The West Africa operations of mining equipment giant, Sandvik Mining and Construction (Ghana) Limited has achieved a significant milestone of 10 million work hours without Lost Time Injury (LTI).
Attained in February 2025, the outstanding achievement cements the company’s reputation as one with strong Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) credentials and culture.
Company managers say the milestone is evidence of the dedication and tireless effort of employees in ensuring that safety remains a top priority across all operations in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Lost Time Injury is an injury sustained in the course of work that results in the loss of productive work time for an employee(s). It is a measure of a company’s past safety performance.
Commenting on the achievement, Sandvik’s Vice President, Sales Area West Africa, Nuhu Salifu, said: “We have rebuilt hundreds of customer equipment and supported the mines without losing a day’s productive hours of any worker as a result of severe work-related injuries, thereby living our mantra of customer service with EHS focus”.
Globally, mining operations expose workers – be they miners or working in support services – to high risk of serious injuries. This has often necessitated relentless safety campaigns and adherence to safety protocols.
As part of such initiatives, Sandvik – last year – emphasised psychological safety by encouraging workers to freely express themselves without fear of victimisation.
The company also held mental health training and exercises to ensure a total well-being of workers within the Sales Area.
Leadership commitment to safety
Mr. Salifu emphasised that the attainment of ten million work hours LTI-free was not accidental but the result of a deliberate commitment and dedication by employees within the Sales Area.
He said the desire and determination to meet or exceed compliance obligations with corporate, regulatory and statutory requirements which involves commitment of resources to train workers yielded this dividend.
ISO management certifications
To cap his comments, Mr Salifu noted that the established and effective management systems the company built had kept everyone on their feet. “The journey toward ISO certification started in 2009 with OHSAS 18001:2007, which transformed into ISO 45001 in 2018. In 2019 Kumasi and Accra were certified ISO 45001,14001 and 9001. These certifications have kept us on the path of continual improvement.”
