VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 M&D: by Andrew Murray The main theme of this newsletter will be the importance of the health and wellbeing of employees and what we can all do to ensure this. IT’S IMPORTANT WE ALL INSIST THAT WE WORK IN A SAFE ENVIRONMENT. Khula Nathi This means making sure that both your work area and the work area of others is safe. Working to high quality standards helps us to achieve a safe working environment. It means that our working conditions are neat, that we don’t have to redo poorly done work and that we have pride in the work that we do. If we all maintain a goal of working with pride in a safe environment, we will, without any further effort, deliver a quality product to our client. We welcome Lance Cox to the Murray and Dickson Group, as our SHERQ manager. Lance has introduced himself and outlined some of the initiatives that he will be pursuing and why they are important to all of us within this newsletter. As part of our contribution to the wellbeing of our employees, M&D created the company Provident Fund, managed by Alexander Forbes. Please carefully read about the benefits offered by the Provident Fund in Yolanda’s HR article on page 5. This fund protects you during retirement and your family should you pass on while employed by M&D. Sadly, we have lost employees through sickness or accident over the last few years. The families of those that were members of the Fund have received a payment of 2 years pensionable salary, plus Contents Chairman’s Note 1 Editor’s Input 2 H.R. 2 CEO’s Message 3 SHERQ 4 H.R: Provident Fund 5 any accumulated savings in the Provident Fund and R18, 000 in funeral benefits, whereas the families of those who were not members have had to cope on their own. I encourage you to save as much as you are able through the Provident Fund as all savings will be for your own benefit and are transferable should you change jobs. Remember, we will all either retire at some stage, or sadly die before we reach it, but contributing to the Provident Fund assists you in both cases. The only people who can benefit from your Provident Fund contributions are you and your family. Projects 6 Introducing… 11 Our People 13 M&D Details 16 MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP 1|Page Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 PERFORMANCE MATTERS!! by Jaime Ramsook As a steadily growing company – we have realised the need to manage our performance in the business as an ongoing Over the past 3 months, there have practice. This requires support by management and been many changes in M&D. employees, as well as involvement by all parties for it to We have welcomed a new SHERQ Manager and succeed. have committed ourselves to positively changing What is it? and introducing policies to better our company in • line with our slogan, khula nathi. conversations Our new web domain is up and running! • interactive page on which updates on the company will be posted. Included in the endeavour to connect is our introduction to social media. The company has Linked In and Twitter Why? • • manager • many of you who are based outside of Gauteng have expressed your interest in joining but cannot. • How: • • employees having a blast, more of these will appear on the website soon. Agreement on expectations (Key performance Indicators (KPI)) between line manager and employee for the year ahead • Continuous tracking of outcomes against the expectations involvement and your fitness. to page 15 to see some pictures of the monthly paid Document role profile of each job and employee recreational activities closer to your locations to add M&D’s 2014 Year End function was a success, go Create accountability and responsibility of own contribution in the company We are hoping to find other runs or similar to M&D’s employees’ repertoire of community Skill and personal development of each employee in the company M&D Group has entered the JP Morgan Challenge again this year. It has come to our attention that Encourage continuous two-way communication and feedback between employee and line would like to post under the company name, please contact me on M&D’s info email To drive and improve performance of the company (@M_DConstruction). We invite you all to follow M&D on these mediums and add your input. If you Engagement by both employee and line manager on what is expected of each of them www.mdconstruction.co.za is now set up as an currently Formal and informal performance When? • Formal review against the expectations twice a year (April and October) • Informal discussions on a monthly basis to track against expectations ….coming soon! By Yolanda Sedibe - Senior HR and Remuneration Manager MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : 2|P age Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 M&D: by Rukesh Raghubir We have received excellent feedback from our employees regarding the reintroduction of the company newsletters. Well done to Jaime for resurrecting this! Now everyone will be in informed on what’s happening with Murray and Dickson Construction Group during these exciting times. We will also be resurrecting the mentorship and training program that was initially started in 2013. This is a practice which is key to addressing the age gap that currently exists between the employees of M&D and in the construction industry as a whole. This will help ensure the continued growth of