Environmental performance

We are sensitive to both our social and moral responsibility to look after the environment in which we operate, ensuring adequate resources for generations to come. While most operations monitor electricity and water consumption, as well as fuel consumption, this area remains one of our material sustainable development issues.

A notable achievement was Bulk Connections being awarded the “Best Environmental Protection Award” by the International Bulk Journals. This recognises transformation that began several years ago to change the facility to a standard that is now recognised as one of the best in the world.

Greenhouse gas emissions / Carbon footprint

The main drivers that influence our Carbon footprint are electricity and fuel consumption.

Our overall diesel consumption increased by 6% over the last year, mainly due to increase in use of diesel rather than petrol by our fleet of trucks, mobile equipment and locomotives. Total fuel consumption only increased by 0.4%. We maintain our focus on using technology and hardware to improve fuel efficiency while ensuring vehicles are optimally maintained and routes and payloads are efficiently planned. Algae-X devices fitted to heavy fuel users have improved fuel efficiency.

Our overall diesel consumption increased by 6% over the last year, mainly due to increase in use of diesel by our fleet of trucks, mobile equipment and locomotives.  We maintain our focus on using technology and hardware to improve fuel efficiency while ensuring vehicles are optimally maintained and routes and payloads are efficiently planned.  Algae-X devices fitted to heavy fuel users have improved fuel efficiency.

The number of trucks calling at our bulk terminals has increased as more cargo is transported by road instead of rail. This negatively impacts on the environment by increasing carbon emissions and damaging our terminals and public roads. Whilst we are not directly responsible for the problem, we have embarked on initiatives to reduce truck dwell time by improving traffic flow, improving loading performance and by making our facilities more user friendly for trucks. We are also actively working with the Port and Transport communities to find solutions to various challenges resulting from the increased use of road transport.

Waste management

Our operations focus on minimising general waste and on recycling as much as possible. Island View Storage has a goal to have zero waste to landfills in the near future. Where recycling is not possible, we ensure that waste is disposed of responsibly and safely.

Air quality

External specialists were contracted during the year to monitor the impact of dust on the environment at Bulk Connections and South African Bulk Terminals.  We are assessing ways to implement the feedback received and working with our landlord to effectively manage dust levels.  Several projects are already underway to reduce dust emissions.

We will look at setting specific targets for these areas in the new year and monitor our progress on an ongoing basis.

Labour practices and decent work

Employee engagement

Safcor Panalpina continued to participate in ‘Deloitte’s “Best Company to work for” survey. This survey takes place in August of each year. We maintained our rating from the previous year.

The recessionary pressures resulted in a retrenchment programme being concluded at Safcor Panalpina. All attempts were made to delay this decision with the hope that the economy would improve. It is unfortunate that 97 people were affected by this process. People were also given the option of going on early retirement and 49 people exercised this option.

Safety

Our primary concern continues to be the safety of our employees. Regrettably, Bidvest Freight suffered two fatalities to employees and the death of one casual labourer in the 2010 financial year. It reiterates the need to continuously retrain our workforce and increase safety awareness.

Most of the businesses have Health and Safety Committees in place and relevant safety personnel are employed to ensure that the business takes into account health and safety as part of the business operations.

Health and HIV/Aids

Most of our operations have fully equipped on-site clinics. Where such clinics do not exist, alternative arrangements are made for employees. We have seen an increase in the number of people participating in HIV/Aids training and VCT programs. There has been a slight increase in the number of people that receive company sponsored Anti-Retroviral medicines, but this percentage is still low in comparison to our total workforce. We will continue to put more focus on awareness and education in the hope that it has a positive impact on our workforce.

Bidvest Freight continues to look for ways of improving its HIV/Aids programmes. Most responses to the HIV/Aids challenge are guided by a documented policy. This policy provides for the distribution of ARVs, immune boosters and vitamins at no cost to the employee. All company-run HIV management programmes offer support to staff that are affected by this pandemic and there is an ongoing drive to encourage staff to be tested to ascertain their status.

Training and development

People development as a means of reducing skills shortage is a key focus.  We have had to be innovative in addressing this issue to ensure the future sustainability of the businesses.  This focus starts off at the basic level where ABET (Adult Based Education & Training) is used to improve literacy levels and increase opportunities promotion within the business.

In our industry, we have found that companies are fighting over the same pool of skills and we have identified increasing this pool as a great opportunity that requires long term planning and investment. It is our responsibility to develop our people to ensure transfer of skills and succession within our organisations.

This needs to be done by improving existing supervisory management skills and development of new supervisory management skills. Together with skills transfer, this will help us realise our goals and ensure that we maintain our competitive edge.