Case Study: Strengthening Occupational Health and Safety in the Transport & Logistics Sector
Client
Our client is a large logistics provider specialising in freight transport and warehousing. It has a team of 150+ employees based at 8 operational depots across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, as well as the Western Cape and Eastern Cape.
Industry Challenges
Transport and logistics is a high-risk industry when it comes to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), often impacted by issues related to:
- Manual handling and ergonomic risks in warehouses
- Inadequate safety culture across remote and decentralised sites
- Inconsistencies in compliance between operations
- A lack of awareness regarding OHS compliance requirements
- Driver fatigue
- Shift-related health issues
Client Challenges
The company realised that it needed support in improving health and safety aspects due to:
- A sharp rise in vehicle incidents leading to injuries and downtime
- A lack of standardised safety training and hence also incident reporting which complicated putting corrective measures in place
- Receiving Department of Employment and Labour contravention notices at two of its depots
- Recognising poor integration of OHS practices across multiple sites as evidenced during the site inspections
Partnership Objectives
The company partnered with Labournet to:
- Implement an OHS management system nationally
- Achieve consistent OHS compliance across all sites
- Reduce workplace injuries and related costs
- Improve health and safety awareness
- Mitigate the risk of fines and penalties related to non-compliance
Solutions Provided
We worked closely with the team to gain a deeper and more holistic understanding of their specific needs beyond the challenges that they outlined initially. Doing so would support them in minimising risks related to aspects which they had not considered yet. A project plan was put in place to ensure that all ran smoothly and that all involved were held accountable for their responsibilities.
Nationwide baseline OHS compliance audits were conducted at each depot. These site-specific compliance audits assessed:
- Warehouse storage practices and compliance
- Extent of correct and safe management of Hazardous Chemical Agents (HCAs)
- First aid capabilities
- Compliance with required OHS signage
- Emergency preparedness
- Depth of staff training
- Adherence to required legal appointments
A report was produced per site, indicating overall compliance and highlighting key focus areas. Based on these, we put a series of mitigations in place to support compliance and to ensure better OHS practices going forward. This included the following:
| Key Focus Area | Labournet’s Involvement |
|---|---|
| Standardised OHS management system roll-out |
|
| Incident reporting standardisation |
|
| Training and capacity building |
|
Key Considerations for the Industry
- OHS implementation in logistics must address both driver and depot safety
- The risk assessment is a critical step in the implementation process and when done correctly, lays the foundation for creating a safer workplace
- Continuous training and empowerment of staff is important in improving the overall safety culture
- A functional OHS management system improves productivity and staff morale while reducing the likelihood of costly incidents.