the company whilst creating challenging career paths for employees who want to get ahead. I am also pleased to inform you that M&D’s new website was recently launched, this finally completes our re-branding. I would like to stress to everyone that is a brand and we must at every opportunity positively market this brand. We must also be focused on our mission: “To deliver quality workmanship through pride and teamwork, producing customer satisfaction in a safe working environment.” The senior management of M&D Group recently spent an entire day discussing the strategy for the Group going forward to ensure that we capitalize on the opportunities available to us and to make M&D the company of choice for our clients. A point of agreement at this meeting was that there will be Zero Tolerance to fraud, theft and dishonesty within M&D Group. Recently, a Site Manager and a Safety Officer were dismissed for fraudulent activities. I would sincerely like to thank the employees who came forward to make us aware of these individuals. Going forward, I would like to encourage employees to contact me directly should they believe that there is someone within our organisation, including suppliers and subcontractors, who are engaging in dishonest and/or fraudulent activities. My cell number is 083 788 3979. Please keep up the hard work and let’s keep working together to make this company a force to be reckoned with. Women in Engineering - A Safer Touch? MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : 3|P age Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 “Welcome to the new and exciting Group SHERQ Department” Hello All M&D Group employees, I am Lance Cox your newly appointed Group SHERQ Manager who will be responsible for overseeing the following within the complete Group compliment: Safety Health Environmental Risk Quality Together with this comes a very important and exciting feature as we roll out and implement an Integrated ISO management system, incorporating ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environmental) and OSHAS 18001 (Safety) Standards. The purpose of this is to set a Group Standard for everything that we do, also allowing the production on sites to flow better and streamline the paperwork for all areas of the Group activities. My background: I received a strong Military background before joining the construction sector, having previously worked for Group Five Coastal (Durban based), Inyatsi Construction (East Rand Based) and Mota-Engil South Africa (Rosebank). I am a driven and strict person who likes achieving results and I now bring this to M&D Group. This new and exciting SHERQ Department will be focussing on aligning our mission to support the company vision by getting the certification for an integrated SHERQ Management System for the Group, focusing on Quality, Environmental and Safety according to the set International Standards. Taking into account the changes in the legislation we need to focus more on getting ourselves properly geared to meet these requirements and this means that the Group will be taking a hard stand on working safely and complying with the legal requirements and delivering a quality product to its clients. So by simply working to a standard, in a safe, environmentally sound and quality driven manner we become responsible for our own futures and growth. It’s just a matter of each individual/employee focussing on SHERQ as a way of life and the end result will be successfully meeting the client’s needs and we all know that a satisfied customer is a happy customer. Let your goal be to continually improve on your output and you will see the rewards. Please give your fullest support to the safety practitioners and quality engineers on your sites as they are there to help drive the client satisfaction goals. Remember to PLAN (plan your work properly), DO (execute your tasks with quality in mind), CHECK (check that you have met the requirements), ACT (see where you can improve and refer back to your planning). As our motto says… “khula nathi” By Lance Cox - Group SHEQ Manager Quality improvement is the responsibility of everyone, at all levels in an organisation, not just those in the quality department. MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : 4|P age Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 The Importance of a Provident Fund By Yolanda Sedibe We cannot stress enough how important it is to prepare financially for your retirement or how important it is to make financial provision for your family should you pass away whilst you are still providing for them. If you are not convinced of the need for such provisions, speak to someone who has retired, or speak to a family who have lost a breadwinner. They will tell you of the hardship of living with no income, or the tragedy of suddenly losing the income that a breadwinner provided every month. The Alexander Forbes Provident Fund for Murray & Dickson employees was started 6 years ago in 2009, to give our employees financial peace of mind and to provide for their retirement. All newly employed, full time monthly paid employees are compelled to join the Provident Fund when they join the company. Hourly paid full time employees (unless they are on a Fixed Term Contract) must join the Provident fund after they have worked with the company for one completed year. You can decide to contribute 7.5%, 10%, 15% or 19.5% of your pensionable