Safe Makes Sense at Kusile, South Africa

TAKRAF Africa has recently just set another landmark safety record at its flagship Kusile materials handling project in South Africa. An incredible safety milestone of 2,300,087 hours were worked since the last Lost Time Injury (LTI), which equates to 849 days (as of 11 April 2019). This milestone not only exceeds the previous LTI record for the project of 2,297,402.5 LTI free hours but was also achieved during a particularly challenging and high-risk stage of the project.

Complex activities currently underway on site require working at height, often up to 52 m, and include working where there are numerous other contractors and machines competing for limited space. In addition to requiring precise planning to take advantage of a limited window in which to access the site for commissioning activities, there is the added safety risk posed by other activities simultaneously underway that are not under the control of TAKRAF Africa. The relatively small labour force of around 135 persons required at this stage of the project has also meant that such a safety milestone was achieved over a lengthy and extended period, requiring focused attention on safety to be maintained over 3 years and 1 month.

Currently at an advanced stage in the completion of four execution contracts for the multibillion-rand project, TAKRAF Africa has to date worked in excess of 8 million hours (8,257,559.5 as of 11 April). With a peak TAKRAF labour force at times exceeding 1,000 persons, a strong safety culture, fully supported by comprehensive safety training, has been inculcated on site since the inception of the project, awarded by Eskom in 2010, with a later contract added in 2014.

Such safety records on this massive and highly complex project, the largest materials handling project awarded to TAKRAF Africa to date, underscore our commitment to SAFETY FIRST - a Tenova group-wide commitment to ensuring that everyone, employees and contractors alike, return home safely, each and every day after work, to their families and communities.