62
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
OCTOBER
2014
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PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
The Contractor Passport electron-
ically monitors, records and stores
medical and training records of
all on-site employees in a central
database to ensure employer compliance
with occupational health and safety regula-
tions, while eliminating the risk of duplica-
tion and loss of hardcopy documents.
Since the official launch of the system
in 2011, KBC managing director Graham
Emmett reveals that the Contractor Passport
has served as a vital tool in certifying occu-
pational competence for employees working
in the mining, construction and manufac-
turing industries.
In order to promote the benefits of the
Contractor Passport to the construction
industry, KBC hosted its Construction Regu-
lations Solutions Workshop in May 2014.
One of the major problems that was iden-
tified at the event was the movement of
workers across different sites, which often
amounts to duplication of training, medical
examinations, verification of competencies,
and access to information. These challenges
can be easily solved through the use of the
KBC Contractor Passport.
Emmett states that KBC has displayed
its committed to creating sustainable solu-
tions to the various industry challenges that
were raised at the event, through the recent
establishment of specialised task teams
that have been set up to work together with
industry representatives, in order to estab-
lish and implement a single standard across
the construction sector.
“KBC is currently engaging with the
Department of Labour and SAFCEC (South
African Forum of Civil Engineering Contrac-
tors) in order to highlight the benefits of
using the Contractor Passport as a data-
base to regulate qualifications across the
industry. What’s more, a number of high-pro-
file construction companies and the South
African Council for Project and Construction
Management Professions (SACPCMP) are
also involved,” he continues.
The Contractor Passport is particularly
useful in ensuring that mining and construc-
tion companies are compliant with amend-
ments to the Construction Regulations of the
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act of
1993. As part of the legislation, contractors
on all mining and construction sites are
required to possess training and medical
fitness certificates, which authorises them
to be on-site. The Contractor Passport stores
all these certificates in the central database.
One-of-its-kind solution
Although similar products are available
locally and internationally, Emmett stresses
that the Contractor Passport is the only
online solution of its kind. “Through the
Contractor Passport, every contractor
on-site is issued a unique card. This passport
is a life record for all contractor employees,”
he adds.
The Contractor Passport also provides
a means of identification, and increases
efficiencies through effective storage and
sharing of information. There are five cate-
gories of information that is stored on each
individual’s record, namely;
allowing them a sense of pride in their work
wear through the choice of wearing pretty, but
tough safety apparel.
BagshawFootwear’s introduction of this new
range of safety footwear created with women
in mind, is an important step in affirming the
integral role that women play in industries that
have historically been synonymous with men.
To bring about a change, Bagshaw Footwear will launch an online petition to
encourage women in industry to add their signatures in support of this proposed
change in legislation.
“We hope to inspire change by leading the way in empowering women in
industry, starting with this campaign duringWomen’s Month” says Van Staden.
Thousands of contractors across numerous industries
in South Africa have streamlined their compliance with
occupational health and safety regulations through
the innovative web-based Contractor Passport™
system developed by KBC Health and Safety.
• Demographic information: Including
image storage of fingerprint and photo.
• Employment record: Individuals can
update their work history on this tab.
• Training records: History of
training carried out at various
training institutions.
• Health record: Fitness certificate
information is captured and the
scanned certificate is stored. A detailed
electronic health record is available from
participating doctors, given
patient consent.
• Skills record:Competency verification
test scores are recorded and
qualification certificates are stored on
this tab.
KBC Health & Safety managing director,
Graham Emmett.
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Bagshaw Footwear, is the industrial division of Bolton Footwear
and is situated in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape – the heart
of the South Africanmotor manufacturing industry. The company
offers a consultation service on the correct PPE footwear choices
as a value-add to customers of this proudly local company, with
distributors situated across the country. In striving to manufac-
ture lighter and safer footwear with each revision in design, the
company invests in new technologies on a continuous basis.
Bagshaw Footwear has a long history of designing andmanu-
facturing footwear since 1872 and prides itself in supporting local
employment and empowerment through its 100% local labour
force, producing 100% locally manufactured safety footwear for
Southern Africa.
