Rosond promotes zero harm in all its operations

Drilling technology solutions provider Rosond introduced a new mascot to promote health and safety awareness among its crew across all of its sites last year

The company has an existing mascot called Sindile, and in December 2023 launched a competition to come up with a name for his sister, explains Rosond safety manager Andre Kleynhans.

Sindile, which means ‘safety’, was introduced in 2013 to assist Rosond to promote a zero harm culture on all its operational sites. “With the increasing number of women in mining and our diverse workforce, we felt it important for our mascots to represent diversity,” said Kleynhans.

An internal competition was launched for the Rosond workforce to select a name for its female mascot, with Sindisa, which means ‘to take care of each other’, being the eventual winner. As part of Rosond’s health and safety campaign, Sindile and Sindisa appear together across the company’s safety bulletins. As brother and sister, they promote the Rosond family values such as achieving zero harm, mutual responsibility, identifying danger, coaching each other, and only using equipment that is safe.

“Safety is embedded in our culture and will always be our number one priority. It is our anchor value that formed the foundation of our business 68 years ago and continues to support and protect us today. These achievements, and those at other locations, are attributable to the culture of caring and responsibility embedded across all our operational sites,” remarked Rosond MD, Ricardo Ribeiro.

Rosond’s journey to zero harm received a boost when it had great success in training an all-female crew deployed at a major iron ore operation in the Northern Cape.

In terms of the training requirement for any new technology introduced, such as Rosond’s latest-generation drill rigs, it carefully drafts operational procedures in conjunction with the manufacturer and tests these in a controlled environment.

The procedures are then refined following input and analysis from various departments. Training manuals and assessments are drafted and approved by the manufacturer before employee training on any new equipment commences. All assessments are drafted to allow for a formative, summative and practical assessment.

Rosond’s in-house training department ensures that employees are trained in all relevant health and safety aspects. This includes all client-related mandatory training and operational training pertaining to the fleet of machines to be used on a specific project.

Custom documents are drafted in consultation with the client to ensure its needs are met in terms of what they expect from a training perspective. Each project comes with its own challenges, risks and hazards, and therefore it is best to tailor training for a specific project without jeopardising the quality of the training.

Limiting LTI

Rosond currently has four training centres in Postmasburg in the Northern Cape, Rustenburg in the North West, Thabazimbi in Limpopo and Carletonville. It has an extensive network of safety personnel. “We have enjoyed great benefits in reducing our Lost-Time Injury (LTI) rate by incorporating feedback from the safety department into the training department. We are very proud of our safety culture and in keeping our employees safe,” highlighted Ribeiro.

Different types of training are offered, with the most common being health and safety related. This includes basic rigging and slinging, first aid, firefighting, truck-mounted cranes and (Mining Qualifications Authority) operator skills programmes. Employees can even complete various trades, for example mechanical fitters, boilermakers, coded welders and electricians. Junior managerial positions enjoy management development programmes through accredited institutes.

Rosond assists those employees wishing to achieve their trades from enrolment to completion. It also develops training officers through various skills programmes to ultimately achieve national certification. Safety officers are also developed through Comsoc 1 and Comsoc 2 training. Various programmes cater for employee development to work through the different ranks from novice to manager.