Mention the words 'health and safety' to any contractor and you are usually met with varied responses!

Health and safety, and complying with legislation in terms of the OHSA Act and Mines Health and Safety Act, have certainly presented some interesting challenges to contractors over the past years.
When Speedspace was awarded their first contract by Kumba, Kolomela mine in November 2008, to provide on-site accommodation, we soon realised that the safety standards and regulations required were not like any we had encountered before.

The priority Kumba places on the health and wellbeing of their employees and contractors is reflected in their Zero Harm vision.

Kumba is focused on two fundamental drivers: firstly, to improve its status in terms of its safety maturity, and secondly, to stop fatal incidents.

Kumba utilises a safety management system which is founded on the belief that there are three aspects to safety which can be changed, in order to improve performance. First, there is the behavioural aspect, whereby what people do can be changed; the second is infrastructure – this means that better infrastructure can assist in improving safety performance; the third is the systems used to manage safety – these can be enhanced, in order to achieve better results.

And achieving better results they certainly do – the awareness created on site in relation to safety cannot be ignored, and from the word 'go' you know that in order to survive, your attitude towards safety has to change.

In addition to standard safety requirements such as a safety file with legal appointments, correct PPE, risk assessments and method statements, valid tax clearance certificates, and paid-up workmen's compensation (which are typical requirements when working on a mine), Speedspace faced further safety challenges. These included: ensuring that all vehicles met the required site standards ito. roll-over protection, airbags, vehicle visibility, vehicle first aid kits, as well as pre-operation inspection certificates and approvals.

In the past, our truck drivers and assistants, which are also responsible for offloading our prefab modular buildings by means of a basic chain block jacking system, were declared competent, based on their years of experience. We were now required to prove competency by means of rigging certification and certified training.

All equipment, including our lifting beams, had to be certified and load tested, and trucks moving on site had to be accompanied by flag men.

Daily safety talks were held to address risk assessments and ensure that all risks involved in the day's tasks were communicated to all workers involved. In addition to the toolbox talks, supervisors had to carry out MTOs (mini task observations) and submit weekly reports based on their findings. Safety audits were carried out on a monthly basis by the Kumba safety officers, to ensure that requirements were being adhered to.

Our safety officer commented as follows:
"From the first time of arrival at Kumba, the mine safety system was something new to me. Safety is first and foremost on all sites, but it becomes a problem when there is no consistency. At Kumba the ever-evolving safety system is a challenge for all safety personnel working at the mine.
It is a new experience to work as a contractor for Kumba, but this has shown that any safety officer or manager who can successfully operate under the Kumba system, can succeed anywhere in the mining construction industry."

Our construction manager gave his view on the experience regarding the safety on site:
"Although having worked at both Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant and Saldanha Steel, I was not prepared for the safety shock that awaited me in my new task. Safety on site is of paramount importance to the client, and any contractor who does not classify it as number one in their company vision might as well not even tender for contracts with Kumba. I did find the senior safety advisors on our site to be both helpful and willing to assist us with any problems we encountered.

Our crews, by their dedication to the safety aspect of our site, have personally contributed to the client achieving seven million LTI-free hours, and we as a company are blessed that we have come through a five-month contract with no injuries to our employees. Safety need not be a mountain to be climbed, and I found that with the right safety officer on your team, tasks could be completed, not only safely, but on time.

Regardless of work stoppages, lost time on plant hire, and having to purchase enough barricading to encompass the entire town of Postmasburg, we have succeeded in completing our contract safely and ahead of time."

Looking back on the contract for mobile site accomodation, we saw the health and safety requirements on site as the one major factor which would challenge us in terms of compliance and meeting our key dates. However, with the positive attitude from management, and the commitment from the team on site, we adapted, complied and succeeded in delivering prefab mobile site accommodation.

This contract, and the experience gained and lessons learned, have ensured that Speedspace has adopted a zero harm approach in ensuring the safety of our employees on site. We are also more confident in our approach towards safety, and no longer see it as a hindrance in completing our tasks, but as an advantage in ensuring a safe working environment and thus completing our tasks successfully.