A new, world-class manufacturing facility is being built in South Africa. It鈥檚 at the heart of a plan to revitalize the country鈥檚 rail system, as envisioned by Gibela, a consortium that will deliver 580 trains comprised of 3,480 coaches to support urban rail development.
Located near Johannesburg, the 50,000-square-meter (500,000-square-foot) facility is being constructed by eight principal contractors, each with its own work packages. This approach reflects Gibela鈥檚 commitment to local employment. More than 300 of the approximately 500 workers currently working on the site are from the adjacent communities.
We serve as the project鈥檚 engineering, procurement and construction management consultant. One critical aspect of this work is creating a common approach to safety management that ensures Gibela鈥檚 safety performance expectations are met.
Both the project鈥檚 size and focus on supporting local enterprise and supplier development drive an approach to addressing environmental, health and safety challenges through partnerships and engagement.
Safety Solutions
91影视, working with Gibela, has developed an engagement process to equip the contractors to contribute to the project鈥檚 safety work and build a shared commitment to safety. The process includes kick-off meetings to build understanding of Gibela鈥檚 different procedures for the project, including health, safety and environment. Other events include the 鈥淭oolbox Talk鈥� hosted to celebrate World Environment Day 2016, which featured one of the project鈥檚 principal contractors. The event was an opportunity to highlight the role of individual employees in creating safer work sites through their own actions.
Achievements and Outcomes
In November 2016 the project celebrated the safety milestone of 500,000 hours worked without a lost time injury. Building a common approach to the project鈥檚 safety management through partnership and engagement was critical to reaching this achievement.