Department of Labour (DoL) executive manager Tibor Szana states that a high incident rate in four different sectors, namely, construction, iron and steel/manufacturing, food and beverage, and agriculture, has accounted for about 47% of all injuries reported to the department over the past four years. During the 11 months from April 2006 to February 2007, more than 130 deaths were reported in the construction sector, with over 330 reported injuries.

The high incident rate prompted the DoL to set in motion the finalisation of the review of the construction regulations in order to ensure that they remain in line with current worldwide trends and future expectations. Szana says that part of the review included working closely with industry stakeholders in identifying the most important issues. A training programme for 60 new inspectors was initiated, followed by blitz inspections, which began in March this year.

A conference was also conducted earlier this year in Rustenburg, where employers and worker organisations, together with inspectors were hosted to presentations by construction experts from the International Labour Organisation, featuring Frank Muchiri and Professor John Smallwood from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

Szana states that anyone participating in construction work, as defined by the regulations, has the responsibility of notifying the DoL’s local provincial director in the prescribed format. A database of all construction activity, as defined by the regulation, is compiled by the DoL local offices, along with the completion date of each project in order for inspectors to plan their inspections at such sites.

Within a short period after the initial notification, an inspector is sent to the construction site as part of an inspection programme. The inspector has the responsibility to enact several legislations while on site or at the head office of construction compaies, including the Employment Equity Act, the Unemployment Insurance Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Compensa-tion for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, the Basic Conditions of Employement Act, as well as the Skills Development Act.

A three-tier model is followed by inspectors, states Szana. The first tier is that of advocacy. “That role normally plays itself out in the education and training of employers and employees. “The inspector goes out with the necessary materials and supplies them to the stakeholders, free of charge.”

The second tier in the model is the inspections. “Inspections are often undertaken for different reasons. “It could be that there has been a request for exemption from certain parts of the regulations, or a complaint has been lodged.”

The final tier of the model is enforcement. “If there has been noncompliance on the part of the employer, the inspector will enforce the legislation,” states Szana. He adds that in the case of noncompliance, three different notices could be issued. The first is an improvement notice. “This notice is issued when an employer complies with the legislation to a degree, but the inspector has determined a possible danger in the workplace, and the employer needs to improve on what is currently in place. “The employer is given 60 days to comply.”

The second notice is a contravention notice. This is issued when a company does not comply with both the Act and the regulations; this includes South African Bureau of Standards codes. Once again, the company is given 60 days to comply, before the case is handed over to the prosecuting authority.

The final notice that can be issued is the prohibition notice. Once an inspector finds a situation in a company that poses a danger to life and limb, the inspector will issue the notice on site and it will be effective immediately.

“The employer may appeal against any of the three notices,” states Szana. “An extension of the 60 days compliance deadline can also be requested if the employer can prove that it can not comply within the prescribed period.” In considering the request, four key issues are looked at: the capital expenditure, the severity and scope of the hazard, the state of knowledge reasonably available concerning the hazard, and the means of removing the hazard or risk.

In terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, noncompliance and prosecution could incur a fine of up to R50 000 or a year in jail. In certain cases, common law can also be enacted. “One of the interesting areas of our legislation is that sometimes you can have the possibility of death, but not a death, that is, the potential severity of an injury could have led to a death and, in such instances, an inspector could still charge the company with culpable homicide.”

Szana states that the DoL is willing to assist any company with queries on the regulation or legislation. “Come and talk to us before an accident takes place, because, once an accident happens, we have to invoke the enforcement part of our process.”

In cases where the employee fails to comply with regulations, even after the insistance of the company, the employee could be prosecuted in accordance with the legisla- tion. Where two or more com- panies are sharing the same construction site, on a cocontracting basis, both companies will be held liable should there be noncompliance with legislation.

All inspectors employed at the DoL go through an orientation phase within their respective provinces and thereafter training is carried out under their respective personnel development plans, states Szana, but a starting require- ment is a degree or equivalent in either one of five preferred disciplines. “We look at mechanical engineers, civil engineers, electrical engineers, chemical engineers, and a degree in occupational health and hygiene.” He adds, however, that the DoL is not closed to other variants, such as a degree in microbiology as it is relevant to the work that it performs in the various provinces.

Structured programmes are in place to train inspectors in certain fields, such as boiler training, to conduct the inspections of pressure vessels or vessels under pressure, or lift training to conduct inspections on lifts. “In some instances there would be an introduction to give an inspector the necessary understanding of a certain field, and thereafter the inspector would be linked with a tertiary education facility to get a formal qualification. “I think the time has come for employers to realise that the DOL is taking its work very seriously, and that inspectors going out to do inspections are in the process of being trained in what they are required to do.”

Szana states that, statistically, the view is that about 80% of work, related accidents could have been prevented if proper safety measures had been put in place. “We are looking at between five and nine deaths for every 100 000 people in developed countries, so South Africa’s rate of about 44 per 100 000, based on the assumption that there could be about 300 000 workers currently employed in the sector, is completely unacceptable.”

Implementing safety measures in the work place, says Szana, will save the company money and improve on the quality of both the product and the services. He warns, however, that in several cases, where the risk assessment was done by a person not familiar with risk assessment procedure, or working on a short deadline, the process often costs the company more.

“You will find that these com- panies have allocated a lot of money in areas where it was unnecessary. When a proper risk assessment is done, certain areas within a working environment would be identified as possible hazards.”

Szana states that all accidents which result in the loss of life or limb, or part of a limb, should be reported to the DoL. The loss of part of a limb is defined as the loss of the bone in the first digit of the appendage. A work-related accident result-ing in loss of consciousness, runaway machinery, or the escape of noxious gas should also be reported in line with Section 24 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Szana urges employers and workers within the industry to work with the DoL prior to accidents or incidents. “Too many lives are lost unnecessarily. It is time to change the prevailing culture at the workplace.”