“Any construction company can provide a product or a service, but consistently providing an excellent product on time without harm is something for which LTA Autecon is known. This is part of our history,” states Donavan Packaree, the company’s Safety Health Environment and Quality (SHEQ) Manager.
Packaree is passionate about safety and quality, regarding them as an inseparable combination – which has made LTA Autecon a market leader in SMEIPP (structural, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation, piping and platework) across a multitude of sectors, with a proud heritage spanning over 40 years.
The company’s safety pedigree and track record of project delivery and service excellence extends beyond its legal compliance requirements, and the codes and standards to which it subscribes. Rather, safety has become an integral part of its culture.
Safety and quality from the top down
Safety incidents lead to work stoppages – while poor quality and bad workmanship also result in delays. These are identified and mitigated through LTA Autecon’s Quality Management System (QMS), Packaree points out.
“When it comes to safety and quality, you cannot have one or the other. Good safety practices result in improved quality outputs and vice versa. We have leveraged this, with a checkpoint policy, which creates the framework for our QMS System. This considers safety, environment and quality. It was conceptualised in the early 2000s and has evolved into its current form,” he explains.
Although historically, this was a behaviour-based model, it has since evolved into a leadership model: “The best elements have been retained as building blocks and we have subsequently improved on them,” he comments.
The QMS includes plant task observations, visible leadership, daily inspections and data analysis to identify trends. Packaree explains that, while the behaviour-based model of old was based primarily on rules and regulations, the contemporary leadership model requires engagement with people at all levels. Consequently, safety officers are no longer seen as enforcers or ‘police officers’.
Home without harm, everyone everyday
As LTA Autecon know that knowledge is power, the company engages with employees at every level and its safety slogan of ‘home without harm, everyone everyday’ – which is at the heart of the business – represents an operational ethos which is taken very seriously, and has become an essential part of LTA Autecon’s organisational DNA – and its people development.
“Our people are the most important component of this business, and having them return home every day, unharmed, is paramount. This is reflected in our excellent statistical safety records,” says Packaree.
The same goes for clients, where a more inclusive approach also predominates.
Furthermore, as LTA Autecon operates at national key points, such as oil and gas refineries and pivotal private sector operations such as mines, safety and quality are very closely directed and monitored by its clients. This requires LTA Autecon to support its clients’ safety campaigns.
“These depend on trends. If a client observes that finger injuries or vehicle incidents are a problem, then we need to focus on these too,” Packaree explains.
In addition, as ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 certifications apply across all sectors, these form the framework and structure for the QMS – and are also dynamic and flexible enough to encompass clients’ specific requirements.
“If we are working for example on a mine or a refinery, the expectations and the requirements will be different. Overall, safety is our highest priority, regardless of the environment in which we are operating,” he continues.
When it comes to the use of coded welders trained specifically for the high-risk and safety-intensive oil and gas environment – trained in ISO 3834: Part 2-certified welding processes and procedures – these requirements have become integrated into the company’s overall QMS. Annual audits are conducted by the certification body to verify compliance. Packaree says that this is done because welding is one of the core processes which form the backbone of the sector.
Prioritising Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ)
Packaree believes that prioritising Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) makes LTA Autecon the SMEIPP company of choice for power, mining and oil and gas projects in South Africa: “Our clients understand and appreciate this commitment and dedication to SHEQ. This is paramount to the success of any SMEIPP project.”
SHEQ prioritisation also extends across borders into the SADC region and across Africa: “This is the way in which we operate. The location is irrelevant. By subscribing and conforming to international standards, we are able to deliver the same levels of excellence everywhere – and to meet the stringent standards of local and multi-national companies,” Packaree concludes.
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Lebo Gunguluza started his entrepreneurial journey with R60 and a lot of nerve. He managed to secure a bursary, which enabled him to study a BCom degree at the University of Natal. To earn money while he studied he became an agent for Edgars on campus, then went on to work in sales for the SABC. He launched his first business and made his first million by 27 but squandered it and had to work his way back to financial wealth. He launched Corporate Fusion, and at 33 his business was turning over R14 million, but he left it to others to run while he travelled the world, and he soon found himself in R4 million worth of debt. Several years later after paying off his debt, he launched GEM (Gunguluza Enterprises & Media) Group of Companies, which has become a multimillion rand business in it\’s first two-and-a-half years. He went on to become one of the \”dragons\’ on the South African edition of Dragons\’ Den, as well as one of the \”sharks\’ on M-Net\’s Shark Tank.