Since 2022, Nornickel has been running the internal coaching institute. Alina Pilyugina, leading the team, and Aleksandra Baimurzinova, awarded Best Safety Coach in 2025, speak about their roles and the company's new approach to occupational health and safety.
– How would you explain the safety culture in simple terms?
A.P.: Putting it plainly, safety culture is about behavioral safety. It is described by how we behave when nobody is watching when commitment to safety is based on inner conviction. The person knows the value of human life and works safely even when unsupervised by line manager or safety officer.
A.P.: Putting it plainly, safety culture is about behavioral safety. It is described by how we behave when nobody is watching when commitment to safety is based on inner conviction. The person knows the value of human life and works safely even when unsupervised by line manager or safety officer.
А.B.: It's similar to driving a car. All drivers learned the traffic rules by heart to pass the driving test. But knowledge is useless without application: where traffic rules are not believed to be important, a person will begin to break them, commit dangerous driving offences, and put themselves and other road users at risk. In practice, safety culture goes beyond simply knowing the safety rules but requires a genuine commitment to observing them in daily routine to keep oneself and others safe.
– What is the main role of a safety culture coach?
А.P.: Our key role is to influence people. Every year, all Nornickel employees receive 8-hour training where we do not just read the rules out loud or teach to live by instruction. After each session, the ultimate goal is to wipe out the very idea of unsafe behavior among trainees.
All training follows the principle of one's own idea being more valuable. We are not saying how things must be done but propose to learn from work-related experiences or past accidents when fulfilling a task and identify risks, consequences, mitigations and prevention actions on one's own. A person gets a chance to think through worst case scenarios to be able to make the right choice. For example, not wearing eye protection could lead to blindness in one eye. Since eyes are paired organs, you will not receive a formal disability status for being blind in one eye while the quality of life will get much worse. Moreover, there is a chance of being held liable.
Under such an approach, a person begins to implement critical thinking because our brain is not used to estimating the worst case outcomes. Ordinarily, a defense mechanism of seeing a positive outcome in everything would kick in.
А.B.: To coach does not mean to teach. A coach is a mentor and motivator. Our job is not only to communicate information but to change behavior and cultivate the right attitude to safety. This purpose requires conviction. We deploy various methods: show videos with real accidents at our and third-party facilities, discuss global and national accident statistics provided by the Russian Ministry of Labor.
When we evaluate specific cases, anyone gets a chance to be heard. We help people go through their problems, as an injury or death is never intentional. A coach should focus on the people and their expectations, and be able to earn their trust. Otherwise, every effort is bound to fail. That is why a coach must actually believe in what he/she is doing or saying.
In addition to classroom training, we often visit our facilities to conduct on-the-job training. Out of habit, people tend to ignore the risks. Together we evaluate the situation at the workplace: for example, you're standing electric motor bolts and even the slightest loss of balance can result in a fall. Or using a lathe with unbuttoned workwear.
А.P.: Our key role is to influence people. Every year, all Nornickel employees receive 8-hour training where we do not just read the rules out loud or teach to live by instruction. After each session, the ultimate goal is to wipe out the very idea of unsafe behavior among trainees.
All training follows the principle of one's own idea being more valuable. We are not saying how things must be done but propose to learn from work-related experiences or past accidents when fulfilling a task and identify risks, consequences, mitigations and prevention actions on one's own. A person gets a chance to think through worst case scenarios to be able to make the right choice. For example, not wearing eye protection could lead to blindness in one eye. Since eyes are paired organs, you will not receive a formal disability status for being blind in one eye while the quality of life will get much worse. Moreover, there is a chance of being held liable.
Under such an approach, a person begins to implement critical thinking because our brain is not used to estimating the worst case outcomes. Ordinarily, a defense mechanism of seeing a positive outcome in everything would kick in.
А.B.: To coach does not mean to teach. A coach is a mentor and motivator. Our job is not only to communicate information but to change behavior and cultivate the right attitude to safety. This purpose requires conviction. We deploy various methods: show videos with real accidents at our and third-party facilities, discuss global and national accident statistics provided by the Russian Ministry of Labor.
When we evaluate specific cases, anyone gets a chance to be heard. We help people go through their problems, as an injury or death is never intentional. A coach should focus on the people and their expectations, and be able to earn their trust. Otherwise, every effort is bound to fail. That is why a coach must actually believe in what he/she is doing or saying.
In addition to classroom training, we often visit our facilities to conduct on-the-job training. Out of habit, people tend to ignore the risks. Together we evaluate the situation at the workplace: for example, you're standing electric motor bolts and even the slightest loss of balance can result in a fall. Or using a lathe with unbuttoned workwear.
– Which most common misconception of occupational safety have you encountered?
