With its safety focus entrenched as a key aspect of overall operational excellence, BME has been recognised as a leading force in safety at this year’s annual Chemical and Allied Industries Association (CAIA) Responsible Care® awards.
Held in Sandton in October, the awards honour companies who deliver outstanding safety performance over a four-year period. BME, a member of the Omnia Group, was announced as runner-up in the Responsible Care® Sustained High Performance Awards – for continuous improvement in overall performance of the business.
“We are proud to have integrated the highest levels of safety into all aspects of our business, including not only within our own staff but with regard to the communities and environment around our operations,” said Dr Ramesh Dhoorgapersadh, General Manager for Operational Excellence & SHERQ (Safety, Health, Environment, Risk, and Quality) at BME. “The award considers the time period during which we were able to bring our recordable case rate (RCR) – a key indicator in safety performance – down to zero.”
This RCR landmark, achieved in 2023, puts BME in a leading safety position in the explosives and blasting segment in South Africa. Dhoorgapersadh highlighted that BME’s focus was strongly aligned with Omnia’s commitment to a safety-first culture in pursuit of zero harm. BME, as a division of Omnia Holdings, is committed to Omnia’s purpose of ‘Innovating to enhance life, together creating a greener future. This approach ensures that all employees create and maintain a safe place of work, safeguard and protect the environment, and contribute positively to communities.
He also emphasised the importance of BME’s safety reputation and capability as the company expands its international footprint. Already well established across most of Africa, BME is active in mining markets that include Indonesia, Canada and Australia.
“Our safety approach extends beyond the culture of safety among our employees and contractors, and the procedures and standards they apply every day,” he said. “Safety is also at the heart of how we design our products and equipment – ensuring that they enhance our customers’ safety wherever they are used.”
Dhoorgapersadh pointed out that the company’s operations cover a wide range of diverse activity, from the production of emulsion explosives and initiation technology to the management of mobile manufacturing units; and more recently mining chemicals and metallurgical processing solutions. This requires an in-depth understanding of the potential risks at each stage, and the most effective strategies to manage those risks.
“This means constant engagement with line managers in each and every aspect of our operations, and close collaboration in developing and applying solutions,” he said. “We also learn from other organisations in our field globally and contribute our own innovations – to raise the safety bar in all jurisdictions.”
These organisations include CAIA itself, Safex International – whose purpose is to eliminate the harmful effects of explosives on people, property and the planet – and the National Institute for Explosives Technology (NIXT), a South African organisation improving safety in the storage, handling and transport of dangerous goods related to the mining industry.
“Our continuous learning has equipped us to achieve exceptional safety results across the value chain, ensuring zero harm from the manufacturing stage through transportation and storage, to the performance of our products on the blast block,” he said.
Among the strategies that have contributed to BME’s safety record is a focus on lead indicators such as ‘near misses’ in the workplace and elsewhere. By diligently recording, analysing and discussing these incidents, employees and stakeholders are empowered to prevent them leading to accidents. BME also employs all relevant technology to enhance safety, such as ‘drive cams’ to record and assess driver behaviour, and the use of driving simulators to improve driver expertise.
