omnia holdings annual report 2010 omnia holdings annu

To entrench these commitments throughout the Group,
we have committed ourselves to implementing an Integrated
Management System (IMS), which is based on ISO 9001,
ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 guidelines. The roll-out of the
IMS has been completed at Omnia Fertilizer and BME, and is
anticipated to be completed at Protea Chemicals by the end
of 2011.
In addition to health and safety committees at all sites, a joint
Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) committee is in
place, chaired by the Group general manager for engineering
projects and services. The SHEQ committee meets on a
quarterly basis to discuss SHEQ projects and issues of mutual
interest within the Group, and to transfer knowledge and best
practice between divisions.
SHEQ aspects, impacts and risks per site are continuously
evaluated and recorded on the respective registers for all our
sites in terms of the IMS. Occupational health and safety risk
assessments are also conducted on each site once every two
years as per the requirements of the Occupational Health and
Safety (OHS) Act.
The results of these assessments are communicated to the
health and safety committees of all sites, and remedial projects
are identified, implemented and monitored. A summary of major
risks is included in the Omnia Group risk management report
which is reviewed by the Omnia Group risk committee in its
bi-annual meetings.
The Group has also decided to formulate more stringent product
requirements for its international suppliers. Checks by qualified
Omnia personnel are now standard procedure on internationally
supplied materials. These quality measures are applied
throughout the supply chain, from the supplier’s facilities to the
point of delivery.
Measuring our performance
Several initiatives to continually improve Omnia’s safety, health,
and environmental performance, and the quality of Omnia’s
In mid 2009, BME commissioned a shocktube production plant
in Losberg in the North West province to improve its service
offering to the mining industry by providing another safer
alternative to fuse igniter cord. The production facility, a
significant investment for the company, is situated near
Carltonville – famous for housing some of the deepest mines
in the world.
BME has been researching and developing its shocktube
technology for a number of years and has been using it
extensively in surface mining applications. Now it is driving its
shocktube technology for underground applications – where its
market share has been relatively modest – as a priority.
With shocktube blasting, the tube acts as a signal transmitter
between the detonators in each blasthole. The hollow tube is
lined with a fine layer of explosives powder. When lit, this
OMNIA ANNUAL REPORT 2010 59
products and services, have been implemented during the
period under review. Opportunities for improvement still exist
following our philosophy of continued improvement and specific
projects will be launched in the next financial year to address
priority issues.
SHE expenditure
The Group’s total expenditure on safety, health and
environmental aspects for the period under review increased
from R61 million in F2009 to R77 million in F2010. Capital spend
during 2010 included R24 million for a co-generation project,
which involved the installation of a 1 920 kW turbo-generator at
the Omnia Fertilizer factory in Sasolburg, which was successfully
commissioned during the year.
Transport
Transport incidents
The number of transport-related incidents is a cause for concern.
Specific measures were implemented for the approval of
contractors used for deliveries, vehicle checklists and directives
on load securement. The total number of transport incidents
decreased from 57 in F2009 to 55 in F2010. All of these
incidents have been dealt with in a responsible way and
rehabilitation was introduced where required.
Transport incidents include all transport incidents over land, sea,
air and rail which involve raw materials, intermediates, final product,
own vehicles and contractor vehicles. They exclude claims relating
to insurance incidents on employee motor fleet vehicles.
Incidents per ton manufactured
Transport incidents per 100 000 ton of product manufactured
increased from 2,81 to 3,02 due to a decrease in the volume
of products manufactured and an increase in the amount of
products traded.
Legal incidents
The number of legal incidents, which include SHE-related fines,
warnings summonses and penalties, increased significantly
from two during F2009 to 17 in F2010. At Omnia Fertilizer,
BME’s new shocktube production plant provides a safer alternative in underground mining applications
powder detonates and generates a pressure wave that travels
down the tube to the detonator in the explosives in the hole.
With conventional fuse-and-igniter-cord technology, the
disadvantages are that the blasthole firing times can be
inaccurate. Ideally, in a blast, it is best to have all holes firing
as closely as possible to their designed firing times; this is very
hard to achieve with fuse technology as fuses burn at variable
speeds. This may result in poor fragmentation, hanging-wall
damage and an uneven face advance.
BME’s technology therefore allows mines to achieve improved
overall efficiency, and save money.
In addition, more effective safety practices – such as this
technology introduces – are of vital importance in the use
of mining explosives. BME partners with its clients to assist
them in ensuring the best safety practice when dealing
with explosives.