Companies Boasting Best Health And Safety Compliance Record To Be Celebrated

Johannesburg, 5 April 2020 – The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) will  once again celebrate companies that have gone out of their way to invest in and protect the health and safety of their employees.

“Employees are, without  doubt, the most valuable assets of any business. Therefore, it goes without saying that companies should value their lives and continually invest in ensuring that the environment in which employees operate is safe, SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba said today.

He said employers have a legal obligation towards their employees to ensure that not a single life is lost at the workplace, regardless of how hazardous the work environment might be.

To celebrate companies that go out of their way to invest in the health and safety of their employees, SEIFSA will present the Health and Safety Award of the Year to a company with the best legal compliance record in Health and Safety or the lowest Lost-Time Injury Frequency rate between July 2018 and December 2019.

The 6^th SEIFSA Awards for Excellence will take place on 20 May 2020 at Summer Place in Boksburg.

Last year, the Health and Safety Award was won by Howden. According to the judges, Howden demonstrated a multifaceted approach to risk management by implementing several programmes to influence positively the safety culture within the organization

Along with the Health and Safety Award of the Year, the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence have six other categories. These are:

• The Most Innovative Company of the Year, which will be awarded to a company that has shown the best level of innovation in research and development or production;

• The Most Transformed Company of the Year Award will be received by a company that recorded the highest transformation level in ownership as well as the composition of its Board of Directors, Executive Management and Managerial Team in 2019. This award category pits companies employing fewer than 100 people against those of similar size, and companies employing more than 100 people against others of similar size;

• The Best CSI Award will be presented to a company whose corporate social investment programme/s had a major impact on the lives of its beneficiaries;

• The company rated the highest in customer service performance will receive the Customer Service Award of the Year;

• The Artisan Development Award will go to the company that trained the highest number of artisans between July 2018 and December 2019; while

• The Environment Stewardship Award will go to a company that has successfully implemented greening initiatives in its day-to-day business operations during the period under review.

Mr Nyatsumba said awards entrants will be assessed on their performance in the period 1 July 2018 to 31 December 2019. He urged companies operating in the metals and engineering sector to submit their entries for the seven categories before the deadline date of 28 April 2020. Entries are open to members of Associations federated to SEIFSA as well non-members.

SEIFSA is a National Federation representing 21 independent employer Associations in the metals and engineering industries, with a combined membership of 1600 companies employing around 200 000 employees. The Federation was formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to micro-enterprises employing fewer than 50 people.

by SEIFSA .

SEIFSA Welcomes Rebound In The Purchasing Manager’s Index For March 2020

Johannesburg, 1 April 2020 - The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) welcomes the latest ABSA Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data, which reflects an increase in overall business activity in the broader manufacturing sector for March 2020.

The composite PMI data for March 2020 shows that industrial activity improved to 48.1 points, up from the 44.3 points recorded in February 2020, moving the index closer to the benchmark level of 50, which separates expansion from contraction.

Speaking after the release of the data this morning, SEIFSA Economist Marique Kruger said it is also encouraging to note that the majority of the seasonally-adjusted
sub-components correspondingly registered increases in March 2020 when compared to February 2020.

Of the five sub-components, the supplier performance sub-index increased the most, surging from 58.6 points in February 2020 to 67.4 points in March 2020, while the worst-performing sub-index was the business activity sub-index, decreasing from 33.7 points in February 2020 to 30.7 points in March 2020.

Despite the improvement, Ms Kruger says that the PMI trend is still very volatile, highlighting the underlying constraints facing businesses.

“Companies still have to deal with fluctuating input costs, increasing energy costs, volatility in the exchange rate and the global corona virus pandemic,” she said

SEIFSA is a National Federation representing 21 independent employer Associations in the metals and engineering industries, with a combined membership of 1600 companies employing around 200 000 employees. The Federation was formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to micro-enterprises employing fewer than 50 people.

by SEIFSA .

SEIFSA Welcomes Increase In Employment

Johannesburg, 31 March 2020 - The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) welcomes the latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) data, which reflects gains in the number of formally employed people in South Africa.

The Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) data – which comes from an enterprise-based sample survey – showed that employment in the domestic economy increased by 16 000 quarter-on-quarter, from 10 197 000 in September 2019 to 10 213 000 in December 2019. The largest contributor to the quarterly increase in job numbers was the trade sector, gaining 39 000 jobs in December 2019. Furthermore, there were increases in job numbers in the business services sector (12 000 jobs) and the community services sector (3 000 jobs).

Speaking after the release of the data by Stats SA this morning, SEIFSA Economist Marique Kruger said an analysis of the preliminary estimates shows that the broader manufacturing sector, including its heterogenous metals and engineering (M&E) cluster of industries, lost 0.3 percent of total employment (4 000 jobs) in the fourth quarter of 2019, with employment decreasing from 1 213 000 in September 2019 to 1 209 000 in December 2019. Over a longer time frame, between the fourth quarter of 2018 and the fourth quarter of 2019, a discouraging total of 24 000 jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector, a decrease of 1.9 percent.

“However, the caveat is that the gains in formal employment numbers in the South African economy is not sustainable, especially given the decreasing contributions of labour-intensive sectors such as manufacturing, construction and agriculture to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Ms Kruger said.

Moreover, she said businesses in the manufacturing sector are struggling and continue to face headwinds amid increasing input costs, underpinned by a volatile exchange rate, increasing energy and fuel prices and rising operational costs.

“Businesses are, therefore, left with very little lee-way to pass on cost increases on to the market, and are consequently forced to take drastic measures to survive, thereby compounding existing socio-economic problems,” she said.

Ms Kruger said that the current challenging operating environment, including the global coronavirus pandemic, makes it imperative for stakeholders to continuously engage in efforts to seek sustainable solutions to the persistent and difficult business conditions.

SEIFSA is a National Federation representing 21 independent employer Associations in the metals and engineering industries, with a combined membership of 1600 companies employing around 200 000 employees. The Federation was formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to micro-enterprises employing fewer than 50 people

by SEIFSA .