monthly salary to the Fund. We encourage all employees to contribute the maximum that they can afford to their fund as this will give them greater financial security when they retire. The Risk benefits M&D pays for you, as a participant of the Provident Fund are: Life Policy - pays out 2 years of your monthly pensionable salary to your dependants, nominated through the Nomination of beneficiary form, should you pass away whilst employed by M&D, provided that you are under 65 years old. Funeral Policy - pays out up to R18, 000 for the funeral costs on the death of you, your partner or any of your children under 21 years old. All the management and administration costs of your fund. This means that every cent that you contribute to the fund is invested for your future. M&D believes so strongly that being a member of the Fund is important that it will be agreeing with Alexander Forbes that it will add another benefit to members of the Fund: Permanent disability cover paid for by the company, for each member whilst they are employed by the company. This means that should you become permanently disabled through an accident or illness, you will be paid one year’s pensionable salary by the Fund - This is at no extra cost to you. As there are a large number of full time hourly paid employees who have been with the company for a year, but who have not joined the scheme, M&D will arrange that Alexander Forbes and the HR team come and meet you on site to discuss the benefits of the Fund and the need to plan for retirement so that you too can benefit from the Provident Fund and the added benefits that M&D gives to all members. ** Pensionable salary = 75% of monthly remuneration The achievements of an organisation are the results of the combined effort of each Individual - Vince Lombardi “Safety doesn’t happen by Accident” MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : - Unknown 5|P age Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 Articles by the Division Head/Manager Building Projects by Renell Samuel We have completed our Maropeng contract (see pictured on Website) and are attending to snags at our Secunda Mall Apartment contract which should be finished in the beginning of March. We have also commenced with smaller new contracts at Wits University namely the new Parktown Campus Gatehouse, the Bulk Chemical Stores and the Genmin roof replacement and are hoping to commence with the second building contract at Kimberley by June 2015. The work in Kimberley will absorb the majority of our employees for the next year. Mike Roy has joined our division as a Contracts Director to undertake new projects with private developers. We have been meeting developers and professionals involved in private developments to enable us to be invited for future tenders. We would like to welcome Mike and know he will be successful going forward. In the last week I managed to visit all our building sites. My biggest concern raised regarding safety was the edge protection when working at heights. We tend to walk past an area where there are gaps in barricading or the barricading and handrails are insufficient to stop someone from falling. Accidents do happen and it is easy to lose concentration when working at height or trip and fall. Accidents can happen to anyone. So over and above having the correct edge protection when working at heights, we need to be aware of our surrounding and only access areas that are permitted to us. At M&D take pride in our safety and always try and improve on safety to be one of the best companies when it comes to safety and more importantly ensure a safe working environment for our employees to operate in. The phrase “Safety comes first” must be adopted by all employees. This means that before you undertake any task you need to understand the risks involved in undertaking the task and mitigate the risks before commencing with the work. Safety is every employee’s responsibility, not just of the management, safety officers and safety reps. Our largest contract is in Kimberley, the Sol Plaatje University, which is 450km from Johannesburg. We are also working on a second contract at the University set to commence in June this year. The company now has the majority of its contracts outside Gauteng and this trend will continue in the near future. This means a change in working environment for most of the building employees, whereas other divisions in the company are used to working outside Gauteng. By the middle of this year most of the building division will be based in Kimberley where we are fortunate to have continuous work that is not available in Gauteng. Although change is difficult, it is essential for the continued success of the division and the benefit of the employees. We need to work together to ensure the success of contracts like Sol Plaatje and demonstrate we are capable of delivering on these type of projects. Kimberley: Progress at Sol Plaatje University 003 MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : 6|P age Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 Pipelines by Mike Johnston Work on the Mafenya Pipeline (43km of 1016mm diameter pipe) is progressing well. The team has reached record production rates since returning from the December break. The production for January was 3.9km and the anticipated production for February is 5.5km. This equates to around 250m per day, which is by no means an easy