Emergency recovery operations have begun at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (Амурский ГХК) in coordination with the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia (МЧС России), the country’s emergency response agency. According to the regional authorities, search and rescue operations have been completed: 15 employees of contractor organisations died, including one Russian citizen and 14 foreign citizens. Another 39 injured people remain in treatment. For contractors and subcontractors, the immediate priority is to manage personnel, documentation and safety effectively.
What work is continuing and who is affected by the situation
The company reported that construction, installation and commissioning work at facilities unaffected by the incident is proceeding as usual. This does not remove the need for each company to clarify whether its work area, personnel and work assignment fall within activities that can safely continue. The decision to send people to work should be based on information from the client and emergency services, not only on the original schedule.
The situation most directly affects contractors and subcontractors whose employees were working at the site. Employers of foreign citizens require particular attention: 14 of those who died were foreign nationals. Companies that sent personnel to the site should have an accurate picture of every worker, including rotational employees and staff of engaged organisations.
Verifying personnel is the first management task
The employer should promptly reconcile its lists with information from the site administration, medical institutions and other available official sources. The location, identity, citizenship and employment status of every worker who was at the site during the incident must be confirmed. This reduces the risk of errors in communication with families and in the subsequent preparation of documents.
The lists must not be limited to regular employees. The verification should include subcontractor employees, rotational personnel and all people sent by the company to the site. It is useful to appoint one responsible coordinator: fragmented requests from the HR department, work managers and occupational safety service may slow the exchange of information and lead to discrepancies.
Documents must be preserved until the necessary procedures are completed
Companies should collect and preserve personnel, migration, medical and insurance documents relating to those who died or were injured. The list includes employment contracts, documents concerning assignment to the site, information about immediate relatives, migration documents of foreign employees, and voluntary medical insurance or insurance policies. A complete set will help the employer confirm the actual circumstances and fulfil its obligations.
It is also necessary to check how employment relationships and documents relating to authorisation to perform the work have been formalised. The source does not specify particular deadlines for processing payments, documents or recovery operations. Personnel and legal actions should therefore be carried out within the time limits established by labour legislation and accident-investigation rules, while the internal verification should begin without delay.
Occupational safety requires an unscheduled inspection
Contractors continuing work at unaffected facilities should conduct an unscheduled occupational safety inspection. The focus should be on briefings, training, work permits, personal protective equipment, medical examinations and workers’ readiness for emergencies. This does not mean that a violation has been established in advance: the purpose of the inspection is to confirm personnel readiness and identify gaps before work continues.
A separate unscheduled briefing is needed for employees remaining at the site. Workers must understand which production areas are accessible, how to act if the situation changes and whom to contact regarding organisational matters. The company also reports that air monitoring is continuing at the site, in adjacent areas and in nearby settlements; according to this report, no exceedances of the maximum permissible concentrations of harmful substances (ПДК) have been recorded.
Communication with families, consulates and insurers
The employer of those who died or were injured must organise communication with their families. For foreign citizens, it is also important to maintain contact with the consular institutions of the relevant countries. This requires reliable information about the worker and their relatives, as well as a single procedure for transferring information within the company. Unverified messages and different accounts of the circumstances increase tension and create additional risks for the employer.
The Amur Gas Chemical Complex (Амурский ГХК) announced additional payments to the families of those who died and to hospitalised people, beyond those provided for by law. However, the source does not disclose the specific amounts, deadlines or procedure for processing them. The contractor should clarify the procedure with the client and insurer, without replacing the measures announced by the company with its own obligations or promises. Inaction may complicate the investigation, delay assistance to families and lead to claims from supervisory authorities, employees, relatives and consulates.
What to check
- Reconcile the lists of all personnel at the site, including foreign nationals, rotational employees and subcontractor personnel.
- Appoint a person responsible for communication with the site administration, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia (МЧС России), medical institutions and contractor representatives.
- Confirm the identity, citizenship and status of every company employee who died or was injured.
- Preserve employment contracts, assignments to the site, migration documents, insurance policies and information about relatives.
- Check the formalisation of employment relationships and documents relating to authorisation to perform the work.
- Organise communication with families; for foreign employees, communicate with the consulates of their countries.
- Conduct an unscheduled inspection of briefings, personal protective equipment, training, medical examinations and work permits.
- Clarify with the client and insurer the procedure for additional payments and insurance processing.
- Conduct an unscheduled briefing for personnel at unaffected facilities.