S3 Affected communities

Working on our energy grids can create harmful and/or dangerous situations. Our work, failing equipment or materials defects may pose serious safety risks for local residents, bystanders or other people in public places. Our safety policy addresses this extensively.

The distribution and handling of electrical power and pressurised natural and green gas also present safety risks to the surrounding area. In our safety policy, we distinguish between the safety of the area during the operational phase and safety after the work has been completed, the management phase. Our safety policy for employees and (sub)contractors further contributes to a safe public environment. More information can be found in 'S1 Our employees’ and 'S2 Workers in the value chain’.

Social	Impact, risk or opportunity	Value chain	Time frame
Material topic
Communities' economic, social and cultural rights Public health and safety	Potential negative impacts: The business activities of Enexis or its subcontractors could lead to harmful and/or dangerous situations that affect public health and safety.

A safe energy grid for everyone

Working on our energy grids can create harmful and/or dangerous situations. Our work, theft or failures in equipment or materials may pose serious safety risks for residents, bystanders or other people in public places. ^{(ESRS S3 SBM-3 par. 9(a))}The negative impact can occur as a result of our own work but also in the value chain when (sub) contractors carry out work.

There is also a risk of harmful and/or dangerous situations in public spaces, even when we are not doing our work. Examples include vandalism, ageing cables or pipelines, and excavation work that damages cables or pipelines. These negative impacts are mainly confined to our own operations and are usually the result of isolated incidents.^{(ESRS S3 para 8(a))} The incident register shows that there are no widespread or systematic impacts. ^{(ESRS S3 SBM-3 par. 9(b))}

Working safely is a top priority at Enexis and an essential part of our strategy. By prioritising the safe practices of employees and contractors, we also enhance the safety of bystanders. Beyond this strategic focus, Enexis also has specific policies to ensure bystanders’ safety. ^{(ESRS S3 SBM-3 par. 7; 8(a))}

Policy: how we keep public spaces safe

Safety is our top priority when carrying out our work. We take standard precautions to ensure the safety of bystanders^{(ESRS 2 MDR-P para 65(a)(e))}. These are part of our operational policy. 

Operational phase

During the operational phase, we ensure that our people work safely see section 'S1 Our employees'. We also separate our work activities from public areas as deemed appropriate. This is done following the applicable laws and regulations.^{(ESRS 2 MDR-P para 65(d))} These laws and regulations include the correct use of barriers, safe covering of work sites and potholes in the road, and the installation of signage.^{(ESRS S3 32a;35;38; ESRS 2 MDR-A 68a;68b;68c)}

Management phase

During the management phase, we implement measures to ensure public safety in open spaces. Through regular maintenance in accordance with standards, laws and regulations, we monitor the grid and register (potentially) dangerous deviations or failures. If necessary, we take additional management measures such as extra maintenance, modifications and (preventive) replacement of components. For existing assets, we also take further measures to prevent the public from coming into direct contact with electricity and gas transmission risks. These include physical security measures, such as locks, fences and enclosures, and maintaining a minimum burial depth or covering cables and pipes.^{(ESRS 2 MDR-P 65(a)(b); ESRS S3 32a;35;38; ESRS 2 MDR-A 68a;68b;68c))}

The safety policy during the operational phase is the responsibility of the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) department and Operations. The safety policy during the management phase is the responsibility of the Asset Management department.^{(ESRS 2 MDR-P para 65(c))}The policy covers all identified affected communities.^{(ESRS S3 para 14)}

Consultation with affected communities

We recognise the importance of consulting with residents and bystanders near our assets. Still, we do not maintain regular contact with these stakeholders about actual and potential impacts or the measures to mitigate them^{(ESRS S3 para 21, 24)}.

However, we communicate with nearby households before and during planned work.^{(ESRS S3-2 21(a))} This communication aims to inform residents about our work in their neighbourhood. Residents can contact our customer service or the project’s community enegagement manager for complaints, disruptions or incidents. This information is provided in the letter sent to residents. For details about the customer service process, see section 'S4 Consumers and end users'.^{(ESRS S3 para 27(b))}

Incident prevention and response

We are committed to public safety in the distribution of gas and electricity. We measure the impact on public safety through the Public Safety Gas and Public Safety Electricity KPIs.^{(ESRS 2 MDR-M 75)} Both consist of several components, with specific measurements for each component, compared against targets and threshold values. In addition to incidents involving bystanders, the KPIs also measure incidents causing damage to the public space. We only include incidents originating from our own assets or grid that affect the public. Incidents such as bystanders falling into a pit we have dug or injuries to people deliberately stealing or vandalising assets are outside the scope of these KPIs. Enexis keeps an incident register in which all incidents (for both gas and electricity) are recorded. The incident register forms the basis for the KPI. For gas, a national process agreed with regulator SodM (Staats toezicht op de Mijnen) whereby relevant gas incidents are reported by Enexis to SodM.  ^{(ESRS S3 32d; ESRS 2 MDR-M 77a; MDR-T 80c;80f)}

Our target for incidents with serious impact is zero. For incidents with a serious impact, the target is a maximum of two. For incidents with moderate or moderate impact, our target is a maximum of four.^{(MDR-T para 80(a)(b)(c))} These are annual targets and therefore have no base year or baseline.^{(MDR-T para 80(d)(e))} The targets apply separately to gas and electricity (not the sum of both).

Since 2018, there have been no incidents with a severe or very severe impact. There was one incident in 2024. This was an incident with the lowest level of impact: ‘moderate or considerable impact’. This is an incident requiring first aid or medical treatment, or damage to the surrounding area between € 10,000 and € 1 million. This particular incident only involved material damage. The definitions of the different categories are explained in the table below. ^{(ESRS MDR-T 80(j))}

Evaluating and refining policy

Enexis monitors incidents and any trends that emerge from them. When incidents or significant near-incidents occur, we evaluate whether an adjustment to the safety policy is necessary.^{(MDR-T 80(d); ESRS S3 para 32)} If this is the case, we introduce additional measures into the policy.^{(ESRS S3 33a;33b)}

Reporting incidents and compensating damages

If a bystander suffers damage or injury due to our activities, they can make a claim through our customer service department. In the case of personal injury and extensive and/or complex material damage, Enexis’ liability and the amount of possible compensation will be determined together with a claims expert. Our Complaints & Claims department maintains contact with the affected person and coordinates further processing. We believe it is important that our technicians behave appropriately in incidents involving bystanders. We will launch a campaign in 2025 to raise awareness among our technicians. The campaign will emphasise the steps they should take in the event of an incident, such as providing first aid and informing bystanders that they can report (injuries) to our customer service^{(ESRS S3 27a; 27b;32b;33c; ESRS MDR-A 68d)}.