With IM currently focussing on safety, it is good to note that SNC-Lavalin reached 2 million person-hours without a lost time incident on the Ambatovy nickel project in Madagascar in October. The project scope is to design, procure and construct an ore processing plant, a 220 km slurry pipeline, a port, an 8-km rail line, 130 km of access roads and an industrial complex. The $3.225 billion facility will produce 60,000 t/y of nickel, 5,600 t/y of cobalt and 185,000 t/y of ammonium sulphate.

This significant achievement was made possible by the combined efforts of all project team members, including field supervisory staff, contractors, trades personnel, the Owners Project Group and the Operations Group. Nick Mills, Construction Manager, Max Wahlberg, Health and Safety Manager, and the entire project management team were instrumental in helping to foster this commitment to safety, SNC-Lavalin reports.

The Ambatovy project management team believes the key areas that contributed to this achievement were:

• Strong leadership from all project team members, and their commitment to the seamless integration of safety in all daily activities
• Close co-ordination between the Sherritt International project management team, SNC-Lavalin and contractors on all HSE issues using a proactive approach
• Continuous meetings with workers to reaffirm proper work practices and attention to safety