А.P.: False confidence from repeated, but uneventful, unsafe practices in the workplace leads to further belief that nothing will happen. However, the statistics are implacable: sooner or later, an accident is very likely to occur.
We discuss the causes behind violations. A standard answer is the need to meet the targets and do everything faster while putting on a safety harness for work at height, fastening it and carrying it around take time. But no specific goal or target is as significant as human life and when we dig deeper, it turns out that the rush has nothing to do with targets. The person wants to get the job done as fast as possible to be able to have a cigarette in the smoking room, and take a break. These reasons are common and natural but not worth the risk to human life.
А.B.: Statistics show that the workers themselves confirm that most accidents happen to their young or very experienced colleagues. While the first ones should blame lack of experience and poor understanding of working processes, the second ones are overly confident. Having worked in an unsafe environment for many years, individuals can become desensitized to workplace hazards and start ignoring real dangers with an illusion of control and overconfidence that nothing will happen, because they've harmlessly performed a certain task dozens of times before.
To prevent this illusion, we demonstrate consequences and go over similar incidents. For example, we had a case when a highly skilled, super professional and very experienced engineering technician died in a skip shaft with only a couple days left until his vacation and subsequent retirement.
А.P.: False confidence from repeated, but uneventful, unsafe practices in the workplace leads to further belief that nothing will happen. However, the statistics are implacable: sooner or later, an accident is very likely to occur.
We discuss the causes behind violations. A standard answer is the need to meet the targets and do everything faster while putting on a safety harness for work at height, fastening it and carrying it around take time. But no specific goal or target is as significant as human life and when we dig deeper, it turns out that the rush has nothing to do with targets. The person wants to get the job done as fast as possible to be able to have a cigarette in the smoking room, and take a break. These reasons are common and natural but not worth the risk to human life.
А.B.: Statistics show that the workers themselves confirm that most accidents happen to their young or very experienced colleagues. While the first ones should blame lack of experience and poor understanding of working processes, the second ones are overly confident. Having worked in an unsafe environment for many years, individuals can become desensitized to workplace hazards and start ignoring real dangers with an illusion of control and overconfidence that nothing will happen, because they've harmlessly performed a certain task dozens of times before.
To prevent this illusion, we demonstrate consequences and go over similar incidents. For example, we had a case when a highly skilled, super professional and very experienced engineering technician died in a skip shaft with only a couple days left until his vacation and subsequent retirement.
– How do you measure effectiveness of your work?
А.P.: Following each training session, trainees fill in a feedback form rating the coach and program usefulness on a 10-point scale. We got a positive rating of 91.3% in 2023 and 94.6% in 2024.
The company has a safety culture maturity indicator. In 2022, when the institute was first launched, safety culture was rated at 2.3 on a scale from 1 to 5. Today, this indicator increased to 3.1.
А.B.: I check the statistics. In 2024, there were no fatal accidents at Kola MMC. Of course, it's not purely our achievement, because we only provide information and the decision to utilize it or not is made by the people. It's a result of massive efforts by workers and managers.
I also rely on indirect indications. I once had a female worker who asked me for help with writing a letter to the relevant authorities. A building was being renovated in front of her house and construction workers did not wear any fall protection or take any safety precautions. The woman did not want her son to see that it was acceptable. This is a demonstration of conscious safety culture.
People themselves have changed. In 2022, we had a lot of negative attitudes, there was resentfulness in feedbacks on the training program. Today, our initiatives are welcomed and we see that from the feedback forms.
А.P.: Following each training session, trainees fill in a feedback form rating the coach and program usefulness on a 10-point scale. We got a positive rating of 91.3% in 2023 and 94.6% in 2024.
The company has a safety culture maturity indicator. In 2022, when the institute was first launched, safety culture was rated at 2.3 on a scale from 1 to 5. Today, this indicator increased to 3.1.
А.B.: I check the statistics. In 2024, there were no fatal accidents at Kola MMC. Of course, it's not purely our achievement, because we only provide information and the decision to utilize it or not is made by the people. It's a result of massive efforts by workers and managers.
I also rely on indirect indications. I once had a female worker who asked me for help with writing a letter to the relevant authorities. A building was being renovated in front of her house and construction workers did not wear any fall protection or take any safety precautions. The woman did not want her son to see that it was acceptable. This is a demonstration of conscious safety culture.
People themselves have changed. In 2022, we had a lot of negative attitudes, there was resentfulness in feedbacks on the training program. Today, our initiatives are welcomed and we see that from the feedback forms.
– How does Nornickel incentivize safe performance or address safety breaches?
А.P.: In 2021–2022, the company realized that the old system had become obsolete. Our safety officers no longer 'hunt' offenders. We've moved from sticks to carrots and dialog. Note that we still continue to engage safety experts in our safety culture training. They attend our workshops and study along with the workers, speak to each other, sometimes argue, but most importantly, they hear each other. We also incentivize our people for risk identification, elimination and mitigation proposals.
