BRIDGET SSAMULA | Public safety in engineering is a work in progress

The interconnectedness of systems and processes makes engineering an area where safety is non-negotiable.

It follows that a weakness at one juncture of the value chain often has a ripple effect on the entire ecosystem, which makes safety the guiding principle of work.

Granted, safety cannot be seen apart from security, as the one element feeds off the other. From design and procurement to the rolling out of the project or the building of the infrastructure, up to and including the delivery stage, managing a project requires the careful marshalling of composite processes for it to succeed. This is more so in the South African scenario, where an activist-oriented constitution that enshrines the right to be heard and dignity of all can mean disruption or interruption if stakeholder and community concerns are not addressed.

In effect, the safety of the end user is the No 1 priority for any public building, utility or space to pass muster, and public safety is hardly out of the public eye in the country, thanks to our proud standards heritage.

From the roads we travel on and the transport that moves on the roads to the buildings in which we live and work and our places of leisure, the interplay between safety and security determines issues of quality and standards, particularly in the built environment, in terms of what needs to be maintained, built or rebuilt.

But what about public safety from a human resource point of view?

This is a question we need to grapple with given the persistent shortage of engineers in South Africa, made worse by the fact that the tertiary education system is not feeding enough new engineering recruits into the system.

For a start, South Africa is a common source for skills poaching, given our internationally rated qualifications and the country’s membership of international bodies such as International Engineering Alliance and the Washington Accord.

This backdrop can justify this piece’s bold claim: for as long as engineering professionals do not feel adequately protected and sufficiently rewarded with the attractive conditions of work and remuneration packages for their efforts and expertise, the country will continue losing its skills resources to the detriment of our infrastructure, because less expertise will go into the construction of our roads, bridges, community halls, shopping malls and so on.

Quite apart from the real hazards of short cuts and inadequate professionalism that have caused disasters in some parts of the country, we know where public safety and security are concerned, perception can be everything. So it is important that we protect our hard-won reputation as a country capable of producing skilled scientists, engineers and artisans who can be counted on to deliver quality work.

New projects that can be a signature of skill and talent are the primary evidence of our engineering training but it does not end there. In some places, built infrastructure is going to waste, if not abandoned completely to rot away or continue being used by those without the choice of alternatives, at great risk to life and limb.  

For as long as the skills shortage continues, or continues to dwindle at the recruitment level and level of losing skills to overseas or other international destinations, maintenance will suffer, causing a public health and safety crisis. This is made worse by the fact that the population has been increasing at higher rates than those planned for, meaning more sections of the populations are becoming exposed to safety hazards emanating from a lack of maintenance of public infrastructure.

When one also takes into account the all-too-common phenomenon of sabotage, the outlook for public safety does not look promising. There have been reports of the hijacking of some projects by rival bidders and, in some instances, serial outsourcing of projects. Construction mafia have also notoriously waded into the fray, keeping reputable contractors from the sites they are competent to service. All these affect the quality of service the end user is left with at the end of the project after delivery.

A number of suggestions have been put forward by insiders intent on seeing a turnaround and a thriving local engineering profession. Continuous professional development is a trait inherent to the profession, and perhaps more of it can make the local skills pool more adept to a changing local and international environment by enabling professionals to stay abreast of international best practice.

This means we might be in a better position to weather the storm of skill, expertise and talent loss to emigration, never mind the fact that the engineering profession is itself itinerant by nature. You are bound to answer the call whence it comes, be it Canada, Japan or the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is a known fact that some of our best mining engineering expertise has been lost to the vast engineering machinery of the DRC, source of some of the most in-demand metallurgies for modern technological gadgets and technologies.

As the safety of the public as the end user cannot be viewed apart from the related security concerns, a case study in SA’s smaller municipalities gives one pause for thought. A while ago, a snap survey of the 10 worst-performing smallest municipalities found fears of being targeted for decisions around the awarding of tenders were partially responsible for creating a vacuum in senior engineering personnel.

This would mean people lacking in the required professional competencies are assigned work they are not qualified to do, with dire implications for public health and safety.

With the departure of seasoned professionals, you can veritably kiss skills transfer goodbye. In some towns such as Lichtenburg in North West service delivery has virtually ground to a halt. One can imagine the small municipalities have their fair share of potholes, estimated to cost the country upwards of R500m each month.

One area where standards have been upheld somewhat is the Expanded Public Works Programme arena, which has habitually been typified by stricter barriers of entry. However, a culture of tenderpreneurial subcontracting has undercut perceived gains in some cases, affecting accountability and eroding confidence in the profession on the part of the public. This is because such underhand practices compromise public safety through substandard and potentially hazardous infrastructure. No wonder some malls have caved in, trapping shoppers.

In an industry where one direct job is known to create eight other indirect ones, there has to be some acknowledgement of the benefits of outsourcing projects, given high levels of unemployment hovering above 30% and the fact that public works have historically been most governments’ sites of choice to kick-start depressed economies. For instance, in the three years to 2027, general government infrastructure investment is estimated at R500bn.

This makes skills retention and the nurturing of institutional knowledge of the essence. As the professionalisation of the engineering sector continues, one hopes better quality standards for the benefit of consumers will increasingly characterise most of the undertaken projects. This will also help strengthen the regulatory framework on which perceptions of public safety rest.

• Dr Bridget Ssamula is the CEO of the Engineering Council of SA (ECSA). Ssamula is a registered professional engineer with ECSA. She holds a PhD and Master of engineering in transport engineering, an MBA in aviation management and a BSc in civil engineering.

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