Section 24 Incidents and the procedure that must be followed

This is another important question! A Section 24 incident is a specific type of incident, which must be reported, when it occurs. This requirement is driven by Section 24 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, which states a Section 24 incident as any incident where:

 

a/. any person dies, becomes unconscious, suffers the loss of a limb or part of a limb or is otherwise injured or becomes ill to such a degree that he is likely to die or to suffer a permanent physical defect or likely to be unable for a period of at least 14 days either to work or to continue with the activity for which he was employed or is usually employed; 

b/. a major incident occurred; or 

c/. the health and safety of any person was endangered and where, 

(i) A dangerous substance was spilled; 

(ii) The uncontrolled release of any substance under pressure took place; 

(iii) Machinery or any part thereof fractured or failed resulting in flying, falling or uncontrolled moving objects;; or machinery ran out of control, shall, within the prescribed period and in the prescribed manner, be reported to an inspector by the employer or the user of the plant or machinery concerned, as the case may be.

 

Excluded from this list: a/. a traffic accident on a public road; b/. an incident occurring in a private household, provided the householder forthwith reports the incident to the South African Police; or c/. any accident which is to be investigated under section 12 of the Aviation Act, 1962 (Act No.74 of 1962).

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1/. The Annexure 1 form must be completed, as soon as possible and then faxed or delivered to the Department of Employment and Labour. Inspectors from the Department of Employment and Labour will then arrange for an investigation of the site and follow-up with their findings. 

2/. The incident needs to be reported to the Compensation Commissioner, in the same way and manner as any other Injury on Duty. 

3/. In the case of a fatality occurring, the following additional documents will be required for submitting to the Compensation Commissioner: 

a/. Death certificate 

b/. Certified copy of ID of wife or husband 

c/. Marriage certificate 

d/. Certified copies of IDs of any dependents 

e/. The burial expense account and proof of payment 

f/. The Post Mortem report 

g/. W.Cl.3 - Notice of Accident and Claim for Compensation form 

h/. W.Cl.32 - Declaration by Guardian / Widow i/. Any other documents which may be relevant, depending on the specific circumstances