We are now reaping the benefits of stepping down from rigid instructions and oversupervision in favor of persuasion. The safety culture in Nornickel is consistently improving.
Still, we have kept other safety enhancing actions in place. There are six Core Safety Rules in Nornickel. Any violation of such a rule will constitute grounds for immediate termination of employment. We believe that this is a way to save the life of the wrongdoer and teammates who get to observe the unsafe behavior.
А.B.: We have a balanced system. Any intentional and severe breach putting a human life at risk will result in a strict disciplinary action, up to termination of employment. However, in addition to penalties, today's safety enablers also include incentives and rewards.
The company deploys various types of incentivization. We have recently introduced a RUB 50k bonus for saving a life. To be eligible, a person has to spot and prevent violation of any Core Safety Rule. These six rules are based on the findings from the analysis of accidents that have occurred in the company over the past 10 years. All company employees are to know and follow these rules.
On our proprietary Supernika platform, we have a special app for fast and easy hazard reporting. We have created conditions for people to respond on their own which is also part of conscious safety culture.
А.P.: In 2021–2022, the company realized that the old system had become obsolete. Our safety officers no longer 'hunt' offenders. We've moved from sticks to carrots and dialog. Note that we still continue to engage safety experts in our safety culture training. They attend our workshops and study along with the workers, speak to each other, sometimes argue, but most importantly, they hear each other. We also incentivize our people for risk identification, elimination and mitigation proposals.
We are now reaping the benefits of stepping down from rigid instructions and oversupervision in favor of persuasion. The safety culture in Nornickel is consistently improving.
Still, we have kept other safety enhancing actions in place. There are six Core Safety Rules in Nornickel. Any violation of such a rule will constitute grounds for immediate termination of employment. We believe that this is a way to save the life of the wrongdoer and teammates who get to observe the unsafe behavior.
А.B.: We have a balanced system. Any intentional and severe breach putting a human life at risk will result in a strict disciplinary action, up to termination of employment. However, in addition to penalties, today's safety enablers also include incentives and rewards.
The company deploys various types of incentivization. We have recently introduced a RUB 50k bonus for saving a life. To be eligible, a person has to spot and prevent violation of any Core Safety Rule. These six rules are based on the findings from the analysis of accidents that have occurred in the company over the past 10 years. All company employees are to know and follow these rules.
On our proprietary Supernika platform, we have a special app for fast and easy hazard reporting. We have created conditions for people to respond on their own which is also part of conscious safety culture.
– Tell us about the Coaches Competition. How is it run?
А.P.: We first applied for a safety coaches competition outside the company in 2024. By the way, I took part, too. The number of participants and nominations was huge. There were 15 contestants from Nornickel, eight of them made the top 10 in each nomination. I got in the top three and took second place as functional trainer, and Nornickel ranked third by overall team score.
After this, we decided to run our own open competition with independent jurors. We held our first competition in 2024 and it was an interesting undertaking. In 2025, we continued our successful experience. The competition brought together 16 large industrial companies based in Russia. We had eight coaches from Nornickel among almost 40 participants, with Vyacheslav Avgustinovich and Aleksandra Baimurzinova leading already at the opening stage. Both of them became winners in their categories. Let's hear Aleksandra's story.
А.B.: The competition was organized in two stages: online qualifying phase and in-class contest. I qualified second, and became very excited by the news and began prepping. I took it very seriously and approached mentors, teammates and training participants for assistance. I warned them right away: today's session won't be an ordinary one, I am getting ready for a competition and ask for your help in polishing my presentation. And they gave me tips, proposed details to be added, gave advice and recommendations.
I became skeptical once I saw that my rivals were contestants with extensive track record in safety from such majors as EuroChem, Rosatom, Uralkali, Tatneft, Evraz. How could I win with my 3-year background? Moreover, by lot I was drawn to present second which is rather hard as I had no chance to see other presenters.
But I was determined to do my best and not let my helpers down.
My workshop demo was 40 minute long and was to contain all elements of a full-blown course - not a random piece of an 8-hour training session but a logically complete training module. I felt as if my 40 minutes flew by in a blink. It's hard for me to assess myself, but people in the audience later said that they loved my presentation.
Still, when they made me a winner, I could not believe it. It felt like a dream... For two days after my presentation, I was just watching other contestants present, mindfully and with deliberate attention. Those presentations had nothing to improve, were largely extraordinary and impressive.
I took note of many training tips, engaging approaches to use in my work. I generally try to continuously advance my professional competency. At the moment, I am studying gamification strategies in training.
