Omnia Holdings company BME’s strong commitment to social development, a fundamental part of its operational excellence, led to the company being recognised as a runner–up at this year’s annual Chemical and Allied Industries Association (CAIA) Responsible Care awards.
This year, BME was a runner-up of the 2025 Responsible Care Initiative of the Year Award for the positive impact that its ‘Blasting Assistant Academy’ is making on South Africa’s high youth unemployment by transferring employable mining skills.
The Responsible Care awards recognise outstanding achievements that exemplify the principles of the International Council of Chemical Association’s (ICCA) Responsible Care Global Charter.
During the award ceremony held on October 22 in Johannesburg, Zingaphi Martin, Omnia Holdings’ CSI & Community Liaison Partner, accepted the award on behalf of the company and stated that the academy exemplifies BME’s ongoing commitment to supporting host communities.
“Through this initiative, we are also developing a robust talent pipeline for BME and the larger mining industry that we serve,” she said.
Since the inception of the Blasting Assistant Academy in 2018, BME has permanently employed more than 90% of the individuals who have completed programme.
“Through hard work and dedication,14 young adults from mining host communities have succeeded in securing permanent employment at a leading global manufacturer of explosives,” she said. “This has provided them with an opportunity to develop further and earn a livelihood.”
Many of these individuals also support families as main income earners, demonstrating the significant multiplier effect of BME’s about R800 000 in investment into its host communities’ skills development.
Martin attributed the success of the initiative to meaningful stakeholder collaboration, driven by a dedicated BME team championed by BME’s MD Ralf Hennecke along with Kasturi Adari, General Manager: Human Resources; Dr Ramesh Dhoorgapersadh, General Manager Global Operational Excellence & SHERQ; and Nic Dreyer, General Manager: SADC Operations.
“Again, we are demonstrating how BME lives the Omnia’s core values of ‘achieving excellence together and doing the right thing’,” she said, adding that “it underpins our business strategy and is a culture that we nurture in the many communities where we operate.”
She added that a shift in perspective was needed to solve the unique and complex socio-economic problems facing the country.
“Our academy is the outcome of consistently challenging our level of thinking around youth unemployment,” Martin concluded.
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