Dekra Industrial achieves its 9th consecutive NOSCAR Award with highest-ever score

Passion for safety pays off: Dekra Industrial achieves its 9th consecutive NOSCAR Award
with highest-ever score

02 October 2023
Dekra Industrial SA has clinched its 9 th annual NOSCAR safety award – and achieved its highest-
ever score as a recipient of the greatest safety honour from the National Occupational Safety
Association (NOSA).
However, for Dekra Industrial Managing Director, Johan Gerber, and Dekra Industrial’s Health,
Safety and Environment (HSE) Manager, Carina Kleinhans, there would be no safety without
people.

“We entrench a safety culture both within and outside the workplace in line with our global
company Dekra’s stated intention to be a global partner for a safe and sustainable world by 2025.
This means safety is an integral and inherent part of our DNA, and always a key priority,”
explains Gerber.
Kleinhans agrees: “This is a very noteworthy achievement and, to be the recipient of this for the
9th consecutive year, speaks volumes about who we are and what we aspire to be as a
company.”
Safety in numbers
The award is only conferred after an extremely rigorous verification audit. Scores need to be
above 95%, with a disabling accident frequency rate of less than 0.8%, no fatal accidents, no
occupational health issues and no major environmental incidents.
Kleinhans says Dekra has improved its score consistently from 92.26 in 2014 to 97.61 in 2023.
This fact alone demonstrates that the auditor’s recommendations have been consistently
implemented by Dekra for 9 years.
For his part, Gerber is very proud that Dekra Industrial SA has emerged as a top performer within
the well-established international Group, which has an impressive 98-year track record.
“Dekra in other parts of the world tends to focus on single industry vertical sectors such as the
automotive industry; while locally, Dekra Industrial performs non-destructive testing (NDT) and
inspection services for an extremely diverse range of industries: literally, from mines to a nuclear
facility and many more. Hence, the company’s systems and records cover a far wider range of
environments, regulations and requirements. Complying with South Africa’s strict OSH Act also
sets the bar even higher,” he notes.

No safety without people
Kleinhans concurs, adding that Dekra Industrial is committed to safety from management level
right through to each team member in every branch across South Africa. Furthermore,
management has an open-door policy, and employees are asked to recognise the achievements
of their colleagues by nominating them as monthly safety ambassadors.
These ambassadors not only prioritise safety for themselves but ensure that others follow suit. By
recognising safety ambassadors via wall posters – as well as certificates and commendations –
employees are motivated to continue prioritising safety, and even to report near misses to ensure
that serious accidents do not happen.
“They truly are each other’s keepers,” she says of a workforce which is proud of their ingrained
safety culture.
“It is important for our employees to be able to say that they work for a company that has
received this 9 th NOSCAR safety award. The same goes for our clients. This speaks to our safety
consistency – and proves that we walk the talk,” she enthuses.
She adds that Dekra Industrial’s achievements – also reflected in awards presented by clients in
the power generation and petrochemical industries for excellent work on individual sites – reflect
that clients can be confident that they are working with a service provider which not only upholds
a culture of safety itself, but which is a safety role model for the whole of industry.
Safety and accountability: closing the circle
Kleinhans believes accountability is also important: “For example, I am accountable should I not
notice that a planned task observation by a supervisor is not done; or that waste disposal is not
carried out using a landfill management company which complies with environmental legislation.
From the moment we open a can until the moment it goes into a landfill, I need to prove that all
rules and regulations are adhered to – and that I leave behind a future for all our children. If I
cannot, then that is regarded as a non-conformance. I need to be able to prove that my circle is
closed,” she explains.
The same goes for health, which requires a far more holistic approach than in the past, and no
longer simply means sending employees for annual medical checks, but also extends to ensuring
that employees are physically healthy and mentally well.
Safety training
DEKRA Industrial’s commitment to occupational health safety extends not only to training its
employees but providing safety-related training to companies operating across a broad spectrum
of industries via its division the DEKRA Institute of Learning (IOL).

The IOL is one of only two training institutions in Gauteng to have received accreditation from the
Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) as a designated assessment centre for its
Health and Safety Practitioner course.
Christopher Morsner, Head of Training at Dekra IOL, says this was a strategic move in tandem
with an overall national increase in focus on health and safety throughout industry: “At Dekra
IOL, we are the industry’s partner for occupational health and safety, skills and education: from
the office to the shopfloor and more. As such, we focus on developing the occupational
competency of employees across all levels in an organisation.”
Morsner says that there are plans underway which will ultimately see the IOL accredited as an
assessment centre for the other 39 qualifications and 12 skills programmes within the adult-
based education sector.
Profiting from safety
Gerber notes that another spin-off from an entrenched culture of safety is the fact that those
Dekra Industrial teams which are safety conscious are also the most profitable. For example,
those servicing the petrochemical and power generation sector – which have particularly strict
safety requirements – are the top performers.
“If you are committed to safety, then you are committed to self-discipline, doing your job well
implementing and being compliant with company rules – and delivering quality. Safety is the
easiest thing on which to compromise – however, if you are vigilant here, you will be vigilant
when it comes to everything else. This is certainly the case with our team at Dekra Industrial, and
I want to sincerely thank Carina and her team for ensuring that we remain firmly on track as the
‘heroes of safety’ which we always aspire to be,” he concludes.
Ends
(1051 words)
About DEKRA Industrial and DEKRA Institute of Learning
With 98 years in the industry through its global parent company, DEKRA Industrial SA has
established a formidable reputation as a leader in inspection services, non-destructive testing
(NDT), material testing, laboratory services, Advanced NDT, and asset integrity services, and
offers industry training through the DEKRA Institute of Learning.

As part of the global DEKRA group, which has a presence in more than 50 countries on five
continents, DEKRA Industrial RSA provides safety solutions across a multitude of industries,

including power generation, oil and gas, construction, petrochemical, manufacturing, fabrication,
pulp and paper, rail, mining, steel industry and foundries, within South Africa and pan-Africa.

DEKRA Industrial SA is a holistic services provider of NDT inspection and corrosion control with
rope access and lifting. DEKRA Industrial SA has 51 percent black woman ownership and has
achieved a current overall Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) status of Level
1.

The company is also RD 0034-compliant – a nuclear safety compliance standard – and is one of
the few NDT companies locally to hold the ISO 45001:2018 certification; as well as DNV
certification, giving DEKRA Industrial access to many inspection opportunities in the maritime
sector.

The DEKRA Institute of Learning (IOL) is QCTO-accredited and delivers online learning across
all industries, in both public and private sectors, with training pitched to all levels of competency,
focusing on HSE, ISO and continuing professional development (CPD)-aligned courses.
Classroom-based and distance learning are also available.

DEKRA Industrial strives to be recognised as the ‘heroes of safety’.