Eskom must explain 23 employee deaths in 2014

29 July 2014

The DA will submit parliamentary questions to the Minister of Public Enterprises, Lynne Browne,  requesting details around the death of 23 employees who worked for Eskom in 2014. This includes 5 staff and 18 contractors.

We will also request further information on what further plans have been put in place to ensure these fatalities are prevented in the future.

This information was revealed in Eskom's Annual Statements, which were tabled in the National Assembly yesterday.

In the document, Eskom has admitted that fatalities remain a "challenge", though, " ...improvement initiatives are being implemented to bring the number of fatalities and injuries down to zero."

As it stands, the problem seems to be getting worse. According to the Report, 18 contract workers have died in 2014, compared to 16 in 2013. An added 5 Eskom employees have lost their this year, compared to 3 last year. It isn't clear from this report what other non-fatal injuries were recorded.

It is critical that we get to the bottom of the matter so that we can ensure that everything is done to protect the safety of employees.

To this effect, our parliamentary questions will also seek further information on:

The health and safety agreement signed between Eskom and its trade unions;

The Eskom contractor safety management plan as revealed in this annual report;and

The effectiveness of the zero harm dashboard, which monitors the progress of strategic safety initiatives.

We look forward to receiving all the relevant details on these cases so that the portfolio committee can properly consider the matter and make sure that Eskom is properly monitored in reaching its target of zero fatalities, as a matter of urgency.

Statement issued by Natasha Michael, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, July 29 2014

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