Corporates make strides for safety
Top Richards Bay industries pledge their dedication to safety.
TWO of Richards Bay’s key industries this past week reiterated their vows to make 2014 the year of safety.
Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) hosted its annual safety award ceremony, Titan Awards, while Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) assembled its staff in large numbers to march against ‘betting on life’.
Speaking at RBM’s event on Friday, Managing Director Mpho Mothoa thanked employees for making a concerted effort towards the company’s goal of ‘Zero Harm’.
However, he highlighted that injury-related figures recorded thus far this year have shown that staff members are not yet completely out of harm’s way – especially worrisome after a 30-year-old contractor died after a fatal accident on site in November.
‘A snapshot of the numbers paint the following picture:
‘There have been 14 days since our last injury, 311 000 hours injury free for the year and seven colleagues got injured at work.
‘These numbers mean that people are still getting harmed.
‘The stark reality is that there were seven SPIs (significant potential injuries) so there were seven chances of us recording a serious injury or worst case scenario – another fatality.
‘Something I’m sure you will agree, we do not want to repeat. Not now. Not ever.
‘Safety is a collective effort and something we should all be mindful of,’ Mothoa said.
Terminal troopers
At RBCT, 150 employees gathered to march and reaffirm their pledges taken earlier this year to make safety their number one priority.
RBCT Acting CEO Alan Waller assured employees of the company’s commitment to this cause.
‘Safety is and will always be a pivotal issue and we will do everything in our power to ensure preventative measures are in place.
‘We want all those working at RBCT to go home to their families after every shift in the same physical condition they left home.’
Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) General Manager Zanele Mthiyane also encouraged ‘brothers and sisters in safety’ to be vigilant at all times; fly the safety flag high and ‘not to engage in any unsafe activities’.
Only one lost-time injury and two minor injuries occurred at the terminal this year.
The highest number of days worked this year without any injuries was 19.
