Modern Quarrying October-November 2015

AROUND THE INDUSTRY EDITOR’S COMMENT

Murray & Roberts shows its mettle

L ast month was a devastating one for Murray & Roberts, when a temporary structure in the Grayston interchange collapsed, killing two people and injuring several others. Murray & Roberts is a reputable and well- respected construction company employing liter- ally hundreds of registered engineering and built environment professionals, and credit has to be given to the fact that the company has been open in its dealings with the regulatory authorities and the media within the parameters of an investiga- tion that is far from being completed. The company’s response to the disaster was instant and it immediately established a crisis management team consisting of key board mem- bers. It also mobilised one of its service providers, Independent Counselling & Advisory Services (ICAS) to assist in the provision of behavioural risk man- agement and employee wellbeing; and also tasked ICAS with establishing accurate information on the condition and medical treatment of the injured. To this end, Murray & Roberts undertook, on a non-liability basis, to cover the immediate medical expenses of the injured and to contribute towards the funeral expenses of the deceased. Murray & Roberts has implemented infrastruc- ture projects throughout southern Africa for more than 110 years and is recognised as a leading inter- national engineering and construction group. The group is structured into four business platforms: Oil & Gas, Underground Mining, Power & Water and Infrastructure & Building. The collapse of the pedestrian bridge construction support structure occurred at a project which was being carried out in the Infrastructure & Building platform. Looking at the time frames for the various investigations by the Department of Labour, var- ious investigations by the Department of Labour, the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) and Murray & Roberts itself, CE Henry Laas says it is diffi- cult to commit to a timeframe on the investigation. “If it is a Section 32 investigation, it will be a public enquiry which will take a lot of time, and I believe this will take a couple of months. On the ECSA side, this is primarily focused at its members and par- ticipation by its members in the incident. A lot of reviews have been undertaken on the design of the structure, and the engineers involved in the project form part of the investigation process. “As far as the investigation is concerned, as a professional and ethical company we will be trans- parent throughout this process. As soon as we are in a position to announce the cause of the incident

we will certainly do so. In the meantime as far as the rest of the group is concerned, we continue to strive for engineered excellence in everything that we do and our people are committed everywhere in the world where they undertake work to a very high standard,” he says. Laas has been exemplary in his dealings with the public and the media, many of whom are still baying for blood at this stage. It is rather ironic that the civil engineer- ing industry provides infrastructure to enhance socio-economic development, and this particular temporary structure was installed in the process of constructing a pedestrian and cycle bridge, con- necting the residents in Alexandra to opportunities in the economic hub of Sandton. The fact is that these collapses are civil engi- neering disasters and this was said by The South African Institution of Civil Engineering’s Manglin Pillay (SAICE). “South Africa is yearning for models of ethical behaviour. In relation to accountability, this dreadful incident is an opportunity for the civil engi- neering and construction industry to showwhat true accountability and transparency is all about. This is also an opportunity for ECSA, SAICE and the various engineering bodies to showmettle when it matters. “We need to clearly communicate the stages and processes of accountability to the nation, and we have to take swift action after the investigations are complete,” Pillay urges. “In so doing, we also help to educate the millions of respectable South Africans who want to do something about malad- ministration and corruption.” He asks what the engineering fraternity is going to do to redeem itself. “What are we going to do differently, in a revolutionary way, to redeem our honourable profession? SAICE is the learned society and technical leadership hub of the profes- sion, involved in the knowledge base and network of civil engineering. We will continue to be the voice of the profession and to disassemble knowl- edge and wisdom with a view that these types of disasters never happen again.” But frankly, is this enough? If a company like Murray & Roberts can go through a tragic experi- ence such as this; what about the public sector and municipalities who very often have no engineering practitioners? There is no doubt that they are in a very vulnerable position for further construction disasters.

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MODERN QUARRYING

October - November 2015