Investigations launched into tragic incident at Eskom's Ingula construction site

Friday, 01 November 2013:

Eskom and the Department of Mineral Resources have launched investigations into the tragic incident involving 13 employees at Eskom's Ingula pumped storage construction site near Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal. Six construction employees lost their lives and seven required medical treatment. Of the seven injured, three were treated and discharged and the other four are still in the Intensive Care Unit in hospital.

The incident occurred between 8:15 and 9am in the construction site's units 3 and 4 incline high pressure shaft. The top gantry (platform) which is on wheels started moving down the incline, hit a monorail and two other gantries which impacted the people on the way down. The tunnel did not collapse. The site underground works has been evacuated, and the rest of the site has been cleared of any workers while investigations are underway.

"This incident is both unfortunate and tragic. Our first priority is to ensure the care of the deceased, their families, our colleagues in hospital and their loved ones. Our hearts go out to them, but we are also determined to find out why it happened and how to safeguard against it happening again," said Eskom's Chief Executive Brian Dames.

Safety remains one of Eskom's key priorities in its quest to become a high-performance organisation. Eskom is constantly working with suppliers, customers and contractors to integrate safety, health and environmental processes into their operations. "I would like to express our sincere condolences to the families and wish the seven (7) surviving workers a speedy recovery. With thousands of workers on our power-plant construction sites at Medupi, Kusile and Ingula, this incident clearly requires a renewed focus on safety so that we do not only bring new generating capacity online for the country, but that we do so safely," stated Eskom Chairman Zola Tsotsi.

Next Steps:

• Eskom has assigned a team of senior people to assist the families;
• A senior team of internal and external experts has been assigned to investigate the incident;
• Eskom has escalated the safety campaign it instituted earlier this year;
• Eskom has ordered a work stoppage at all Eskom construction sites, to reflect on the incident and review safety standards on site.

From noon today, Eskom will fly all Eskom flags at half-mast for one week to honour those who lost their lives while working for a better future for all South Africans. We ask for the nation's support in our grief. We will start today to use what we learn from this terrible tragedy to improve safety at all facilities.

Note to Editors: Located 23km north-east of Van Reenen, within the Little Drakensberg mountain range on the border between the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, Ingula is a pumped storage scheme, 350m underground, with a planned output of 1 332MW. The station will comprise two dams - one at the top and the other at the bottom of the escarpment - underground waterways, an underground powerhouse complex, access tunnels and access roads.

Issued by Eskom, November 2 2013

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter