Cosira’s ‘Zero Harm’ approach leads the way in safety, health, quality and environmental best practice
17 July 2009
The government legislates it, the industry demands it, clients expect it, and companies should live it. When it comes to health and safety, there has been a positive shift in the construction industry, not only towards the health and safety of employees, but also towards quality management and environmental best practices. The Cosira Group, one of the largest structural steel fabricators and construction companies in Southern Africa, has lead the way in this field, having recognised the importance of having a dedicated, full-time SHERQ team; which provide a consistent presence and maintain focus on pertinent issues within the company.
“Cosira embraces the goal of Zero Harm in terms of safety, health and environmental issues and strives to go beyond compliance with regulations, as well as entrenching a company-wide competency in these areas,” says John da Silva, CEO of the Cosira Group.
Cosira now has a dedicated SHERQ (Safety, Health, Environment, Risk and Quality) portfolio.
The SHE aspect of the portfolio is managed by Grant Bishop, who oversees safety standards from the bidding stages and ensures that Cosira meets the SHE standards for each and every project that the Group tenders for.
Sakkie van Vuuren manages the Quality Assurance part of the portfolio.
“Cosira works extensively with large corporate mining, power generation and many other customers, where there are rigorous SHERQ requirements that service providers must meet, in order to even be considered for tenders,” says Bishop.
“The SHE Management system and plan at Cosira is revised annually, and takes into account both our clients’ requirements and the industry standards. Risk assessments are also made and adapted to each client’s project SHE guidelines and requirements.
In addition, Cosira is planning to obtain OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001 certification in the next 12 months. This is in addition to the certified ISO 9001 standard for quality,” he adds.
Sakkie van Vuuren, Quality Assurance Manager at Cosira is also responsible for the quality control of materials, and the compliance of structures on site.
Furthermore, these managers have developed Cosira’s Quality Management System (QMS), in accordance with industry standards. .“Quality is also an ultimate part of safety, and can influence the Zero Harm policy. At any time the company will have several projects running on various sites, and there is simply zero tolerance for non-compliance,” van Vuuren points out.
“In 2009, Cosira will renew their ISO 9001 certification, which must be done periodically by external auditors, as well as full SABS audits every six months,” adds van Vuuren.
“We have actively put strategies in place to ensure that, from top to bottom, the company culture embraces an awareness of the safety of our workers; as well as striving for 'zero harm' to the environment,” he says.
Cosira operates its safety system under the Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) approach. This calls for a systemic change in attitude and mindset of all employees and suppliers that keeps safety at the forefront of everyone’s.
“Safe work practices have to become a lifestyle, and a reflex that is so entrenched, it becomes automatic. All staff are encouraged to think safety at all times,” says van Vuuren. Cosira is achieving behavioral change through peer-support and evaluation; and encourages the attitude that safety is about watching out for not only oneself, but the person working next to you. One of the ways that Cosira is making this happen is with the appointment of full-time safety representatives dedicated to this task, both in the manufacturing facilities and on its construction sites.
“Cosira’s Zero Harm approach is promoted top-down and bottom-up, throughout the company and where possible safer practices need to be adopted. For example, often on site, steel component assembly is done on the ground and then lifted up to the required height at which it must be installed – rather than putting workers at risk by working at that height from the beginning,” points out Bishop.
“For the year 2008 only one lost-time injury occurred on all projects. Even though this is an excellent achievement, we are working towards a Zero harm work environment,” he emphasises.
“The ultimate target is to be totally injury-free and as the SHERQ team, we monitor the various sections to ensure compliance with every aspect from safety induction procedures, to the wearing of safety gear, factory layout and set-up, as well as fire equipment compliance and guidelines,” says van Vuuren.
“Cosira has full-time safety officers in all its manufacturing facilities and, for example at the new the new state-of-the-art Cosira Vulcan facility that Cosira is in the process of constructing, there has been a zero injury record to date.”
Other achievements in the past years include:
- Cosira awarded the Lion Award for Safety Hours for work completed on site at the SAPREF Durban facility
- Cosira achieved 200 000 LTI (Lost Time Injury) free hours on the site of the Potgietersrust Platinums mine where Cosira Tubular is this right erected a concentrator.
- 100 000 LTI free hours were achieved on site at Xstrata's Bokomoso Project – Wonderkop
- At the Sishen site in the Northern Cape, Cosira achieved 700 000 LTI free hours and 200 000 LTI free hours on erection of the crushers and conveyors respectively.
With regards to environmental legislation, van Vuuren adds: “There is still a long way to go in South Africa with environmental legislation and regulations, however Cosira endevours to be as up –to-date with environmental compliance as possible.”
“Cosira is delighted to continue to be at the forefront of the industry-wide shift towards a more stringent, consistent health and safety philosophy. These issues deserve to be at the forefront of the way that business is done, and Cosira is proud to be a dedicated and committed part of this progress. Our Zero Harm, Zero Tolerance philosophy is, and will remain, a critical part of how we do business,” concludes CEO John da Silva.