BR SHEQ Manager tongue-tied in Board inquiry
Koketso Kgoboge | Friday February 28, 2020 18:26
Mosweunyana was being probed on issues pertaining to all round safety of lives of users of the BR trains and employees.
Though he struggled throughout the interview, he was quick to repudiate allegations from his counterparts that previously appeared before the Board.
Amongst other allegations brought to his attention were faecal contamination of drinking water in the passenger trains and absence of fire extinguishers in the derailed train that claimed two lives in an accident at Pallaroad.
He flatly denied faecal contaminations, despite the fact that passengers of the train are strictly warned against drinking water from the train systems, and were supplied and advised to consume portable water. While he admitted there was cross-contamination of water at the cleaning and refilling points he labelled the process assumed since introduction of passenger trains, “totally unacceptable.”
His explanation was that the cross-contamination is caused by the use of similar hosepipes for both cleaning of trains and refilling of water into the trains. According to the inquiry Board members, the same hosepipes are left carelessly lying on the ground at the bay after the cleaning and refilling process. The SHEQ boss confessed being aware of the situation.
“There could be contamination from soils and other things from the floor but the faecal contamination is a total misrepresentation of the truth,” he said despite previous confessions by his fellow employees.
He added that contrary to allegations, the fateful passenger train had fire extinguishers and first aid kits. The first aid kits were replenished by the BR’s nurse and reinstalled in the trains, he maintained.
Previously, the commercial officer who was present on the deadly train told the Board of inquiry there was a single fire extinguisher on the train at the time of the accident.
“What I am aware of is that the fire extinguishers had expired and were due for service,” Mosweunyana said adding that: “It would have been a serious lapse if the kits were unavailable on the train.”
To the shock the panel, he said expiry date on fire extinguishers did not matter, as extinguishers could still be functional after the date of expiry.
“The fire extinguishers can still be used even when they have expired,” the SHEQ manager said.
The Board was shocked at the statement and one member, Bartholomew Seithamo cautioned the acting SHEQ manager instantly that his opinion was fatal.
“If you think an essential device like a fire extinguisher can be used when it’s expired as a safety regulator you are putting BR and human lives at risk. If that is your approach, it is a very dangerous approach,” Seithamo barked. When probed further, he admitted most of the risks, “Were a result of lack of capacity due to low staff complement in his section that was a reason to a compromised safety.”
Mosweunyana said they ran a heavy industrial day and night operation all year round in a longer rail line that stretches from Ramokgwebana to Ramatlabama despite a deficit of three key SHEQ personnel.
The safety department lost three key SHEQ personnel; the SHEQ manager, SHEQ specialist and the safety officer (quality) due to resignations in December 2018 and the positions are yet to be filled.
“We are not necessarily on the ground as we should have been because of lack of capacity. We need a full staff complement to run the rails adequately,” he said. At some point, the acting safety regulator said they learnt their trainmen occasionally operated under the influence of alcohol. That was after one trainman who had already been taken to book was caught at Sua Mines with excessive limits of alcohol while on duty. Despite being aware, BR was struggling to contain the situations due to limited staff complement. Mosweunyana added Botswana Railways needed dire safety culture transformation.
“It appears the employer believes issues of safety belong to safety officers. Safety should be not centralised to a regulator; instead it should begin with individuals. That is a culture we need to instil at Botswana Railways,” he stated.
He said the company did not have an emergency response team or emergency equipment that could promptly respond to accidents to save the lives that could be occasioned by rail accidents and until it was addressed the safety department would struggle to ensure total safety.