Capital Equipment News April-May 2020

COVER STORY

During the lockdown, Liebherr’s normal safety procedures for field service and workshop activities are in place in order to achieve zero- harm operations.

travel and limited visitors on site. Meetings are now conducted via Skype or telephonically. When government announced the lockdown, Liebherr-Africa implemented mobile working from home where possible, which is a fairly new concept for the manufacturing industry in South Africa. During the lockdown, Münch says normal safety procedures for field service and workshop activities are still in place in order to achieve zero-harm operations. “Covid-19 represents a previously unknown challenge. Since early February 2020, Liebherr has implemented additional measures and harsh procedures to protect our own staff as well as others surrounding us, including our clients and service providers. I must say that we have been successful as none of our staff has tested positive thus far,” he says. On the ground Mostly service-related staff are on the frontline of Liebherr-Africa’s customer- facing team during the lockdown. Tendayi Kudumba, GM Earthmoving (EMT), says technicians in the workshops are working on critical machines, for example, the PR776 dozer which is urgently required for deployment at a coal operation. Mike Spies, EMT Workshop Manager, who has been leading this service team, emphasises that, as always, proper job planning and identification of possible safety risks prior to performing tasks is a key parameter in ensuring safe execution of jobs. In light of the Covid-19 threat, Spies says the team working in the workshop was briefed on the high risks of the virus. “We are each issued with masks,

Since the first Covid-19 cases were recorded in South Africa, at the core of Liebherr-Africa’s priorities has always been the health and safety of its employees.

Apart from coal mines, Liebherr-Africa is also supporting several other mining activities classified as essential services during the lockdown.

“We believe that companies that are able to weather the storm creatively, possibly by reinventing portions of their business model, will emerge stronger and more effective.”

Dieter Schmid, MD of Liebherr-Africa

TALKING POINT

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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS APRIL-MAY 2020