SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa’s fast-growing safety and testing powerhouse Safety SA has relaunched its Food and Occupational Health and Safety division under the banner of AssureCloud to position the business for growth in an increasingly safety focused market.
Safety SA which was built off the back of the acquisition of the NOSA group of companies by the Carlyle Group in 2018, is showing solid growth and is positive about its prospects for further expansion in southern Africa and abroad.
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increased awareness of hygiene, health and safety, the Safety SA group has seen a surge in demand for our laboratory testing and digital services, and as restrictions on movement eased, we are also seeing exponential growth in demand for workplace safety services, testing, technology and consulting,” says Safety SA Group Chief Executive Officer, Pieter Erasmus.
AssureCloud is an accredited Inspection Body and acts as a Department of Labor Approved Inspection Authority (AIA), with a presence in South Africa and across Africa.
It also has an Occupational Hygiene Testing Laboratory and caters for the entire value chain across audit, inspection, testing, certification and training.
The testing division, previously named NOSA Testing and Aspirata, is headed by Managing Director Venisha Bachulal, who has spearheaded the business’s growth and two acquisitions since 2017, to make it the largest environmental health practitioners in the private sector in the country, turning over more than $17,544,835 million (ksh1,891,333,222 billion) last year.
The focus on environmental and food safety has increased considerably in recent years, due to the Listeriosis outbreak of 2017-18, and a heightened awareness around food safety globally by consumers.
In addition, a drive to boost South African poultry production has increased demand for rigorous testing throughout the poultry value chain.
They test Food Safety and the quality of products at origin, throughout the value chain as well as in the environment where food is consumed such as in quick service restaurants.
The company also includes South Africa’s only CO2 accredited Laboratory, the country’s first Asbestos Accredited Laboratory, and Biotoxin Laboratory, and has capabilities to carry out specialized salmonella serotype testing, quality testing for the fishing export sector, quality testing focused on the dairy sector, specialized support for the poultry sector, and nutritional labelling support.
Erasmus has highlighted that AssureCloud has grown through acquisitions and strategic development in recent years, to position it as the food safety assurance partner of choice across the southern African food value chain.
He has said the new branding consolidates the acquisitions and gives the testing division a strong identity as it grows into the future.
AssureCloud fields South Africa’s largest and most comprehensive group of food safety and veterinary laboratories, with custom-built, state-of-the-art chemical and microbiological laboratories across South Africa and into Zambia, as well as highly qualified food safety auditors.