А.P.: We first applied for a safety coaches competition outside the company in 2024. By the way, I took part, too. The number of participants and nominations was huge. There were 15 contestants from Nornickel, eight of them made the top 10 in each nomination. I got in the top three and took second place as functional trainer, and Nornickel ranked third by overall team score.
After this, we decided to run our own open competition with independent jurors. We held our first competition in 2024 and it was an interesting undertaking. In 2025, we continued our successful experience. The competition brought together 16 large industrial companies based in Russia. We had eight coaches from Nornickel among almost 40 participants, with Vyacheslav Avgustinovich and Aleksandra Baimurzinova leading already at the opening stage. Both of them became winners in their categories. Let's hear Aleksandra's story.
А.B.: The competition was organized in two stages: online qualifying phase and in-class contest. I qualified second, and became very excited by the news and began prepping. I took it very seriously and approached mentors, teammates and training participants for assistance. I warned them right away: today's session won't be an ordinary one, I am getting ready for a competition and ask for your help in polishing my presentation. And they gave me tips, proposed details to be added, gave advice and recommendations.
I became skeptical once I saw that my rivals were contestants with extensive track record in safety from such majors as EuroChem, Rosatom, Uralkali, Tatneft, Evraz. How could I win with my 3-year background? Moreover, by lot I was drawn to present second which is rather hard as I had no chance to see other presenters.
But I was determined to do my best and not let my helpers down.
My workshop demo was 40 minute long and was to contain all elements of a full-blown course - not a random piece of an 8-hour training session but a logically complete training module. I felt as if my 40 minutes flew by in a blink. It's hard for me to assess myself, but people in the audience later said that they loved my presentation.
Still, when they made me a winner, I could not believe it. It felt like a dream... For two days after my presentation, I was just watching other contestants present, mindfully and with deliberate attention. Those presentations had nothing to improve, were largely extraordinary and impressive.
I took note of many training tips, engaging approaches to use in my work. I generally try to continuously advance my professional competency. At the moment, I am studying gamification strategies in training.
– How did you decide to become a coach?
А.P.: I was working in occupational safety but I always hated punishing people for violations. So, when I found out about an opportunity to apply for safety coaching training I felt right away that it was something I really wanted.
I am proud of my choice to become a coach. Working to convince grown-up and experienced people, make 8-hour presentations standing in front of them, lose my voice for the first two months is a serious challenge which I have successfully met, so now with each positive feedback about my work I understand it was all for a good cause.
Right now, I barely train people directly, I've delegated this task to my Department. My job as a leader is to help them do the work that I know inside out.
The hardest part of our profession is burning out from daily lengthy communication, reading the same materials and hearing repeated objections. It is important for me to ensure that people stay motivated, have that spark in their eyes and engage with their teams. If a coach is enthusiastic about his or her job, burning out is addressable. If not, the undertaking will be short-lasting.
А.B.: I have a degree in vocational education. When I was proposed to teach occupational safety in Nornickel, I said yes right away: my father has worked in this company all his life, and now my husband has been with Nornickel for 19 years. I have many friends working in operations departments and I care about their lives.
Even when I asked my four-year-old son what he wants to do when he grows up, he answered that he wanted to be a shotfirer like his father. I realized that he might also work in production some day.
Like any mother, I only want the best for my son. If we manage to build a strong safety culture today, all the people who work in Nornickel now and who will join our team in the future, will come back home safe and safe working behaviors will become habitual both at work and in daily life.
А.P.: I was working in occupational safety but I always hated punishing people for violations. So, when I found out about an opportunity to apply for safety coaching training I felt right away that it was something I really wanted.
I am proud of my choice to become a coach. Working to convince grown-up and experienced people, make 8-hour presentations standing in front of them, lose my voice for the first two months is a serious challenge which I have successfully met, so now with each positive feedback about my work I understand it was all for a good cause.
Right now, I barely train people directly, I've delegated this task to my Department. My job as a leader is to help them do the work that I know inside out.
The hardest part of our profession is burning out from daily lengthy communication, reading the same materials and hearing repeated objections. It is important for me to ensure that people stay motivated, have that spark in their eyes and engage with their teams. If a coach is enthusiastic about his or her job, burning out is addressable. If not, the undertaking will be short-lasting.
А.B.: I have a degree in vocational education. When I was proposed to teach occupational safety in Nornickel, I said yes right away: my father has worked in this company all his life, and now my husband has been with Nornickel for 19 years. I have many friends working in operations departments and I care about their lives.
Even when I asked my four-year-old son what he wants to do when he grows up, he answered that he wanted to be a shotfirer like his father. I realized that he might also work in production some day.
Like any mother, I only want the best for my son. If we manage to build a strong safety culture today, all the people who work in Nornickel now and who will join our team in the future, will come back home safe and safe working behaviors will become habitual both at work and in daily life.
Photos by Nornickel
September, 2025
September, 2025
