Is it mitigation… or just good theatre?
On a recent site visit, I walked past some freshly installed green shade cloth along the site boundary – officially there as the “dust screen.”
It looked neat. It ticked the EMP box. The neighbours felt (temporarily) reassured.
…But as the wind picked up, the dust soared over the top, drifting far beyond the screen’s reach.
– Cost to the contractor? High. (On one project, the dust screen specified cost R600K – no jokes!)
– Benefit to the environment? Mmm, debatable.
And it got me thinking.
Sometimes our mitigation measures don’t mitigate much at all.
They soothe complaints. They satisfy audit checklists. They show “something is being done.”
But are they working?
Are they solving the right problem in the right way?
Who are our EMP mitigation measures really serving? The environment? The project? The public? Or the paper trail?
As ECOs, EMP consultants, contractors, and regulators, we all have a role to play in shifting from compliance that LOOKS good to action that DOES good.
This is where the real opportunity lies – coaching project teams to think differently, ask better questions, and build a culture that goes beyond compliance into purpose-driven practice.
Because when we design with practical, realistic, effective outcomes, not optics, we build trust, resilience, and real results.
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