Stone set safety

Natal Portland Cement-Cimpor (NPC) has set its safety standards in cement. The company is a member of the InterCement Group (present in nine countries with 39 plants), which is part of the Carmago Correa Group – Brazil’s second-largest engineering and construction company, specialising in hydro-electrical power plant construction.

Mathura Brijlall, NPC’s group safety health and environment (SHE) manager, sums up the company’s take on occupational health and safety: “The safety and well-being of workers are fundamental values, which are deeply rooted in our company’s culture. It is a norm to always focus on the active prevention of occupational risks, not to tolerate unsafe actions and to ensure that healthy and safe conditions are upheld, leading to the well-being of staff at workplaces.”

He continues: “NPC recognises that it uses significant amounts of natural resources. These have an impact on the ambient environment and must be appropriately managed.” Brijlall adds that the company focuses on meeting legal requirements as well as on upholding best practice.

NPC is definitely living up to these claims as it has been announced the winner of the NOSA Integrated Five Star System, D4 sector industry category competition. This sector focuses on the manufacture of rubber and plastic products; non-metallic mineral products; basic metals; fabricated metal products; machinery and equipment; electrical, optical and transport equipment; manufacturing that’s not classified elsewhere and recycling.

“The Noscar awards are a reflection of the Group’s exceptional leadership; a well-enforced management system; and the commitment of employees to change behaviour, to observe rules and regulations, to take responsibility for their actions and, above all, to care about others,” emphasises Brijlall.

“The company achieved a significant milestone with the Simuma operations (in Port Shepstone) achieving more than 3,5 million man-hours and, in Durban, one million man-hours, without a disabling injury,” he tells SHEQ MANAGEMENT. “These safety performance outputs depict that the NOSA management systems are working for the company,” he adds.

Brijlall continues: “The commitment and dedication to safety, health and environment is strong, and it is evident from the number of awards that various companies, Group-wide, have achieved for outstanding performances.” He adds that recognition of these achievements has been a driving force on the ground, as employees eagerly await the SHE performance scores whenever NOSA performs external audits.

NPC has also identified the risks associated with vehicles delivering products via public roads. The company has, therefore, implemented safety awareness programmes that focus exclusively on drivers,” says Brijlall

The external focus doesn’t end there, however … “Without a shadow of doubt, being part of the InterCement Group has extended the company’s participation in social and environmental activities outside of the company’s fences,” Brijlall points out. “This affords employees and their family members opportunities to partake in social activities such as school refurbishments, planting of vegetable gardens and working with old age homes.”

He says that it is a privilege to be part of an international group that focus on the triple bottom line.