A Contractor’s Health and Safety Responsibilities in South Africa – Part 2

Introduction to Health and Safety Responsibilities

Contractors have a responsibility for Health and Safety in South Africa. It is imperative for both employers, contractors, and subcontractors to understand their role to ensure that a safe and healthy working environment exists.

The following section explores a contractor’s health and safety responsibilities in South Africa, with a special focus on the appointment of health and safety officers to assist in ensuring contractor safety compliance, along with the parameters of their duties and the qualifications needed.

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How and when must a Health and Safety Officer be selected?

According to the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, Section 17.1, every employer who has more than 20 employees in their employment must appoint, in writing, for a specified period a health and safety representative for such a workplace, or different sections thereof.

The requirements for the health and safety officer of the contractor can be reviewed and action can be taken either to decrease or increase the number of onsite contractor safety representatives. However, the client may have a requirement for a contractor health and safety officer which cannot be waived.

In some cases, the client may have their own health and safety officers to oversee the operations of the contractor specifically, or the prime contractor may have their own that oversees the prime contractor’s health and safety and that of the subcontractors.

In any of these instances, regardless of the organisation, there must be health and safety personnel present to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements.

Health and Safety Officer responsibilities

It has already been established that the responsibility for health and safety lies with the contractor. The contractor can appoint an individual who will take responsibility for contract personnel safety although the responsibility remains with the contractor.

This individual, or individuals, must be employed in a supervisory position and empowered to take corrective action, be present on the project for its duration, and spend the necessary amount of time to ensure compliance with safety requirements.

The site health and safety officer will primarily be responsible for ensuring that work is safely performed and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the health and safety officer must, according to Section 18.1-2 of OHSA:

18.1 -

• Review health and safety measure effectiveness.
• Identify any potential hazards and major incidents in the workplace.
• Examine the causes of incidents in the workplace in collaboration with the employer.
• Investigate any complaints made by an employee relating to health and safety at work.
• Represent on matters of health and safety to the employer, safety committee, or inspector.
• Represent on general matters that affect the health and safety of employees.
• Inspect the workplace, any particle, substance, plant, machinery, or health and safety equipment in the workplace.
• Participate in consultations with inspectors at the workplace in addition to accompanying them on inspections of the workplace.
• Receive information from inspectors and attend meetings of the health and safety committee of which they are a member in connection with any of the functions mentioned above.

18.2 –

• Visit areas where an incident has occurred at reasonable times and attend in loco inspections.
• Attend investigations or formal inquiries held in terms of the Act.
• Inspect any document that the employer must keep in terms of the Act.
• Accompany inspectors on inspections.
• Be accompanied by a technical advisor on inspections, where the employer has approved it.
• Participate in internal health and safety inspections.

In addition, the contractor’s health and safety officer must ensure that the site-specific accident prevention plan and activity hazard analysis or hazard identification risk assessment of the subcontractor and sub-tier contractors has been reviewed.

Ensure that all contractor, subcontractor, and sub-tier contractor employees have attended a site-specific orientation before they begin work. This must include a discussion of the site-specific accident prevention plan, activity hazard analysis, and/or hazard identification Risk Assessment.

Regularly perform document inspections, assess hazards, and immediately correct any deficiencies, including that of a subcontractor or sub-tier contractor.

Immediately report all personnel injuries, vehicle incidents or accidents, near-miss incidents, and property damage incidents, within 24-hours to the relevant parties. Investigate any such accidents, injuries, illnesses, and/or near-misses.

Ensure that all necessary safety meetings are held for onsite employees, including subcontractors. Such safety meetings must be held at least once a week and must be documented and kept in the Site file.

Take responsibility for the control, availability, and use of necessary safety equipment including PPE for employees.

Should a contractor's Health and Safety officer fail to perform their duties in accordance with the clauses of the contract, they can be replaced by the contractor or at the client’s discretion.

Health and Safety Officer Requirements and Qualifications

The health and safety officer of the contractor can either be categorized as a full-time safety professional or a collateral duty safety officer, depending on the scope and the size of the project.

Where a full-time safety professional is concerned, the individual must comply with the following:

• They must not have any other duties or functions.
• They must possess a minimum of five years of progressive experience in managing safety programs on large projects comparable to the current project scope and complexity.
• They must be knowledgeable in all applicable regulations pertaining to contractor and industrial safety.
• They must possess certification qualifying them as a ‘competent person’.
• They must be trained in First Aid.
• They must be capable of performing accident investigations and developing a concise written report, and
• They must be proficient in developing and presenting ‘toolbox talk’ meetings as well as safety training.

Where a collateral duty safety officer is concerned, the individual must comply with the following:

• It must be an individual assigned to perform safety functions on any contract that does not require a full-time safety professional.
• They must possess a minimum of five years of progressive experience in managing safety programs on large projects comparable to the current project scope and complexity.
• They must be knowledgeable in all applicable regulations pertaining to contractor and industrial safety.
• They must possess certification qualifying them as a ‘competent person’.
• They must be trained in First Aid.
• They must be capable of performing accident investigations and developing a concise written report, and
• They must be proficient in developing and presenting ‘toolbox talk’ meetings as well as safety training.

The qualifications that an individual appointed as a health and safety officer must possess will depend on several factors. Some qualifications needed to fulfil such a role can include, but is not limited to:

• MAKROSAFE Health and Safety Inspector Qualification.
• MAKROSAFE Health and Safety Practitioner Qualification.
• National Diploma in Safety Management.

Depending on the site, scope of work, and the project, some health and safety officers may be required to possess a technical qualification, for example, a certificate or degree in engineering.

How can SafetyWallet help Employers and Contractors’ Health and Safety Compliance?

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