There is a significant number of unreported incidents of workplace injuries and deaths that occur in the construction industry, owing to an ineffective and stressed reporting system and the ineffective implementation of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act.

The Department of Labour (DoL) pays a minimum of about R2.5-billion a year in compensation in relation to workplace accidents and incidents and if all accidents and incidents are reported, the figure would increase substantially, says law firm Routledge Modise legal expert Warren Beech.

The situation severely hampers industry regulators’ ability to implement effective health and safety measures at construction sites and the likelihood of the situation spiralling out of control is imminent if construction companies and government reporting structures do not partner to regulate safety measures and work procedures.

The DoL’s statistics on health and safety incidents are also inaccurate because of poor record-keeping and the department does not have a consolidated reporting structure.

Another challenge is that the construction sector is vast – from a small business doing minor repairs and brickwork to large construction companies building shopping malls and housing complexes – and this broad spectrum creates difficulties in keeping track of all existing construction companies.
“The statistics are inaccurate because of these challenges and while incidents are reported by the larger companies, smaller companies often do not report,” explains Beech.

Also, the DoL’s offices are regionalised and localised, making the implementation of one reliable reporting structure difficult and this prevents information from reaching provincial and national offices. Most of the offices predominantly deal with all the department’s issues, so there is no dedicated OHS stream, explains Beech.

Another aspect is that the onus is on the company to notify the department that it is operating a construction site as the depart- ment does not have the capacity to perform continuous inspections. Unless a company notifies the department, the department may not know that a construction site has been established and cannot manage and enforce the requirements of the OHS Act, he says.

Most fatalities in the sector are a result of falling from heights, slipping and falling and moving machinery and vehicles. Many small and medium-sized construction enterprises do not report injuries and deaths to the DoL. Subsequently, no enquiries and studies are done to determine the cause of the incidents, create solutions to ensure safety in the workplace and implement preventive measures.

Routledge Modise says the industry needs improved safety and job task training, more stringent rules and regulations, improved company safety policies and companies to assuage employees’ fears of possible prosecution or dismissal when reporting an incident.

“Although we can learn a lot from the policies and systems in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, South Africa has a sophisticated OHS Act and while the proposed amendment to the construction regulations should come into effect by the end of the year, the health and safety in the construction industry should improve, provided that there is a commitment by all stakeholders to ensure compliance, through training, allocation of human and financial resources and accountability,” con cludes Beech.