About Us

Occupational Health and Safety regarded with paramount importance

The Test Range's activities demand the highest level of safety in the execution of tests and in the workplace and this has become ingrained in our organisational culture. We are committed to protecting the health and safety of our employees, customers, contractors and the public by conducting our business in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner. We comply with all applicable governmental legislation and regulations as well as internal organisational requirements and have integrated fundamental principles of resource conservation into our business processes.

We foster open communication and dialogue on workplace health and safety issues with all our stakeholders and will respond vigorously to their concerns and suggestions in this regard.
 

Health & Safety Management System

Sound health & safety management is an integral part of the Test Ranges day to day operations. Even though not formally accredited yet, the Test Ranges Occupational Health and Safety management system already complies largely with the principles and standards as laid down by the ISO 45001 standard.

Due to the extent and complexity of environmental management at the Range, our ISO14001 accredited Environmental Management System (EMS) is managed separately from the Health and Safety Management System, although on a similar basis and with various tangencies. For an overview of environmental management at the Test Range, click here.

The Health and Safety Management System is designed to meet legal and other requirements and includes the following elements and activities:

1. Health and Safety Policy - The Test Ranges health and safety activities are regulated via its formal configured Occupational Health and Safety Policy that is revised on an annual basis. Various other procedure and work instruction documents are used at an operational level to ensure that the Test Range maintains an acceptable level of health and safety in the workplace according to the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
2. Health and Safety Committee - The Test Range has an operational Health and Safety Committee whose primary role it is to acts as an advisory committee to Denel Overberg Test Range Management to promote a safe and healthy working environment on the Range. This is achieved through discussions at meetings, reviews of company safety practices and policy and recommendations to Management. The Committees functioning is regulated by a formal Constitution. The Committee has scheduled meetings at least once every three months. Minutes of these meetings are signed off by the Chief Executive Officer and discussed quarterly at a formal Exco Management meeting.
3. Appointments Documentation on all applicable, relevant and legal appointments required in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, are kept in a centralised register at the Test Range. This includes the appointment of all Department Managers in terms of their responsibility to occupational health and safety of employees within their departments, the appointment of the Chairperson of the Health and Safety committee and the appointment of health and safety representatives from all departments covering all functional areas. The appointment register is audited regularly to ensure that the documentation is current and updated.
4. Inspections and Audits - Regular inspections and audits are conducted which are formally recorded and signed off by both the responsible line managers and the SHE representatives. Defects found during these inspections audits are rectified as soon as possible depending on the nature of the defect. In addition SHE representatives on a continuous basis do internal inspections in the functional areas they are responsible for. These inspections are informal and are not recorded.
5. Risk Register - Health and safety related risks are assessed and recorded in the Health & Safety Risk Register which is reviewed by the Health and Safety Committee and Management on a regular basis as required. All of the major risks identified to date are well under control.
6. Record keeping - All SHE related incidents and accidents are logged on the Test Ranges Qmuzik ERP system. The progress of investigations can be tracked on Qmuzik. Documentation is also kept in a centralized hardcopy filing system.
7. Awareness and Training - Awareness sessions are held on a regular basis to keep the Test Range employees informed on various health and safety matters that are relevant at the time and to ensure optimal participation and involvement of all employees. Where needed training is conducted to ensure that personnel, customers and contractors are aware of the latest health and safety matters and are legally compliant where applicable.

Health & Safety Achievements

Denel Overberg Test Range never had any major test related incident since its inception 33 years ago. Neither has any death of serious injury being recorded during this period. Long-term goals set include keeping reportable and disabling injuries and incidents to below 5 per year and maintaining a DIFR (Disabling Injury Frequency Rate) of below 1.