“Safe work creates no obstacles to being competitive and successful. In fact, no country – and no company in the long run – has been able to jump to a high level of productivity without making sure that the work environment is safe.” –International Labour Organisation

The 2010/11 financial year that witnessed South Africa’s major infrastructure boom was also victim to a shocking health and safety record. At the end of that year, the Compensation Fund paid over R2.7 billion towards injuries and diseases sustained in the workplace, of which R287 million was reserved for occupational injuries in the building and construction sectors. The bottom line: compliance with occupational risk management must be viewed as non-negotiable.

In the construction and engineering sectors, people are central to a business as manual labour still forms the basis of all projects carried out in South Africa. In order to protect these vital assets, we need to ensure all workers are deemed medically fit for work, have access to basic health services, have supervisors and health and safety officers on-site, and ensure the environment is deemed safe to carry out work-related operations. Before any work can be carried out on site, a risk assessment must be performed to:

• identify potential risks and hazards
• analyse and evaluate the identified risk
• document a plan of safe work procedures such as choosing the appropriate safety gear
• provide a monitoring plan
• provide a review plan

Conducting the correct risk assessment is not only an important step in protecting workers and complying with the law, it helps draw attention to risks that have the potential to cause real harm. From a business perspective, ensuring that all the boxes are ticked will reduce the chances of a lawsuit and delays following an injury or, in severe cases, death.

The same applies to suppliers, subcontractors, outsourced machine operating personnel, etc. – always ensure they have the necessary competencies and resources to safely perform a job. As the appointing agent, this could come back to you. With government’s aim to boost small business, emerging contractors, for example, must be compliant with safety laws in order to attract new business. And for those companies that have been active in the industry for several years, staying abreast of latest trends, technologies, equipment and regulations is equally important.

Format example of a basic health and safety plan
What are the hazards relating to work tasks?	Who might be harmed and how?	What are the safe work procedures for the site?	What further action is necessary (monitoring and review)?	Action by whom	Action by when

Know the law

Countries across the globe abide by their own set of laws in terms of occupational health and safety (OHS). In South Africa, the Department of Labour (DOL) is responsible for OHS, and the inspection and enforcement thereof in commerce and industry except for mining and energy production, which is handled by the Department of Mineral Resources. The main statutory legislation on Health and Safety in the jurisdiction of the DOL is the Occupational Health and Safety Act No 85 of 1993 as amended by the OHS Amendment Act No 181 of 1993. Regulations to our OHS Act include:

• Certificate of Competency Regulations 1990
• Construction Regulations 2003
• Diving Regulations 2009
• Driven Machinery Regulations 1988
• Environmental Regulations for Workplaces 1987
• General Machinery Regulations 1988
• General Safety Regulations 1986
• Noise Induced Hearing Loss Regulations 2003
• Pressure Equipment Regulations 2004.

Following on from the disappointing safety record in 2011, the DOL in conjunction with other stakeholders signed a Construction Health and Safety Accord agreement on 24 August 2012, as part of an effort to improve the status of OHS in the local construction sector. Stakeholders included the likes of the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC), Master Builders South Africa and the Black Business Council Built Environment (BBCBE).

Phumudzo Maphaha, DOL manager: Occupational Health and Safety, said that while the department’s endeavour is to protect vulnerable workers and monitor the impact of legislation, the country continues to be plagued by the lack of adherence to the OHS Act, resulting in an escalating number of injuries and deaths. The major challenges being faced include dealing with the consequences of the HIV epidemic on levels of injury and disease; servicing SMMEs and the informal sector, and protecting workers in marginal employment; establishing appropriate funding mechanisms for prevention agencies; and developing a culture of prevention among employers and employees.

“The department is currently reviewing legislation to stem the tide, and is also intent on stepping up inspections and blitzes,” he continued. The new proposed agreement forms part of government’s Road to Zeroprogramme, launched at the National Occupational Health and Safety Conference last year. “Various initiatives will be launched for all high risk sectors in the hope that respective partners will commit all that is required to reduce fatalities and injuries.”

Checks and systems

While the title sounds like that of a prison guard rank, inspection authorities should not be viewed as the enemy and are responsible for ensuring compliance through random site inspections and visits. The OHS Act defines an approved inspection authority (AIA) in Section 1(1)(i) as one that is approved by achief inspector with respect to a particular service/sector. Arising from the need for a responsible Health and safety (H&S) safety training assessment quality partner, a group of local health and safety practitioners – responsible for drafting the OHS practitioner curriculum standard – started setting up an umbrella professional body this year.

