We’re serious about occupational hygiene

ECOSERV cements ties with Safetech to access considerable OH talent

Now that the ink has dried on a newly-signed business association with occupational hygiene service company, Safetech, ECOSERV is looking forward to a new era in its OH services division.

The association cements the six-year-old informal relationship between the two companies, who will now be working together to share knowledge and strengthen their respective occupational hygiene businesses.

ECOSERV MD Quentin Hurt was pleased with the formalization of their relationship. “The association gives us access to the technical services of two exceptional hygienists, Brett Williams and Melinda Venter, who is chairman of the Southern African Institute of Occupational Hygiene (SAIOH). Both are highly respected in SA and will be making sure the quality of our OH reports complies with industry standards.”

Melinda will assist ECOSERV with general project management and specifying the scope of work for projects. Her presence also ensures that ECOSERV young hygienists gain access to excellent mentoring, which is significant from a skills development and long term perspective.

Quentin said the association will help ECOSERV satisfy an OH legal requirement. “If we wish to be an approved inspection authority, we need a hygienist to review the work we do. This arrangement gives us access to top people on a part-time basis,” he explained.

Safetech MD Brett Williams believes the operations of the two companies will dovetail well. With ECOSERV focused mainly in KwaZulu-Natal and increasingly in Africa, and Safetech focused in the Eastern and Western Cape as well as Pretoria, the two businesses make a good geographical fit.

“I firmly believe this association will be extremely valuable to all of us, especially in the current financial climate,” said Brett. “Our Occupational Hygiene division has members who have been involved in OH for a longer period but this does not mean that we are the “senior” partner. We can learn from the ECOSERV team as well.”

While Safetech offers ECOSERV access to some services that they do not have in their armoury, Safetech on the other hand will also benefit from the relationship. Brett said he expected the association would lead to significant growth in his training division as well as Safetech’s 14001 and 18001 auditing division, where ECOSERV SGS has some excellent clients.

The two companies have already worked together on reviews for clients such as Island View Storage and Cipla, as well as a number of recent projects in Angola.

“ECOSERV has excellent divisions, amongst them a stack sampling, dust fallout monitoring, a rapidly growing laboratory that specializes in environmental analysis and an associate company that does environmental impact assessments. We can now say with confidence that we have the means to service clients with world class capabilities. As with any association, both parties must benefit and we certainly expect that to be the case in this association.”

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