20231020 Prelim Information on Fatality.pptx

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1. Tutuka Fatality Work Stoppage 20 October 2023 Presented by: Noma Khwele

2. Employee details 2 Gender and age : Male, 39 Occupation : General Worker / SHE Rep Years of experience : Four (4) years Employee Company : Southern Cooling Towers (Sub-contractor) Principal Contractor : Industrial Water Cooling (IWC) (Principal Contractor) Accident Type : Fatality Project: : Tutuka Cooling Tower #2 Refurbishment

3. Executive summary 3 On 17 October 2023, at around 10:00 at Cooling tower #2, three Contractor employees were busy with the removal of damaged drift eliminators inside Cooling Tower #2 at Tutuka Power Station using wooden spreader boards as the walkway to access the drift eliminators which were away from the cooling tower concrete walkway At the time of the incident, the deceased was in the process of removing a drift eliminator pack. While the deceased was bending down to unlock the drift eliminator so that it can be lifted up with his colleagues next to him ready to support him in lifting it up , the drift eliminator pack, which was under a wooden board on which he was standing, gave way (collapsed) and caused the deceased and the board he stood on to fall through the hole from a height of 14 meters to the cooling tower pond floor. Paramedics were notified and dispatched to the scene, they assessed the injured and declared the employee deceased. The GMR 2(1) of Tutuka was informed, who notified Department of Employment and Labor, as well as SAPS. Prohibition Notice was issued by the Inspector to Eskom and Contractor.

4. Immediate Actions Taken 4 All work was stopped. Emergency response team was notified and dispatched to incident scene. GMR 2(1) was informed and he notified Department of Employment and Labour and SAPS who was dispatched to site Area was barricaded off. Forensic team dispatched to site. CCT Management was informed. Office of GE was notified and dispatched to site. Risk and Sustainability was notified and dispatched to site. Immediate family was notified. Counselling was conducted for contractor employees. IWC and Southern Cooling Tower Senior Management were notified.

5. Preliminary findings 5 Risk assessment was inadequate and not task specific. There was no direct Supervision for the activity carried out. Sequencing of according to the task specific method statement was not adequately implemented. The Daily Safety Task Instruction (DSTI) completed on the day did not address the activity of removal of the drift eliminators. There was no documented evidence that the activity (removal of drift eliminators) was planned for the day. Drift eliminator pack gave way (collapsed) under load. Spreader boards were not used in accordance with the Method Statement. The use of wooden boards (spreader boards) on top of the drift eliminators for walking/working is the method both Contractors have used at Matla, Arnot, Duvha, Tutuka and Kriel, without any incident, however this is not in accordance with Eskom Life saving rule: Hooking up at Heights.

6. Lessons learnt 6 Adhere to the life saving rules at all time i.e., Hook up at Heights. Direct supervision on high-risk activities to be maintained. DSTI must be specific to the task at hand and must address all the risks Scaffold access platforms should have been built below the drift eliminators to prevent personnel from falling to the ground as the structural integrity of the drift eliminators is not known. Management to enforce compliance on Legal and other requirements. Construction Manager and Supervisor’s to sign off on the DSTI before work commences or after any changes occur. Management of change measurements to be implemented.

7. 7 Wooden board where the deceased fell from . Drift eliminators An opening through which the deceased fell. Wooden board used as a walkway to preserve the drift eliminators and for safety measures. Drift eliminators

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