By: Merel van der Lei - CEO of Wyzetalk

In South Africa’s most labour-intensive and safety-critical industries – mining, security, and manufacturing – workplace safety is often only as strong as the speed and clarity of communication. In environments where risks escalate in seconds, real-time communication has become just as critical as protective gear.

“Even a 10-minute delay in reporting a safety hazard can have serious consequences,” says Merel van der Lei, CEO of Wyzetalk. “When communication is slower than that, often taking hours – or relies on still common paper-based processes – organisations are taking unnecessary safety and compliance risks that put lives on the line.”

Lagging systems escalate risk

The scale of the problem is difficult to ignore. In 2023 alone, 55 fatalities were recorded in South Africa’s mining industry, according to the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. Meanwhile, private security has become one of the country’s fastest-growing sectors, employing over 500 000 registered officers, many of whom operate in decentralised, high-risk environments. Manufacturing, too, accounts for a significant share of workplace injuries, where equipment misuse and poor reporting procedures compound the problem.

In all these sectors, safety communication breakdowns don’t just cost time – they cost lives.

Instant alerts, immediate response

Van der Lei explains that Wyzetalk’s platform is built specifically to close these gaps and which clients were struggling to fix: “The goal is to remove friction. If a worker can report a hazard directly via mobile, that alert can immediately be routed to the right person. It means they don’t have to wait for their shift to end or find a supervisor. They act now – not later.”

This proactive approach is already standard practice for a significant portion of Wyzetalk’s client base: 26% use the platform for safety and crisis communication, specifically, a telling marker of the platform’s growing relevance in risk-heavy industries.

From risk to regulation: communication drives compliance

Real-time systems also provide a verifiable audit trail of every report, escalation, and resolution. “Every action is timestamped,” notes van der Lei. “When safety regulators come calling, you can show what was reported, when, by whom – and what was done about it.”

This level of documentation is near-impossible with outdated, manual systems, particularly for large workforces spread across multiple sites. “In a highly regulated sector like mining, being able to demonstrate clear lines of communication and accountability is not just helpful – it’s essential,” she says.

Smarter crisis management under pressure

During emergencies, broadcast alarms can create confusion or panic. Wyzetalk’s system allows for targeted alerts: “If only a specific zone of a facility is affected by a fire or gas leak, only those workers receive the alert – with clear instructions. That level of precision prevents chaos,” says van der Lei.

Whether it's an evacuation order, a lockdown protocol, or a site-specific hazard, the ability to communicate instantly, clearly, and directly during crises saves lives.

The ROI of frontline safety

Calculating the cost of poor communication is sobering. The average cost of a workplace fatality in South Africa is conservatively estimated at R2.7 million by the Mining Health & Safety Council, when accounting for compensation, investigation, downtime, and lost productivity. For a business operating on thin margins, one incident can erase months of profit.

“When people feel protected and informed, engagement improves. And when engagement improves, so does performance,” van der Lei concludes. “The return on investing in real-time safety communication isn’t just operational – it’s human.”