SHEQ
Our Commitment to Safety, Health, Environment & Quality
Driving excellence through robust SHEQ practices, ensuring the well-being of people, the protection of the environment, and superior quality in everything we do
Concern for our people
Our people are the most important resource of the company and this is reflected in Safety being our No.1 priority, combined with our comprehensive healthcare programme.
- Sold dry for use in concrete or moistened (called conditioning) for less demanding applications such as fill, grouts or as a fine aggregate replacement.
- Processed in equipment called classifiers which can separate the fly ash particles into specific size ranges. Classified fly ash is a more highly specified material that is marketed under Ash Resources’ brand names: DuraPozz® and SuperPozz®.
Focused on Quality
Ash Resources is a listed company for Quality Management in terms of ISO 9001.
Our reputation for reliable quality performance comes from a track record built up over thirty years. Our name is respected internationally for technical competence and as producers of some of the world’s best quality fly ash products.
In 2012, our Matla plant was the first local fly ash production facility to be formally certified by the SABS for compliance with the new SANS 50450-1 specifications governing the use of fly ash in concrete. This was closely followed by official certification of our Lethabo plant.
Our Technical Services
Ash Resources works closely with all players in the construction chain to understand the needs of their projects and provide appropriate products together with first class supporting logistical and technical backup services. Our Technical Department has two prime functions:
- Customer technical service: we aim to assist our customers with any help they need on technical product and other areas of support. This includes customer materials evaluations to determine suitability for the intended applications, e.g. high-tech cementitious applications, formulations for specific binders, mining applications and cementitious based materials evaluations.
- Quality Department: the Department oversees our quality management system (ISO 9001) and all product quality related matters, which includes production testing, despatch testing and statistical conformance testing in accordance with the SANS 50450 specification. Our quality management system (QMS) is regularly audited internally and externally to continually improve the system and maintain customer satisfaction.
Concern for the Environment
Our environmentally-friendly fly ash is playing an important ‘green engineering’ role in the local building materials industry by:
- Reducing process and energy input carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
- Recycling a by-product from the local power generation industry as a value-added cementitious building material
- Reducing the consumption of non-renewable natural resources
- Reducing the size of power station landfill sites
- Improving concrete durability, prolonging the life cycle of concrete structures
Our Environmental Policy
Our operation is closely integrated with Eskom’s and we have taken a position on the National Environmental Management: Waste Act (NEMWA) that is consistent with their position.
“We are the leading manufacturer and supplier of classified fly ash in Southern Africa and market a range of fly ash products. Through the implementation of an environmental management system and the use of defined objectives and targets, we commit ourselves to:
- Continually improving environmental performance through appropriate initiatives and controls
- Complying with legal and other requirements
- The prevention of pollution
- Implementing controls for the minimisation of energy and material usage
- Operating effective and responsible waste management and disposal
- Taking immediate action to rectify a situation where our company impacts on biodiversity
- Encouraging our suppliers, contractors and customers to adhere to sound environmental management principles
The success of our policy relies on the personal commitment of each of our employees and the involvement of other affected parties. The company will motivate meaningful contribution to the policy through transparent communication processes, as well as training and awareness initiatives.
We will work with all government bodies on sustainable issues and communicate openly on our company’s environmental performance.”
Safety
The well-being of our employees and the people who work with us on our sites and transport our products is our first priority. We continually strive to match the safety benchmarks set by leading international players in our industry. Recently, we surpassed the milestones of 1 000 Lost-Time Injury-free days and 1 000 000 manhours LTI-free, demonstrating that genuine commitment and motivation can bring the desired results. Sustaining our safety ambitions is a wide spectrum of measures and programmes, such as:
- Every employee is trained in safety procedures and to carry out a risk analysis before starting any job
- Group standards are strictly enforced for carrying out any procedure with a potential safety risk
- Every employee is encouraged to participate in a safety competition as an individual and as a team player, with rewards for those achieving high scores for active safety awareness
Health
In a significant new approach to employee healthcare, the successful Ash Resources’ HIV/AIDS campaign has been incorporated in a holistic Wellness programme. Wellness recognises that a wide variety of lifestyle and health issues, such as nutrition, stress, financial and marital problems, can impact the functioning of an employee at work and the general well-being of the individual and his family. Some key aspects of the programme are:
- A Wellness committee, formed with employee representatives from all our sites, identifies priority issues and manages the programme on a monthly basis.
- Our voluntary HIV/AIDS Peer Educators have been trained to become Wellness Educators to provide a broader support service to employees.
- The Ash Resources Employee Assistance Programme is administered by ICAS, a company offering extensive experience in confidential healthcare counselling. Employees can contact ICAS 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to obtain help with whatever may be worrying them.
- Ash Resources has also arranged that the services of external healthcare management company, Lifeworks, are available to all employees and their immediate dependents as part of the ongoing HIV/AIDS prevention and care programme. This includes operating regular Voluntary Confidential Counselling Testing (VCCT) campaigns at the company’s sites.
Strategic Production with Uncompromising Quality Assurance
Production plants are strategically located near major Eskom bituminous coal-fired power stations and our distribution centres are along key geographic corridors, enabling us to recover and process selected fly ash efficiently. Our regularly audited Quality Management System (QMS) and stringent quality control measures ensure that quality remains central to every aspect of our business.
To safeguard supply continuity, our manufacturing strategy includes maintaining backup facilities. This approach allows us to provide uninterrupted product availability, even in the event of ash supply challenges at any of our source power stations.
Our products proudly carry the SABS mark, reflecting our commitment to quality and safety. We are ISO 9001 certified for Quality Management and our plants hold SANS 50450 accreditation, demonstrating compliance with South Africa’s highest industry standards. In addition, our fly ash products meet leading international EN specifications, confirming their suitability for use in global markets.