Health and Safety

Some of our operational environments are relatively hazardous. TMS offers cleaning services to the petro-chemical industry, Laundry Services’ employees work with cleaning chemicals, BidAir employees work with heavy machinery and Bidvest Bank employees and security guards face the risk of robbery and assault. Bidvest Services is alive to the risks faced by its people and the risk to its service contracts.

We maintain strong focus on training and safety campaigns are run every year to highlight risks and teach employees safe work practices and mindsets. As a result of interventions like these, our national ‘Recordable Case’ rate (number of injuries divided by the number of shifts) is currently at 0.26% (2009: 0.22%), the industry norm being 0.3% and below. In some regions, we have clocked up over a two million injury-free work hours. This was achieved at Sasol Secunda by the Industrial Cleaning team following a fatality in August 2008. We look forward to making it two years without an injury there. Among other teams topping the million-mark were those working at Camden power station. In the Sasolburg region, we have gone four years without incident.

Every significant incident is investigated and the lessons learned improve our training in prevention and response. Bidvest Services companies continue to invest heavily in training to educate employees in the procedures and protocols that help prevent incidents occurring. Suppliers of chemicals also conduct regular on-site health and safety training. All chemicals used in Laundry Services are now biodegradable and non-carcinogenic.

In addition to fulfilling OHASA requirements, some businesses contract outside experts to double-check health and safety procedures. Processes are constantly being reviewed or automated to keep the handling of chemicals to a minimum. At Bidvest Bank, security staff and state-of-the-art security measures protect staff and assets.

HIV/Aids

Bidvest Services recognises the negative impact HIV/Aids has on the business and its debilitating effect on the employees concerned – not to mention their families and communities. While individual businesses run awareness and prevention campaigns such as Project Promote in association with the National Department of Health, most employees remain resistant to testing. This makes it difficult to provide further assistance such as counselling and treatment. Despite this challenge, the expenditure on HIV/Aids campaigns, counselling, VCT initiatives (excluding ART) has decreased to R136 000 (2009:R516 000) is due to the number of employees who have participated in VCT programmes reducing from 649 to merely seven.  To date Bidvest Services has distributed more than 16 million condoms through its client base, potentially preventing 16 000 new infections (going by the international norm. Bidvest Services companies are currently adopting a holistic approach in drafting a national HIV/Aids policy.

Training

Most of our staff are unskilled general workers at the time of employment, creating a significant training challenge. The division’s total training spend is not comparable with the prior year as the basis of calculation has changed.  net of skills recovery, reduced by 10% to R50 million from R55 million. Last year’s figure was based on market related training cost per person and this method of calculation was accepted by the rating agency. This year, the actual overhead cost of the training department was used as per the definition on the toolkit and in line with the new requirements from the rating agency. This change in calculation resulted in a reduction of R14m in Prestige Cleaning alone. If last year’s investment were to be restated, training spend would have increased in proportion to the 11% increase in the number of people trained during the year from 62,624 to 69,629.

The number of bursaries awarded has more than doubled, from 97 to 205, at a total increase in value from R538,500 to R982,800.

Human rights

Human rights issues such as freedom of association, child labour and forced or compulsory labour, are well legislated for under various relevant Acts in South Africa. Incidents of discrimination are monitored and there were no significant incidents to report. The number of CCMA cases brought against Bidvest Services this year dropped 41% to 1189, although the proportion awarded in favour of the division also dropped from 75% to 61%. Bidvest Services incurred no fines for non compliance from the Department of Labour.

Society – business ethics, fraud, corruption and anti-competitive behaviour

We have embarked on an internal awareness campaign to ensure ethical business practices, through presentations by experts with a management on business ethics debated issues such as anticompetitive behaviour and corrupt practices with staff, greatly improving the company’s awareness of how it should conduct itself in the marketplace. The audit committee plays an oversight role, recording no significant incidences of fraud, corruption or anticompetitive behaviour.

Product responsibility

Bidvest Services operates exclusively in the business to business market, where its business partners are credible and its product lines stable. We have very limited exposure to product responsibility issues such as fair product labelling and the integrity of customer information.