The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) is awarding companies that invested in protecting the lives of their employees, through the sixth edition of the yearly Seifsa Awards for Excellence to be held in Gauteng on May 28.

“Employees are, without a doubt, the most valuable assets of any business,” notes Seifsa CEO Kaizer Nyatsumba, adding that it should therefore go without saying that companies should value their lives and continually invest in ensuring that the environment in which employees operate is safe.

He says employers have a legal obligation towards their employees to ensure that not a single life is lost at the workplace, regardless of how hazardous the work environment might be.

To celebrate companies that have invested in the health and safety of their employees, Seifsa will present the Health and Safety Award of the Year to a company with the best legal compliance record in health and safety or the lowest lost-time injury frequency rate between July 2018 and December 2019.

The 2019 edition of the ceremony saw the Health and Safety Award being won by air and gas handling solutions company Howden. According to the judges, Howden demonstrated a multifaceted approach to risk management by implementing several programmes to influence positively the safety culture within the organisation.

Along with the Health and Safety Award, the Seifsa Awards for Excellence feature six other categories.

The award for the Most Innovative Company of the Year, will be awarded to a company that has shown the best level of innovation in research and development or production.

The Most Transformed Company of the Year award will be presented to a company that recorded the highest transformation level in ownership, as well as the composition of its board of directors, executive management and managerial team. This award category pits companies employing fewer than 100 people against those of similar size, and companies employing more than 100 people against others of similar size.

The Best Corporate Social Investment Award will be presented to a company whose corporate social investment programme/s had a major impact on the lives of its beneficiaries.

The company rated the highest in customer service performance will receive the Customer Service Award.

The Artisan Development Award will go to the company that trained the highest number of artisans between July 2018 and December 2019.

The Environment Stewardship Award will go to a company that has successfully implemented greening initiatives in its day-to-day business operations during the period under review.

Nyatsumba urges companies operating in the metals and engineering sector to submit their entries for the seven categories before April 28.

Entries are open to members of associations federated to Seifsa as well non-members.