The Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union (Ceppwawu) on Wednesday denied reports that it and two other unions had signed an agreement with petrochemicals giant Sasol on improved safety measures at the company.
”The only agreement that exist among the parties is around processes that should be embarked upon to achieve the objective of an occupational health and safety charter,” said Keith Jacobs, deputy secretary general of Ceppwawu.
The unions — Ceppwawu, Solidarity and the South African Communications Workers’ Union (Sacwu) — had a meeting with Sasol in Johannesburg on Monday to work towards drawing up an occupational health and safety charter.
The charter will have to be signed by all parties.
The meeting follows concern over a spate of accidents at Sasol plants across the country.
These have plagued the company since June last year. The worst accident was at Sasol’s ethylene plant in Secunda, where an explosion killed 10 workers and injured 369 in September.
In January, after another gas explosion at Sasol’s Natref plant in Sasolburg where 14 people were injured, the company enlisted the services of DuPont Safety, an international safety consultancy.
Sasol has yet to disclose the findings of DuPont’s report.
Sasol spokesperson Johann van Rheede confirmed on Wednesday that no agreement was signed between the company and the unions, and that this will only be done once the charter has been approved by all concerned. — Sapa