SZ hosts successful Safety Week

“We are all safety leaders in action”

The first Safety Week was hosted on site, which is a first for Namibia. Skorpion Knights together with Soccer Icon Lolo Goraseb, Keetmanshoop youth entertainers Ghetto Fabulous, safety & risk Officers, management & contractors deliberated a number of concepts under the theme SCORE SAFETY, as part of the World Cup Soccer hype.

Presentations, motivational talks on teamwork by Lolo Goraseb who shared some of his experiences as Brave Warriors player and team captain of league stars Black Africa, music and dance, plant inspections, safety awards and recognition, appointment of SHEQ Reps and meeting the community were all part of the hard work and fun during the successful SAFETY WEEK 2010.

Safety was the core focus, but the environment and safety as well as the wellness activities was emphasised. An unsightly scene on Wednesday morning greeted employees as they walked along the litter corridor to go through the entrance. A visit to the bird pond also saw the issues of biodiversity and habitat feature in the need to preserve our working and living environment for a safer world.

During the opening, the Acting GM Johan Coetzee welcomed delegates, noting that there has been a notable improvement in safety performance. A quick exercise however revealed that most employees believe they will stay out of harm’s way but this would not necessarily apply to fellow colleagues. “It is imperative that we practice being our brother’s keeper and we work with a zero harm mindset. The correct tools for tasks, 30 second risk assessments will ensure zero harm,” he cautioned.

Coetzee stressed that if all 1500 people on site keep a watch out it means 3000 eyes watching out for safety. Together with the red day green day exercise, and the fact that every action will mean safeguarding a life, would mean a new attitude and confidence in relation to safety.

The mining manager Chris Bessinger in his presentation on practical environment management in mining, noted that SZ’s product is sold on the worldwide market. “As such our products must be recognized as environmentally conducive. We should make sure that water and paper consumption at the mine is kept to a minimum, as destroying the world, does not make it safe,” said Chris Bessinger.