Vodaplace: the day safety opened the site
On 26 June 2026 at 4:00 PM, the rehabilitation of Vodaplace's drivers' rest container officially began. Behind that green light: several weeks devoted to authorisations and HSE compliance. The story of a site that chose rigour over speed.
- Client
- Vodacom DRC
- Location
- Vodaplace, Kinshasa — Democratic Republic of the Congo
26/06 — 16:00
Work kicked off, under compliant conditions
100%
Staff HSE-inducted before site access
PTW
Permits to work approved via Safety Hub before any high-risk activity
0
Safety shortcuts taken, despite schedule pressure
The challenge
The project looks modest: rehabilitating the container where Vodaplace's drivers rest. But behind that space there are people — drivers who spend their days on the road serving Vodacom and who deserve a decent place to rest, sheltered from the heat.
The site itself is anything but trivial. It concentrates several high-risk activities: lifting and levelling the container, hot works (cutting, grinding, welding), working at height on the roof, and electrical connections. Poorly prepared, these operations can cause a serious accident.
The real challenge was the start-up itself. Mobilising on a Vodacom site requires a demanding authorisation process and the registration of work permits in the client's HSE platform. This digital process — designed so that no high-risk activity begins without control — had its share of technical and administrative hurdles. The result: a start delayed by several weeks, and a choice to own — wait, or cut corners.
Our solution
Our answer was clear from the outset: we don't drive the first screw before safety is truly in place.
We drew up a project-specific HSE plan, submitted to Vodacom for review and approval before any mobilisation: a risk assessment activity by activity, control measures, a designated HSE team, a first-aider on site, a rescue plan for work at height, and permits to work (PTW) backed by job safety analyses (JSA) for every critical task.
Faced with the blockages of the digital process, we chose patience over the shortcut. Several adjustments to our file, a meticulous registration of the workers and their competencies, and above all constant coordination with the Vodacom teams moved each approval forward. A site that starts without an approved permit is not a site ahead of schedule: it is a site exposed.
When the authorisation came through, late in the day on 26 June, it had a particular flavour. At 4:00 PM, our teams entered the zone under clear conditions, with rules known to all and an established chain of responsibility. The Vodaplace site was officially launched — cleanly, calmly, without haste.
Building, for us, is not just about assembling materials. It is about protecting the people who work, respecting the client's requirements and delivering work we can be proud of, from the first permit to handover.
— Yves Mulopo, HSE Officer, for the Polygon Solutions team
Project gallery
