Drilling technology solutions provider Rosond of Midrand has achieved major health and safety milestones at the Sishen and Kolomela Mines of Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore operation in the Northern Cape.

“We are very proud of our safety culture and keeping our employees safe,” comments MD Ricardo Ribeiro. Rosond has established an excellent Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) record by implementing stringent SHE policies and complying with all legislation in pursuit of Zero Harm.

“We are committed to continually improve our safety performance. We pay close attention to the design of our equipment and the application of simple, easily-understood safety management systems to ensure employees can implement safety procedures at all times,” highlights Ribeiro.

Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) forms the basis for all safety procedures. In addition, management investigates any unsafe practices and incidents to determine necessary steps to prevent a reoccurrence. “We are committed to prevent unplanned interruptions to all operations and processes as the result of such incidents,” comments Rosond Safety Manager Andre Kleynhans.

Based in the exploration and production geology section at Sishen, Rosond is drilling boreholes for exploration and mine grade-control sampling purposes, explains Senior Site Manager Clayton Coetzee. There have been no Lost Time Injuries (LTI) since the start of Rosond’s operations at the mine, with 582 LTI-free days to date.

At Kolomela, the major milestone has been maintaining a Zero Harm record for over a year, even though the recruitment and onboarding process of new employees and equipment had commenced earlier. “We are currently still at Zero Harm, with 501 days worked to date,” explains Site Manager James Faure.

Rosond has two drilling departments at Kolomela, namely Exploration Drilling and Production Geology, each with their senior foreman, supervisors and drilling crews, and the Engineering and Logistics Department, with their foreman and mechanical teams. Last, but by no means least, there is the Safety Department with its Chief Safety Officer and team of Safety Officers and safety representatives.

Rosond has had great success in training all-female crews deployed at Kumba Iron Ore, facilitated personally by Head of Training and Development Carlo Claassens. He ensures employees are trained in all relevant health and safety aspects, including client-related mandatory training, as well as operational training pertaining to the fleet deployed at Sishen and Kolomela respectively.

“We have enjoyed great benefits in reducing our LTI rate by incorporating feedback from the safety department into the training department. To ensure we provide the highest-quality work for our client, we make use of technologically advanced drill rigs to always ensure safe work. Drilling is remote controlled, with almost no human interaction required during the process to promote a safe working environment at all times,” stresses Kleynhans. Rosond has its own training department at Sishen to ensure both male and female operators are competent, driven and highly motivated.

“Achieving these milestones raises the spirits of employees and means their morale is high. In addition, reaching our targets is testament to the fact that each person has bought into the culture of Achieving Safely. When leading by example and taking part in activities, your team will follow. Safety should always be a value and not a priority, as priorities can be changed,” adds Faure.

The key elements of Rosond’s SHE policy are ‘Value Safety’, ‘Stay Focused’ and ‘Lead by Example’. This ties in with Anglo’s own codes of identifying priority unwanted events and putting critical controls in place to protect employees from any harm or illness.

Sishen Senior Foreman Samuel Mokhele concludes: “Managing safety is never an easy task. Unless management is 100% committed, it is almost impossible to obtain great results. With strong visible leadership from line management setting an example, it ensures everyone goes home without harm, every day.”