Bryan van den Heever - Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 and compliance?

2016-12-01

Compliance to the OSH act in South Africa is a huge challenge. This act, however, is a criminal act that many employers in general ignore. The bigger industries like manufacturing and processing take compliance seriously. Also they often have international investors and the international standards that follow, with which to comply.

The act has a determination in that the employer shall do what is reasonably practicable. So we can see that it's not a blanket policy but a case of go and check what you need to do and implement. The breakdown in my view to complying with the act starts with perception. Many employers have told me, "but I have a first aid box and fire extinguishers". Yet, he manufactures hazardous chemicals on site. The OSH act does not tell you exactly what to do but rather gives a guideline.

We need to start at the beginning to comply. Namely, the employer has to do a risk assessment on the entire business and its effects on its neighbours. The risk assessment does not have to be a complicated document with colours and numbers that no one understands. Start at the gate of your business and identify the hazards of all processes in your business. Once you identify these then we can start the work.

The act has to be read in totality. What do I mean by this? The act says that if you have between one and 19 employees you do not need a health and safety rep. However, you work with hazardous substances. Would you say that you have done what is reasonably practicable even though your risks in the business will be very high?

The higher the risk in the business the more you need to do to comply. The regulation in the act is the muscles on a skeleton. The skeleton being the actual act. Complying with the regulations is of utmost importance. For example the building regulations changed and the building industry is in a panic to comply. Some safety consultants and or safety officers on building sites are very strict and some are not. However, the contractor is now pushed from pillar to post. Some sites' safety management plans (safety file) are accepted and some sites not. Even service providers battle with this compliance issue. Unfortunately it's viewed as a non-exact science seeing that the safety standards differ from site to site causing huge frustrations to the employer to get his team on the site. Remember the same employer needs to comply. So if your team has to have a medical in the file that's valid then it needs to be in the file to comply with the regulation.

In short if you are a building contractor then you will have way more on your plate with regards to compliance than an office in town. Remember when I say comply it means with everything relevant to your business. Let's define it "a women is either pregnant or she's not". She can't be 80% pregnant. Make ourself aware of the requirements or get some assistance to help implement what is needed. Remember you have a moral obligation to your staff, visitors and contractors to ensure their safety and health on your sites. ?

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