pallets, and pallet bands and by standardising sizes
and materials.
Recycling
During the year, we made significant progress towards
our goal of closing the recycling loop in Singapore.
In the municipal sector, SembEnviro launched a pilot
household recycling project, giving out free user-friendly
recycled storage crates to several housing estates.
The rates of participation and the volume of materials
recovered continue to be on the rise and our efforts
play a key role in supporting the Singapore government’s
push to have every one in two households recycling materials.
Apart from the SembEnviro Alex Fraser construction and
demolition materials recovery facility, we also operate
the SembVISY Recycling automated materials recovery
facility, which automatically sorts and recovers paper,
plastics, glass and metals. The facility presently recovers
some 25 tonnes of recyclables per shift.
Other impacts
Odour
SembWaste’s fleet of vehicles also impact air
quality in terms of odour during collection. To minimise
this, SembWaste has in place the pneumatic waste conveyancing
system. Called the Singmatic System, this waste collection
system differs from conventional waste collection methods
because refuse from housing estates is drawn into trucks
via a vacuum pipe at collection points. The collection
points at the housing estates are linked to the various
households by underground conveyance pipes and waste
is stored temporarily in underground tanks before being
collected by the trucks. Fully automated, the system
requires minimal manpower, is faster than conventional
waste collection methods and eliminates hygiene problems
commonly faced by manual waste collection.
Noise
Noise comes mainly from construction activities and
heavy vehicle traffic at our various businesses such
as from construction sites (SembE&C), during ship-repair
activities (SembMarine) and offshore platform construction
(SMOE), as well as from truck engines during waste collection
activities (SembWaste).Noise from construction is constantly
monitored, and its impact mitigated by limiting construction
activities within certain hours.
Advancing health and safety
Through the process of learning and continuous improvement,
we make every effort to remain a leader in workplace
health and safety. Apart from achieving internationally
recognised safety standards such as OHSAS 18001, we
are committed to the highest standards of occupational
health and safety for all employees, in all locations
and on all projects.
Operating in industries where our clients such as international
oil and gas and petrochemical companies demand extremely
high safety requirements from their service providers,
we continue to ensure that the best safety practices
and standards are maintained in our operations.
Highlights in 2003 include:
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Nine Silver and eight Merit Awards
clinched by SembE&C, two Silvers and eight Merit
Awards received by SembMarine, and one Merit Award
given to SembLog at the Annual Safety Performance
Awards 2003 organised by the Singapore Ministry
of Manpower |
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Sembawang Shipyard’s HSE Team
“Green Triangle” was awarded the Gold
Medal in the 6th SIT (Safety Improvement Team) Convention
for the Marine Industry organised by the Association
of Singapore’s Marine Industries (ASMI) for
their project entitled “Safe-T-Guide for Pneumatic
Winches”. The same project was also awarded
the Gold Medal in the National Safety Innovation
Team Competition in September 2003 |
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SembCorp Utilities UK suffered no lost time injuries
to any of its employees or contractors in more than
1.7 million man-hours of work and was awarded the
prestigious Five-Star Health and Safety Award for
workplace safety award by British Safety Council
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