Safety first for woman at TGL
May 2010
News
Mining and construction are both worlds that are traditionally male-dominated, yet a female SHEQ officer at Thuthuka Group Limited (TGL) is overseeing one of the most important jobs on site at one of South Africa’s leading platinum mines.
TGL’s Olivia de Klerk is the SHEQ (safety, health, environmental and quality) officer at Boynton Platinum’s Pilanesberg mine, near Rustenburg. Before joining TGL, De Klerk gained extensive experience with several SHEQ consulting firms and also worked as the safety officer on two mines, so she is well qualified to ensure that the projects at Boynton are fully compliant with the strict safety legislation pertaining to mines.
Olivia de Klerk
TGL has been appointed to carry out three major projects for the mine since 2008: the construction of a 30 km steel water pipeline; construction of a 35 megalitre domed reservoir and construction of a 10 MVA power plant. TGL was additionally awarded the safety appointment on all three of these projects, which saved the mine from having to find a third party SHEQ provider.
De Klerk explains: “We start with the initial risk assessments, we train our sub-contractors’ employees and oversee management of the safety system. We have a safety representative on site at all times and I visit the site weekly to meet with the mine’s safety officer and TGL’s safety representative. I also carry out my own inspections to make sure that everything is compliant with safety legislation.”
One of the biggest challenges at this particular site, according to De Klerk, is having to incorporate the safety systems for construction into the much more stringent safety procedures laid down for mines, as TGL is basically operating three construction sites within the mine. The mine’s safety record is affected by that of its sub-contractors – such as TGL – and the mine’s incident-free man hours rating can be affected if sub-contractors do not adhere to strict safety procedures.
Boynton is in the process of implementing ISO standards, which means that future sub-contractors on site will have to be similarly certified. “TGL already has ISO 9001 certification in place so is well placed to carry out current and future contracts for the mine,” concludes De Klerk.
For more information contact Tom Marsden, Thuthuka Group, 0861 848 848, www.thuthukagroup.com
Further reading:
RS South Africa shapes future engineering talent
RS South Africa
News
RS South Africa is demonstrating that nurturing future engineers goes beyond traditional classrooms or competitions. On STEM Day, the company shone a light on the full spectrum of its educational initiatives.
Read more...
ABB and Compu-Power bring high-efficiency UPS innovation to IS3 X-Change 2025
News
ABB recently participated in the 31st annual IS
3X-Change 2025 in Cape Town, alongside its long-standing channel partner Compu-Power.
Read more...
UKZN’s SMART lab wins aviation award
News
: The SMART Lab at UKZN was awarded first place in the Aviation Research and Development category at the Civil Aviation Authority of South Africa’s award ceremony for outstanding contributions and achievements in the aviation sector.
Read more...
Meta and partners announce completion of 2Africa subsea cable system
News
Meta, in partnership with leading global and regional telecommunications companies, has announced the completion and activation of the core 2Africa subsea cable system. This marks a historic milestone in digital infrastructure, establishing what the world’s longest open-access subsea cable system.
Read more...
RS South Africa retains Level 2 B-BBEE status
RS South Africa
News
RS South Africa has once again achieved Level 2 B-BBEE verification.
Read more...
SEW-EURODRIVE unveils world class facility in Gqeberha
News
In a landmark event in the Eastern Cape attended by key customers and industry leaders, SEW-EURODRIVE officially opened its expanded state-of-the-art facility in Gqeberha, marking a major milestone in its strategy to strengthen regional support and deepen its footprint in the region.
Read more...
Africa’s brightest young battery innovators
Schneider Electric South Africa
News
Schneider Electric and Enactus, the international NGO dedicated to inspiring students through entrepreneurial action, have announced the winners of the 2025 Energy Transition Battery Innovation Challenge, funded by the Schneider Electric Foundation. It empowers young innovators to design battery solutions addressing the region’s most pressing energy challenges.
Read more...
Africa’s strategic role in powering the global clean energy future
News
The 2026 Africa Energy Indaba is to spotlight Africa’s mineral wealth, industrialisation potential and the urgent need for sustainable value chain development.
Read more...
The road to the Indaba
News
The Africa Automation Indaba 2026 is set to become a landmark gathering for Africa’s automation, process control and manufacturing community.
SA Instrumentation and Control will be running a dedicated editorial series spotlighting the voices, ideas and debates shaping Africa’s industrial future.
Read more...
Crash reconstruction tests advance vehicle safety research
News
The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Scientific Multidisciplinary Advanced Research Technologies (SMART) Lab recently participated in a series of collaborative crash reconstruction tests held at the Toyota Test Track.
Read more...
printer friendly version