Safety Health and Environment Management (SHE Management)
 
Since we, Electricity Generating Public Company Limited or EGCO, operate in the industry that uses natural resources for power generation, we are well aware of the environment impacts from our operation. Consequently, we commit to use natural resources in the most efficient and environmentally responsible manner to minimize the impact on the environment. To strengthen our capacity to achieve our mission, we educate the workforce to understand that each and everyone’s work affects the environment and that it is their responsibility to discharge the assigned duty with environment concern.
 
Environmental Policy
 
EGCO Group has an intention to operate the business with the commitment to environmental responsibility:
1. We will comply with relevant environmental laws and regulations.
2. We will manage our business with the goal to alleviate the adverse effects on the environment, undertake appropriate reviews and evaluations of our performance to measure and to ensure compliance with this environmental policy,
3. We will encourage employees to have strong concern and be responsible for the clean environment, and
4. We will educate the employees on the environment including exchanging the knowledge with other agencies in order to continuously and regularly maintain good environment and to improve the working practice appropriate to the environment.
 
Safety and Health Policy
 
EGCO Group believes that the safety and health of our employees are fundamental responsibilities and that the continued success of our operation depends upon the protection of our employees. We therefore set the policy to enable our employees and contractors to work safely and comply with the relevant laws.
1. We will strive to prevent accident, injury and occupational illnesses through the active participation of every employee. We are committed to continuous efforts to identify and eliminate or manage safety risks associated with our activities.
2. We will strictly comply with all applicable laws and regulations. In case that no enforceable body of law exists, we will apply reliable standards of our own.
3. We will arrange for the proper design of tool and equipment, regulations, training and the control tools in a manner that safeguards workers, property and the communities in which we operate from machine, working procedures and occupational illnesses.
4. Employees who report to work with illegal drugs in their system or report with level of alcohol or other chemical substances that could impair performance are subject to disciplinary action.
 
To align our efforts in the same direction and to extend our scope of responsibility to cover future power plants, we have included the projects on safety, health and environment in our strategic plan and budget. With respect to this, the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Committee, has been shored up since 2005 comprising representatives from Group companies. The responsibilities of the SHE Committee are to prepare the action plan on SHE implementation in alignment with the corporate policy and goals as well as the strategic plan and to monitor and appraise the quality of SHE program. At present, the Executive Vice President-Project Management from Asset Management and Planning Group is the Chairman of the Committee
 
EGCO Group’s SHE management in based on experience and knowledge sharing among Group companies with Rayong and Khanom power plants as SHE champions to showcase their best practices to their peers in order to enhance the SHE management of the whole Group. This would not only help develop the knowledge on SHE management, but also lead to improvement in EGCO Group’s working standard.

 

 
The SHE Committee has issued the standard requirements on “EGCO Group Safety, Health and Environment Management” to reduce and control hazardous working environment, to increase the working efficiency and to show our commitment for social and environment responsibilities. These standard requirements do not only prepare the Group companies for SHE audit either by internal and external partner, but also help identify areas for future improvement. Apart from the standard requirements, the SHE Committee also prepared the “EGCO Group Manual for Implementing SHE system” as a guideline to ensure that SHE system and management would be applied based on the same standard. This manual has been officially launched by the President on September 1, 2006.
 
EGCO Group’s SHE System
 
EGCO Group’s SHE system comprises of three significant steps as shown below.
 
 
Resource Management
 
Energy Conservation
Since power industry consumes a large amount of energy, EGCO Group puts high priority on making the best use of energy and reducing energy consumption by using efficient equipment and regularly maintaining equipment and machinery in ready-to-use condition. Examples include using more efficient lamps, installing a timer for switching off lights during lunch breaks, and using electronic ballast instead of low-cost ballast.

In addition, EGCO Group pays attention to promoting awareness on energy saving. In this regard, Khanom Electricity Generating Co., Ltd. (KEGCO) has converted one of its existing buildings to be the demonstration center for energy conservation powered by solar energy. This building is open as a learning center for sustainable energy usage for students and the public.
 
Water Resource Management and Water Treatment from Production Process
EGCO Group supports the efficient use of water resource. Apart from reducing the water usage, we also adopt new technology in water treatment using sediment forming catalyst to treat waste water from office building and implement a neutralization system to treated chemical contaminated water from the operation process. Other water management programs include the following:
- Monthly check-up of water quality to ensure that its quality is within the standard before discharging to natural water sources to minimize the environment impact.
- Quarterly check up of the water treatment system to ensure efficient water treatment process.
- Recycle waste water for fish farming and plant watering:
 
Air Pollution Management
Due to the full attention given to production process control, the quality of air emission from the power plant stacks for all power plants in EGCO Group is better than the legal requirements. EGCO Group has also implemented continuous air quality control plans as follows.
- Cross checking of stack emission measuring from on-line ‘Continuous Emission Monitoring System’ by third party certified by ‘Department of Industrial Work’ twice a year,
- Checking of efficiency of air pollution control treatment equipment on a quarterly basis,
- Enhancement of air quality management as follows
 
Noise Pollution Management
Power plants in EGCO Group have conducted noise measurement on a quarterly basis in three worksites, the noise origin in the power plants, the control room and the residential area. It is found that the noise level at the control room and residential areas are in the limit while the noise at origin will be controlled to be within the limit. Employees who have to work in the operation area are required by internal regulation to strictly follow the regulations and wear safety gadgets in order to reduce the noise level. Warning signs are also displayed at the area.
 
Waste Management and Recycling
With the commitment to make the best use of natural resources, EGCO Group sets the procedure for waste management under the following principles.
 
 
Environmental Projects
 
Apart from paying attention to efficient environment management, EGCO Group also encourages the power plants in EGCO Group to engage in activities that will promote a good environment for the power plants and the nearby communities. Examples are as follows:
 
Expansion of the Green Zone Project 2006-2013 by REGCO
The process of power generation involves the emission of exhaust gas which contains carbon dioxide. To remedy this problem, REGCO establishes a plan to increase the green belt around the power plant to absorb as much as possible the carbon dioxide emitted from the electricity generation process. REGCO sets up a long term plan to carry out this project applying the clean development mechanism initiated by the Kyoto Protocol. Under this plan, REGCO will plant trees in the area of 15 rai per year with the target to increase the green area by 120 rai under the 8-year plan.
 
Bring Life to the Water Project by the KEGCO
Being located near the open sea, KEGCO raised 5,000 sea basses in baskets at KEGCO’s cooling water discharge twice a year to be later released to the sea. This project is intended to be a showcase of good management environment in the power plant. At the same time, this project helps increase the population of sea basses in the Khanom area.
 
Improvement of the Mountainous Landscape by KEGCO
Recognizing the duty to contribute to the society as well as seeing the importance of local plants, KEGCO initiated the project to improve the landscape of Chai Son Mountain by planting trees that represented 14 provinces in the south in the park at the foot of the Mountain. Apart from being the resting and recreational area for employees and the public, this park also provides knowledge about local plants to the communities.
 
 
Safety and Health Projects
 
The company group gives importance to good working environment by establishing a Safety, Health and Environment committee. Policies and operational plans regarding safety and health are created for further implementation by all the companies in the group.