Testimony to the high levels of health and safety standards maintained across its quarry operations, AfriSam’s Construction Materials division marked a four year Lost Time Injury (LTI) Free milestone in October 2024.

The latest Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) milestone follows hard on the heels of the 2022 and 2023 Top Corporate Performer accolades in the annual ASPASA ISHE Awards. According to Vernon Brown, National Health & Safety Manager Construction Materials at AfriSam, the latest achievement once again demonstrates the company’s total commitment to creating a safe environment where every employee returns from work unharmed every day.

For AfriSam, OHS compliance goes beyond simply controlling and preventing the risks inherent in mining activities - it is a comprehensive strategy that seeks to instil a safety culture rooted in active awareness of the importance of safety protocols.

“Within our construction materials business, and the AfriSam organisation at large, there is an understanding that improving health and safety performance is a long term goal that requires sustained effort, resources and commitment,” says Brown. “What sets us apart is an executive leadership that shows a genuine and visible commitment to the achievement of a safety culture, treating health and safety as a line management responsibility.”

Commenting on some of the key initiatives that contribute to the company’s exceptional safety record, Brown makes special mention of the inter-plant safety competition. The main aim of this initiative is to “change the hearts and minds of employees” when it comes to safety. The inter-plant competition focuses on four key areas – statistics, audits (both internal and external), housekeeping and continuous improvement.

Audits, he says, go beyond just the score and provide a platform to address any shortcomings that might have been pinpointed by the auditor. Meanwhile, good housekeeping – one of the basic pillars of successful health and safety practices – can help prevent accidents such as slips, trips and falls which are common in quarries and mines.

“Safety leadership, not only at executive level, but also at operations level has been key to our successful OHS performance. Quarry managers are empowered to take initiative in developing their site-level safety interventions. These initiatives are inclusive and speak directly to the people at these operations,” says Brown.

Technology, says Brown, has dramatically changed the way the industry operates and its impact on workplace safety is no exception. Over the years, AfriSam has leveraged technological advancements to create a safer work environment.

One area where this is apparent is in trackless mobile machinery where the company is among the first quarrying groups to adopt Proximity Detection Systems (PDS) and Collision Prevention Systems (CPS). This is aimed at eliminating vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-people interactions.

“As part of our Traffic Management Plans, we have identified areas with significant risk which led to the adoption of PDS/CPS technology. We have currently done a full installation at our Verulam Quarry in KwaZulu-Natal. We have also done trials at our Rheebok Quarry in the Western Cape and we are busy with trials at our Jukskei operation in Gauteng,” concludes Brown.