Environmental Protection

Influence of the TORPOL‘s Group on the natural environment can be divided into:

• direct impact which includes the location of the headquarters, other office buildings and the equipment base as well as the consumption of resources related to the maintenance of these facilities and the impact related to emissions generated by the means of transport used by the company – the scope and intensity of this impact depends on the decisions of the Management Board and individual activities TORPOL`s group;
• impact determined by external requirements, e.g. guidelines of the awarding entities for individual contracts, includes the impact on the environment of construction works, including activities carried out by subcontractors – the decision-making power of the Management Board for this impact category is significantly limited;
• indirect impact of the implemented investments on the environment, which, due to the specific nature of the company’s operations (construction and modernization of railway infrastructure), in terms of reducing the negative impact of human activity on the environment, is assumed to be a positive impact considering the advantage in this area of public rail transport over other forms of transport.

By conducting construction activities, TORPOL exerts an environmental impact through:

• emission of gases and dust to the air,
• generation of waste during the demolition and construction works of railway infrastructure (e.g. rubble, railway sleepers, soil and earth, including stones, crushed stone seedlings), waste from activities carried out in workshops and rolling stock repair halls, and office waste (municipal waste generated in offices),
• consumption of materials and natural resources (electricity, water, crushed stone, fuel),
• noise emission (caused by construction or track machines),
• emission of municipal wastewater,
• possibility of destroying elements of flora and fauna located in the environment where construction works are carried out.

TORPOL has adopted the Environmental Policy document, which indicates that we fully adapt to the legal requirements in a given area as part of environmental issues. The principles of environmental impact by TORPOL have been included in the certified management system. The functioning environmental management system complies with the PN-EN ISO 14001: 2015 standard, is part of the Integrated Management Systems functioning in TORPOL and meets the requirements of national and European legal regulations, and often goes beyond them. The ISO 14001: 2015 system is also implemented at Torpol Oil & Gas.

The procedures and instructions relating to the principles of environmental protection in force at construction sites and in organizational units, included in the IMS, define the rules of conduct and the desired actions in the area of environmental impact. The above documents refer to the impact on the environment not only in ordinary situations, but, importantly, also in the event of an emergency.

Every year, during the management review, the effectiveness of activities undertaken in the field of environmental protection is assessed and decisions are made regarding future activities. For the majority of investments, an individual environmental protection plan is prepared during construction. Such a plan defines the rules applied to protect the natural environment on the construction site and in its immediate vicinity. Regardless of the above, the principles and standards included in the aforementioned plans are implemented in practice on the basis of all contracts performed by the Company. In this aspect, the experiences, practices and solutions of the teams responsible for the implementation of a given investment are of key importance.

TORPOL’s activities are characterized by a preventive approach to the environmental area. This means that the priority is to minimize the negative impact on the environment, and when such an impact is unavoidable – we strive to minimize it. In practice, reducing the negative impact is related to, for example, saving resources and energy, effective organization of construction sites and their back-up facilities, and above all, compliance with the Company’s employees and subcontractors with the rules governing environmental protection at the construction site. We are also constantly increasing the environmental awareness of employees and subcontractors by implementing training programs on construction sites.