Construction World April 2015

PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS

“Sisalation is a key innovation here, as it

undergone their first medical check-up, this is used as a baseline against which all subsequent tests can be measured and compared, in order to check for deviations from the norm. “As for our employees on site at ABI, the company also takes it upon itself to conduct regular ‘toolbox talks’ with employees. These meetings revolve around site- specific SHE issues and involve basic expla- nations of what to do and what not to do,” says Williams. Furthermore, he indicates that R&D also conducts a site-specific risk assessment every week at the facility. Workers operating on the roof are also fitted with redundant safety lines – in fact everything up there is double secured – to ensure that risk is mini- mised, both for R&D’s workers and the ABI employees inside the plant. “It is particularly important from an ABI perspective to know that its plant can continue functioning normally and ensure that the integrity of its bottling lines is not compromised, even as R&D goes about replacing the roofing. To this end, safety nets that can hold up to 400 kg per square metre are placed underneath the working envi- ronment. These provide additional protec- tion for our staff – should they accidentally slip and fall – and also added protection for employees in the factory from any accidents occurring that involve large items of equipment. This net is an additional safety measure, above and beyond the double-securing that is undertaken on all our equipment.” “It is always satisfying to be involved in a project of this nature. Not only are we able to radically improve ergonomic conditions within the plant, we are able to bring our technical skills and expertise to bear in a way that will provide ABI with a new roof that will withstand the elements for decades to come. Furthermore, a project like this enables R&D to further hone both its skills set and its development of better roofing techniques. At the end of the day, R&D Contracting is a solutions-oriented company and we are always eager to find new and better ways to do things,” concludes Williams. improves vastly on the old roof, which utilised sponge for insulation purposes. Vast tracts of wet sponge add an enormous additional weight load onto the roof. This is negated by the far lighter zinc alum roofing and the sisaltion we are using instead.”

Opal White polycarbonate sheeting, with sisalation visible underneath.

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Workers busy on the roof. The safety netting can clearly be seen.

on cloudy days – and this is from natural light alone, it doesn’t take into account the electrical lighting that is also present.” The other important benefit of this sheeting is that it improves the ergonomics within the plant as well. For example, says Kruger, better lighting helps to keep employees more awake and thus less likely to make errors; it reduces eye strain; and it generally improves the working conditions for employees. This has additional tangible benefits, since happier employees are more productive employees. “In addition, we will also be installing extractor fans in the roof, which will help to remove fumes from the from the exhausts of the ever-present forklifts. This will also help to improve the general well- being of employees in the plant and the

overall working environment,” states Kruger. Safety is critical According to Williams, the company has approximately 15 staff on site at any given time, which makes the issue of safety, health and environment (SHE) a critical one. “SHE is very important to R&D and ABI, and is a vital component of a project of this nature. Quite aside from the obviously crucial safety measures taken while working on the roof itself, we also take the health and welfare of employees a step further. There are regular medical check-ups sched- uled for all our employees. These focus specifically on hearing, eyesight and respira- tory-related matters. He adds that after each employee has

CONSTRUCTION WORLD APRIL 2015