Company Announcement - Master Builders Association North members received three national awards in the annual Master Builders South Africa Construction Health & Safety Awards this year - including one award that has consistently been won by a KZN MBA member for the past 10 years. The MBA North members who earlier this year won MBA North Regional Construction Health & Safety Awards, and then went on to scoop national MBSA honours in September this year, are the Joint Venture between Stefanutti Stocks and Basil Read for the Kusile Power Station (the third time in a row that the JV has scooped this top MBSA Construction Health & Safety Award for the Kusile Power Station contract in the "Contracts of over R500 million" category); Belo & Kies Construction (which also won its third consecutive MBSA national award - this time for its work on the Newcaste Crossing Shopping Mall); and Tiber Construction for the Top Plant & Storage Yard (the company's Village Deep yard, south of Johannesburg, was awarded top honours in this category).

Tiber's achievement was the first time an MBA North member had managed to wrest the national Top Plant & Storage Yard shield from a MBA KZN member after the province had 'owned' this category for the past decade. Tiber Contracts Director, Mario de Carvalho, says the company's success was achieved after many years of constant striving and dedication to get the Tiber facility to totally adhere to all the prescribed Health and Safety requirements. "It's been frustrating because there were a few years when we apparently had just narrowly missed out on top national honours in this category. This year we were determined to grab the accolade."

He said some of the steps taken to achieve success in 2015 included the installation of new lightning protection; the fitting of new large extraction fans near the workshop area to protect workers from gas, fumes, dust and vapour; and testing the yard's noise level to ensure that the staff's hearing was not endangered. "The Tiber yard personnel all took a personal interest in the facility's Health and Safety campaign and gave the initiative their full support. It was, in fact, a massive team effort that also included encouragement and assistance from top management. We now intend holding on to the MBSA Shield for this category for many years to come," de Carvalho added.

Commenting on the 2015 success of the MBA North members in the prestigeous MBSA national competition, Mohau Mphomela, Executive Director of MBA North, said MBA North members had made significant progress in raising its OHS levels to nationally acclaimed levels in the past few years. "This is most gratifying, not only for the awards won in the process, but also because it clearly shows that our  members are clearly aware that the health and safety of their employees are worth more than any financial gain from building projects. We commend the MBSA competition winners and feel sure that the MBA North regional competition next year will again produce national winners," Mphomela added. The MBSA National Construction Health & Safety Awards are sponsored by Federated Employers' Mutual Assurance Company.