The Law (Occupational Health and Safety Act)

 

CR 7(1)(b) and CR 7(2)(b) requires the contractor to open a full Health and Safety File on every construction site, prior to commencement of any construction work.

CR Definitions - 

"construction work" means any work in connection with -

1. The construction, erection, alteration, renovation, repair, demolition or dismantling of or addition to a building or any similar structure; or
2. The construction, erection, maintenance, demolition or dismantling of any bridge, dam, canal, road, railway, runway, sewer or water reticulation; or the moving of earth, clearing of land, the making of excavation, piling, or any similar civil engineering structure or any similar type of work.

CR Definitions - 

"structure" means - 

1. Any building, steel or reinforced concrete structure (not being a building), railway line or siding, bridge, waterworks, reservoir, pipe or pipeline, cable, sewer, sewage works, fixed vessels, road, drainage works, earthworks, dam, wall, mast, tower, tower crane, bulk mixing plant, pylon, surface and underground tanks, earth retaining structure or any structure designed to preserve or alter any natural feature, and any other similar structure;
2. Any *falsework, scaffold or other structure designed or used to provide support or means of access during construction work; or
3. Any fixed plant in respect of construction work which includes installation, commissioning, decommissioning or dismantling and where any construction work involves a risk of a person falling.

*falsework is temporary framework structures used to support a building during its construction.

CR Definitions – 

“Contractor ” means an employer who performs construction work.

AS YOU CAN SEE, A HEALTH AND SAFETY FILE IS NEEDED EVERY TIME YOU GO OUT AND DO CONSTRUCTION WORK ON A SITE – REGARDLESS OF WHETHER IT WILL TAKE A DAY OR A MONTH. 

I’m the CEO (or owner, director, member).  What happens to me if my team does not have a Health and Safety File on site, or a non-compliant one? 

1. You may be dismissed from site, by the client, the client's agent, the Department of Labour, or any 3rd party agent affiliated to the project. You may also be fined by the client, AND
2. may be fined by the Department of Labour, up to R50.000 per transgression of the Act or Regulation, AND
3. You may be imprisoned for up to 1 year.
   

If there is a Section 24 accident, being loss of limb, unconsciousness, unfit for duty for 14 days or more, or death then you can

1. Receive a R100.000 fine per transgression of the Act or Regulation, AND/OR
2. 2 years imprisonment, AND
3. You may face a civil lawsuit.

Fines have no ceiling – you can be fined 30 times R100,000 if you transgress 30 instances of the Act.

AND REMEMBER - YOU CAN BE REPORTED FOR ANY TRANSGRESSION BY A DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE – IT IS ACTUALLY HIS DUTY TO REPORT!!