Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine Valentyna Moskalenko made this statement during an off-site seminar organized by the Ministry of Energy and the International Labour Organization on occupational safety at electric power enterprises.

The seminar focused on current occupational health and industrial safety issues in the energy sector, including improving the regulatory framework, developing new rules for the safe operation of electrical installations, implementing international standards, assessing occupational risks, and organizing work under martial law.

“As the intensity of attacks and the level of danger increase, we face new challenges in the area of occupational safety that did not exist before. We must train personnel to work under these conditions, use modern information technologies and continuously improve our safety approaches. It is important that, after the seminar, participants return to their enterprises and put the knowledge and practical experience they have gained into practice,” Valentyna Moskalenko noted.

Particular attention during the seminar was devoted to updating the regulatory framework for occupational safety and technical operation in the electric power sector. Participants were presented with a draft of the new Rules for the Safe Operation of Electrical Installations, prepared by a working group involving representatives of the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Economy and Environment, the State Labour Service, the State Energy Supervision Inspectorate, the State Emergency Service, NPC Ukrenergo and distribution system operators. The document takes into account the challenges posed by martial law and introduces new requirements for emergency restoration works, generator operation, occupational risk management and employee protection.

Participants also discussed opportunities for digitalizing occupational safety processes and applying artificial intelligence to assess occupational risks, as well as issues related to the psychosocial work environment, methods of managing stress, fatigue and professional burnout, and international experience in preventing occupational injuries.

Valentyna Moskalenko thanked the International Labour Organization, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine and other international partners for their support for projects aimed at enhancing occupational safety and developing the professional skills of energy sector workers. She emphasized that safe working conditions for energy workers are an integral part of the resilience of the energy system and Ukraine’s recovery.