task, taking the challenges into account. M&D are completing the PFG Gas Pipeline and the ORT Fuel Depot Fire Ring Main at the end of this month. These have been challenging projects and we have learnt a lot about the Oil and Gas sector which will pay dividends on future projects. We would like to thank Juan and his team who have been working extended hours and every weekend including sacrificing part of their December break to try and complete the PFG gas line. The end is near and gas will soon be flowing through this pipeline. After successful completion of the TCTA Central Basin AMD Project in Germiston with Group Five, we have now been awarded the Western Basin Contract. We are also in negotiations with CMC de Ravenna for the Eastern Basin Contract. The client for all these projects is TCTA. We anticipate more work from TCTA in the future. Arne Rheeder, our Estimating/Contracts Director has been working on some exciting tenders for Emfuleni Local Municipality (HDPE Pipes) and Rand Water (Pipe refurbishment). These tenders are for work of a complicated nature where M&D has partnered with strategic companies to provide innovative solutions to the water and wastewater industry. We hope to have some positive results in the near future regarding these tenders. Mafenya Pipeline: Pipelaying "Cluster…" by Dave Slater - Installation of PRS at PFG MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : 7|P age Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 Vaalkop Dam: Re-branded Mixer truck at work PFG Gas Pipeline: A Power Nap for Lunch A must due to the long hours being worked to reach targets Civil Engineering by Rukesh Raghubir We are pleased to announce that we have received the final completion certificate for the Vaalkop Water Treatment Plant Phase 1 (15ML Reservoir and 30ML Treatment Plant) (pictured to the left). Work is on track to complete the remainder of this project in August 2015. It’s to be noted that this team is also installing 1500mm diameter GRP pipes at this site. We are currently exploring innovative financing models to unlock the next two phases of this project, which if successful will ensure continuity of work for another two years. We anticipate the Civil Division experiencing considerable growth this year. We are on the shortlist for a few major reservoirs and water and wastewater treatment plants. Our Estimating Division is currently working around the clock to submit the 20 plus tenders on their current list. Vaalkop Dam: GRP Pipes MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : Vaalkop Dam: Inlet Works 8|P age Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 by Warren Alexander Plant M&D have recently converted three MAN tipper trucks into new Water Carts. These have been prepared in the new M&D livery and will be servicing the Mafenya and O6 Pipeline contracts. Murray & Dickson has taken delivery of a new Komatsu PC350 Excavator (pictured to the right) on our 06 site, this bears testimony to the fact that M&D is standardising on leading earthmoving equipment brands namely Cat and Komatsu. We have also recently taken purchase of a Potain 60m Crane which is stationed at the Building Division’s Zamokuhle Hospital site. This crane had been branded with the new livery (even if the site itself has not yet had that pleasure) and is pictured below to the left. In January, M&D Plant purchased a Sandvik Screen which was pictured on the company’s Linked In page and now can be seen on the website as well. This screen is based at the 06 Project and has increased fill material production by 100% Currently, we are in the process of rebranding all of our Plant and we hope to complete this task soon. Getting out the ground at Zamokuhle (Building Division) MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : 9|P age Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 Roads & Earthworks by Chris Porter NEWSFLASH M&D Roads & Earthworks has been awarded a bulk earthworks and demolition project in Rietfontein, Germiston, just off the N12 at Edenvale. The project includes the demolition and removal of a small double storey office building and around 6,000 m3 of excavation, half of which has to be removed offsite to a spoil site. Some onsite earthworks and compaction will result in a building platform ready to receive a new warehouse construction, which will store comics… Yes, there are still people who read and collect comic books. We are looking forward to seeing our tippers in their new colours in action on this site, scheduled for completion in April 2015. This photo shows the “Before” earthworks, next photo in April will show the completed site. Part of the field area to be excavated, worked and compacted Don’t resort to extreme measures… USE PPE! MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : 10 | P a g e Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 M&D Pipe M&D Pipe Themba Dhludhlu is one of our newly employed Junior Site Engineers who is currently based at the PFG site. He has his NDip in Civil Engineering and is a family orientated, driven and ambitious individual. - there are no shortcuts to anything worth having Tshegofatso Prudence Phahlamohlaka is a Junior Site Engineer who is completing her NDip in Civil Engineering. She previously Magalies Water. worked at “I am a hardworking and humble person who enjoys reading. One of my favourite books is ‘Lean in’ by Sheryl Sandberg-Coo.” M&D Building M&D