Johannesburg - Eskom has suspended work at all its construction sites following an accident last week, a move that has highlighted persistent safety problems among its contractors.

 

Chief executive Brian Dames said on Friday that Eskom often cancelled contracts and suspended contractors who failed to meet its safety standards. He was commenting after six construction workers died at Eskom’s Ingula pumped storage scheme outside Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal.

 

Dames said all Eskom’s construction works in the country would shut down until safety investigations were conducted.

 

Eskom is building the Medupi and Kusile coal-fired power plants, which have already been plagued by delays. The electricity utility said last week that these two projects were expected to deliver power next year. The Ingula pumped storage scheme is expected to deliver hydroelectricity at peak demand periods and Eskom expects it to be completed in the 2014/15 financial year.

 

Seven workers were also injured at Ingula when a platform collapsed in a 4km deep tunnel on Thursday. An internal investigation would be conducted by law firm Webber Wentzel.

 

Three of the men who died worked for the joint venture between CMC di Ravenna, Impregilo, and PG Mavundla and the other three worked for UK-based Whessoe Projects.

 

“One life lost is one too many, whether it is one of our employees or one of our contractors. The project timelines are the least of our concerns now. What is a priority is to focus on the families of those who passed away,” Dames said.

 

In the 2011/12 financial year, Eskom recorded 24 deaths at its operations, while 19 deaths were recorded in the 2012/13 year, according to its integrated report for 2013. Most deaths were as a result of falls, electricity-related mishaps or vehicle accidents.

 

Dames said contractors were prone to not comply with safety standards, which often resulted in their suspension or the cancellation of contracts.

 

Eskom’s managing director of corporate services, Steve Lennon, said he did not know the exact number of suspensions as a result of safety concerns, but that it had become “common practice” in the business. “In many cases, the suspension may be short-lived because after stopping the contractor, we put them through a training programme to ensure they comply.

 

 

“We adopted a strategy to deal with the contractors, because we are all in this together… we started a contractor safety strategy which is locked into every step of the value chain.”

 

Lennon said regular meetings of the contractor safety forum, of which the most recent was held in July this year, pointed out to contractors the safety rules applicable to them.

 

“We pointed out very clearly to contractors exactly what was expected of them. The lifesaving rules of Eskom apply to contractors as well.”

 

Lennon said Eskom had adopted a strategy 18 months ago to deal with contractors and safety issues. He said he had not seen contractors take safety concerns seriously.

Whessoe Projects was bought by smartphone giant Samsung in March this year.

PG Mavundla Engineering, headed by the mayor of Greytown, had a R1.2 billion stake in the construction of the Ingula power station.

 

Milan-based Impregilo has a more than R9bn share of the R28bn project, according to the Italian company’s financial report last year.

 

According to Impregilo, the contractors’ participation in the construction of the hydroelectric plant was finalised in March 2009 and as of September 2012, almost 70 percent of the work in the plant had been completed.

 

Recently, a report by Frost & Sullivan found that South Africa could be one of the fastest-growing renewable energy markets in the world.

 

Frost & Sullivan energy business unit leader Cornelis van der Waal said the expensive measures Eskom was taking in shutting down operations was warranted as the loss of lives was more important.

 

He commended Eskom for ensuring that the correct safety measures were in order before it continued operations.

 

However, Van der Waal said further delays to construction would affect delivery dates as strikes at Medupi had already placed a strain on timeframes.

 

He said the Ingula project would eventually get back on track as the possibility of other opportunities for renewable energy was limited.

 

Dames said the company would “take care” of the families of the deceased.

 

The contracting companies could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.