Managed OHS Compliance for South African Employers

Provide and maintain, as far as is reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risk to health. Reasonably practicable is a defined term weighing severity, the state of knowledge, the availability of the means and the cost against the benefit. It is not as far as is convenient.

Establish what hazards attach to the work, the plant, the machinery, the articles and the substances, and what precautionary measures are needed. This is the statutory basis for the risk assessment and it drives almost every other control you rely on.

Take steps to eliminate or mitigate the hazard before resorting to personal protective equipment. PPE sits last in the statutory order, so a file that starts with PPE has skipped the part the Act asks about first.

Work and the operation of plant or machinery may not be permitted until the precautionary measures under 8(2)(b) and 8(2)(d) have been taken.

An employer and a mandatary may agree in writing on the arrangements and procedures between them to ensure compliance. Without it, the employer is presumed liable for the mandatary's acts and omissions and must prove all three limbs of the section 37(1) defence.

Section 16(1) places on the chief executive officer the duty to ensure the employer's duties are properly discharged. It is not an appointment, it attaches automatically, and assigning it away does not relieve the employer of liability.

The chief executive officer may assign any section 16(1) duty to a person under his or her control, who then acts subject to the officer's control and directions. Section 16(2) does not use the words in writing, but a written assignment is how you prove scope, acceptance and the reasonable steps required for the section 37(1)(c) defence.

An employer or user of machinery must designate in writing a competent person in a full time capacity for every premises on or in which machinery is used. There is no headcount trigger, only a machinery trigger.

Competency escalates with installed power. From 1 200 kW to 3 000 kW the person must fall into paragraphs (b), (c) or (d) of the competent person definition, and at 3 000 kW or more into paragraphs (c) or (d). Electricity generation and distribution premises are graded in kVA instead.

Where the appointee falls under regulation 2(4)(a), 2(5)(b) or 2(5)(c), a copy of the letter of appointment must forthwith be forwarded to the divisional inspector. This step is missed more often than the appointment itself.

Name and identity number, the exact provision under which the appointment is made, the workplace or section covered, the duties assigned, the resources and authority given, the period, the date, and signature by both the appointing person and the appointee accepting.

The Act sets no general expiry on an appointment. Commonly quoted two year or three year renewal cycles are management practice or an agreed term, not a figure from the Act. An appointment lapses in substance when the appointee leaves the role or the risk profile changes.

Where more than 20 employees are employed at a workplace, the employer must designate health and safety representatives in writing for a specified period, within four months, after consulting in good faith on the nomination or election process.

One representative per 100 employees or part thereof in a shop or office, and one per 50 employees or part thereof in all other workplaces. The widely repeated one per 20 is not the statutory ratio. Twenty is the threshold at which the duty starts, not the ratio.

The thresholds attach to a workplace. A multi site employer assesses each site separately, so a business of 60 people across four small sites may trigger nothing while a single site of 21 does.

Representatives may review the effectiveness of measures, identify hazards, examine incident causes with the employer, investigate employee complaints, make representations, inspect the workplace, participate in inspector consultations and attend committee meetings.

Where two or more representatives have been designated at a workplace, one or more health and safety committees become mandatory, and the employer must designate the workplaces or sections each committee acts for.

An employer may nominate members, but the number nominated may not exceed the number of health and safety representatives on that committee.

A committee must meet as often as necessary and at least quarterly. It must keep a record of every recommendation to the employer and every report to an inspector, and those records must be kept for at least three years.

Where more than 5 employees are employed at a workplace, provide a first aid box or boxes at or near the workplace, accessible to employees, holding at least the Annexure minimum contents. The Annexure is a floor, not a ceiling.

Where more than 10 employees are employed, at least one person holding a valid certificate of competency must be readily available during normal working hours for every group of up to 50 employees, or every group of up to 100 in a shop or office. Cover has to hold across shifts.

The certificate must be issued by an organisation approved by the chief inspector. The 5 December 2025 amendment removed the historically named bodies from the wording, so confirm current approval rather than relying on a provider's past status. The common three year certificate currency comes from the qualification framework, not from regulation 3.

A prominent notice in a conspicuous place must show where the first aid box is kept and name the person responsible for it.

Regulation 13H sets a minimum of 2,25 square metres of effective open floor area per employee indoors, plus unobstructed work spaces and protected floor openings. Regulation 13I covers flooding notice. Regulation 13J requires emergency doors opening outwards, at least two means of egress as far apart as practicable, and maintained firefighting equipment.

The Environmental Regulations for Workplaces, 1987 are repealed on 6 September 2026 by regulation 21 of the Physical Agents Regulations, 2024. Any file citing them for lighting, ventilation, thermal conditions, housekeeping, flooding or fire has a hard expiry date.

Report where a person dies, becomes unconscious, loses a limb or part of a limb, is likely to die or suffer a permanent physical defect, or is likely to be unable to work for at least 14 days. A major incident is reportable, as is a dangerous substance spill, an uncontrolled release under pressure, machinery fracture or failure, or machinery running out of control.

The employer or user of machinery must report to the provincial director on the prescribed form within seven days of the incident.

Death, unconsciousness, loss of a limb or part of a limb, or an injury likely to result in a permanent physical defect must also be reported forthwith by telephone, facsimile or similar means. If an injured person later dies, notify forthwith.

The site of a serious incident may not be disturbed and articles or substances involved may not be removed, except so far as necessary to prevent a further incident, remove the injured or dead, or rescue persons from danger.

Record on Annexure 1 every section 24 reportable incident and every incident where a person required medical treatment other than first aid. Recording is a wider duty than reporting, and it is the one most often missed.

Every recorded incident must be investigated within seven days from the date of the incident, by the employer, a person appointed by the employer, a health and safety representative or a committee member. Findings go into Annexure 1 immediately after completion.

The health and safety committee must consider the records at its next meeting and the employer must implement and follow up the necessary actions. Annexure 1 records are kept at the workplace, open to an inspector, for at least three years.

OHS Act reporting goes to the provincial director for enforcement. COIDA reporting goes to the Commissioner or your licensed insurer for compensation. Reporting to one does not discharge the duty to the other. Since the 2022 Amendment Act commenced in 2026, the claim prescription period has been extended from 12 months to three years.