A structured approach, where managers personally engage at each level of the project, is necessary to mitigate delays to the workflow on mega construction projects, says State-owned Eskom Kusile power station projects GM Abram Masango.
The 4 800 MW Kusile power station, being built in Mpumalanga, occupies 2 500 ha with 17 000 workers on site. The scale of the project can magnify problems if they are not identified and addressed, he notes.
To engage with and successfully manage the business relationships among contract, construction, safety teams and engineers, as well as the community, project managers must be dedicated and understand the quirks of the different disciplines and cultures involved, he highlights.
“I am neither an electrical engineer nor a civil engineer, but I must have an understanding of these disciplines and engage with the engineers to determine how the site must be prepared before they start work, what additional equipment they will need and how this will affect other areas of the site and workflows,” explains Masango, a mechanical engineer by profession.
“At 07:00, depending on my schedule, I often attend one of the 120 different contractors’ ‘toolbox talks’, where they discuss safety and the daily work schedule with the workers. This enables me to get a sample view of the teams and helps me to ensure that the teams are able to keep to the schedule of activities for the day.”
A good habit that Masango retains from his experiences of maintaining and operating power stations is “walking the plant”.
“If I am not able to walk through the site during the week, I often inspect the work site over weekends, which enables me to identify and follow up on any issues to ensure that all workers are safe, productive and efficient,” he notes.
It is critical for the GM of a site to personally engage with and coordinate the culturally diverse teams that often include international engineers and workers from the local communities, says Masango.
“The managers and engineers of international companies often have different views and approaches, while we have localisation and skills development targets to achieve. I continuously engage with these officials to ensure that our and their goals are achieved, including their insistence on a good work ethic and performance of workers while complying with socioeconomic development requirements,” notes Masango.
“The strength of the project’s stability is the focus on internal and external stakeholders. I engage with the whole Kusile execution team on site one on one in my office and through a mass meeting to get an understanding of their concerns,” notes Masango.
The two-way engagement between the project and the communities in the area also helps to reduce disruptions to the project. For example, when Delmas, one of the local communities, experienced a service-delivery protest that closed off roads, workers from Delmas still arrived on time, owing to the support the project received from the community, which allowed their buses to pass through.
“We have a significant corporate social responsibility programme that includes skills development with contractors on site, which boosts practical work experience for trainees, school renovations and the establishment of small businesses in the surrounding communities, as well as engagement at all levels of government – from municipal mayors to the Premier.”
The contractor companies have accepted skills development objectives and there is continuous engagement between Kusile and universities, notes Masango, indicating that the project is a very effective way to demonstrate to students the true complexity of power plant projects during construction.
Further, should a company or contractor have a dispute between its management and workers, the entire team, including management, engineers and workers, are taken off-site to reach an agreement. This measure helps to limit disruptions on site and ensure that they do not affect other contractors.
“There is a clear understanding that our approach is consistently ‘fair, but firm’,” he concludes.