Building Mike Roy has worked 25 years in the property development, property management and construction industries. Leszek Ryszard Tyrkalski is a Polish born South African. He has an Evaluation Diploma from Poland and is a Foreman by proffession who previously worked at Attra Construction. Previously the CEO of Attra Construction and “I am a family man of integrity Blackstone Properties, he that takes pride in his work and has joined us as a Contracts Director. strives to achive perfection. My experience has been defined by my life,education and work “I am an abstract Artist in my spare time abroad and local. My intrest are and enjoy painting in oils and sketching history,architecture and swimming.” in charcoal. I also keep fit with an early morning mountain bike ride.” - It is not length of life, but depth of life. Ralph Emerson M&D Pipe Ian Martin Foord has joined us from Esor Construction as a Site Agent. He is currently based at the 06 Pipeline with Kyle Peinke. - Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. Ernest Hemmingway M&D Building Rashaad Mia is a Professional Quantity Surveyor who was previously employed at KDMQS and Dryden Projects. “I enjoy travelling, new experiences, a good workout at the gym & most importantly family. My values, as well as the good morals and principles instilled in me by my hard working parents, have made me grounded & well balanced.” For more introductions, please turn over MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : 11 | P a g e Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 DECEMBER 2014 – [Building] [Plant] - Junior Quantity Surveyor General Worker [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Plant] [Plant] [Plant] [Plant] [Plant] - Safety Officer Safety Officer Carpenter/ Painter Carpenter/ Painter General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker Bricklayer SHEQ Officer General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker Bricklayer General Worker Welding Assistant General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker Truck Driver Truck Driver Truck Driver Excavator Operator Truck Driver [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Building] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Pipe] [Plant] [Civil] [Civil] [Civil] [Civil] - General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker General Worker Foreman Shutterhand Assistant Welder Bricklayer Truck Driver Carpenter Concrete Hand Concrete Hand Carpenter JANUARY 2015 Keanon Ruiters Tlale Popane Glen Shongwe Emmanuel Thusi Vusi Sithole Motladi Thutse Elvis Mapunye Thsepo Manayetso Council Malatji France Khetheng Rachel Kalamange Asanda Dingindawo Mbukiso Manake Bernard Mawungeli Mongezi Mbolompo Sibusiso Mnyeba Ezekiel Moyo Siphamandla Mtshali Foster Muavha Nkosi Ntuli Siyakholwa Nyakatya Zamakhule Sisulu Patrick Tshabalala Elvis Kwinda Francis Maphanga Abel Mohale Norman Mushiwana Siphiwe Ngcobo FEBRUARY 2015 – Hlako Kgwete France Maganedisa Lillian Mahlomuza Mpho Mahlaela Klaas Mamakoka Vusi Matlala John Mdhluli Ben Mocwana Phakamile Modise Samuel Mohlala Mpho Molotsi Rosina Molopo Themba Phalali Malosi Raleho Staffel Riet Godfrey Shingira Andre Stoop Morris Kameni William Makhungela Lazarus Sekele Kleinboi Mthimonye Charles Chauke Alfred Gaobusi Adrejan Lebucwane Tebogo Ramawela MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : Research shows that employee participation in a project’s decision making stage, increases an organisation’s productivity. This is due to the human tendency to put more effort into a project which was, even partially, developed personally so as to witness the possible success of their decisions. (input from Dlozi Labase) Lungelo Mthombeni Gift Nkosi 12 | P a g e Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 “A person who sees Quality and feels it as he works is a person who cares. A person who cares about what he sees and does is a person who’s bound to have some characteristics of Quality. Quality is in its essence a way of managing the organization.” - Phillip Locke (QA/QC) Kyle Peinke (06 Pipeline, Senior Site Agent) 100% inspection is business suicide! "Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success" – Henry Ford - Zukisa Gumbo (Storeman at PFG Springs) Put your heart, mind and soul into your smallest acts. This is the secret of success. - Swami Sivananda - Leszek Tyrkalski (Foreman) MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : 13 | P a g e Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 Some more pictures from PFG – Coating of Valves for PRS 06 Pipeline– New Screen at work MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : 14 | P a g e Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 M&D Year End Party - MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : 2014 Sansui Summer Cup 15 | P a g e Vol. 1: Iss.2 – First Quarter 2015 MURRAY AND DICKSON CONSTRUCTION (Pty) Ltd Contact Details: Below is the basic layout of M&D noteworthy posts which include occurrences within the divisions and company and updates on progress on site, links to our social media pages and the general company details. Please visit the site and let us know what you think! We would also like you to please follow the M&D Construction Group at: @M_DConstruction Murray and Dickson Construction (Pty) Ltd MURRAY & DICKSON GROUP - Khula Nathi : 16 | P a g e
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