An initial capital investment of approximately R700 000 is required and thereafter the process will require a government subsidy of at least half a million per annum. However, about two years ago the DOL lost its training funding budget when it was transferred to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). The proposed plan is to ask all local sectoral training authorities (SETAs) to contribute to the costs of running the new OHS training assessment body. But in the case of the Construction SETA, construction OHS practitioners have to register with a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), and are assessed by the South African Council for Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP), and not with the new OHS generalist body. The SACPCMP was established to regulate construction management and construction project management professionals.

“The need to improve performance in the safety, health and environment (SHE) regime of our construction sector is an issue,” says Prof RN Nkado, president of SACPCMP. “With the collaboration of key stakeholders including the DOL, Department of Public Works, Master Builders Association, Council for the Built Environment, and other built environment councils and individuals, the SACPCMP has added three new categories of registration for construction health and safety practitioners.”

What industry has to say

Naturally, the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) is very concerned about the high injury rate in the construction industry, particularly so after the Business Times reported (earlier this year) that construction industry related fatalities are surpassing those of mining fatalities, even though the mining industry employs more people. SAICE says the civil engineering and construction fraternity needs to take cognisance of this distressing statistic. It must also be noted that the current Health and Safety Act will hold company directors liable for fatal accidents as a result of employee negligence. A blitz inspection conducted by DOL in 2007, covering 1 415 sites, revealed that 1 388 of these were non-compliant with the Health and Safety Act. It does not make sense to build infrastructure to better people’s lives, but jeopardise the lives of others while doing it, says SAICE.

Perhaps then, the answer lies in proper education and training. The Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority (HWSETA) has embarked on a Sector Skills Plan (SSP) 2011 to 2016, which will also address the scarce and critical skills demand in the SHE field. HWSETA was established to facilitate skills development in the health and social development sector, to ensure that the skills needs are identified and addressed through a number of initiatives by SETA and the sector. In essence, the SSP is a five-year sector education and training skills development report prepared by SETAs and aimed at identifying the skills needs of industrial sectors. The plan also looks at constraints to the effective utilisation and development of skills in relation to the objectives of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS), provincial growth and development strategies, and relevant industrial strategies.

Good deeds

Although there is huge negativity surrounding H&S compliance in the construction industry, the good should never be overlooked. BLC, a mining company in Botswana, received an award from the National Occupational Safety Association (NOSA) for  four million fatality free shifts, while Port Elizabeth-based company Air Products South Africa also received NOSA recognition for its 30-year incident-free record. The Air Products plant is a NOSA accredited facility and scooped several awards over the years for its impressive SHEQ adherence. According to Pierre Fourie, area sales manager of Air Products, employees at the plant are constantly empowered through a variety of skills development and training programmes. They also receive first aid, firefighting, welding and forklifting training; not forgetting the regular internal and external audits that are conducted to ensure the plant and surrounding premises are suitable for operations – proof that a behaviour-based safety process works.

“A behaviour-based safety process is a formal approach to addressing human behaviour in the workplace, using occupational health and safety and environmental legislation as a pivotal point,” explained Anita Steyn, senior consultant at NOSA, while addressing the issue at the recent African Utility Week Conference and Exhibition in Johannesburg.

“A company would need a safety management system,” she further stated, adding that the backbone of the system is usually the risk assessment process. The safety procedures will be documented and then implemented. A behaviour-based safety process changes the thought process in people and cultivates a set of new behaviours, which eventually drives a new culture, one of ownership and personal responsibility.

Last year’s Noshcon Conference – NOSA’s annual risk management conference and exhibition – brought to lightimportant issues such as employee engagement, factors contributing to employee fatigue, and the involvement of key international players. This year will see issues such as hazardous installations, drug-free workplaces, lean ergonomics, combustible measurements in the workplace, support structures for workers living with HIV, as well as innovative SHE practices, being addressed.

Safety equipment

While laws, regulations and training form the basis of managing occupational risk, safety equipment is, literally, the layer of protection. Before undertaking a job, H&S managers have a legal duty to carry out a risk assessment in order to establish what hazards workers may face when carrying out their duties. It is essential that risks are identified to ensure the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) can be provided. But PPE is not just restricted to hard hats, reflector vests or protective eyewear – ergonomics is also an influencing factor. By definition, ergonomics is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of the interactions among people and other elements of a system, applying theoretical principles, data and methods to design in order to optimise human well-being and overall performance.

Studies show that chronic pain adversely affects job performance, concentration and interpersonal interactions. In extreme circumstances, it may even cause depression. In fact, cost reports have revealed that about three quarters of lost productive time is attributable to reduced performance while at work, and not absenteeism. Take a worker with painful feet, for example. Not only does his state of health increase production expenses through lost time, but it also raises healthcare costs for both the employer and employee. South African manufacturer Beier Safety Footwear is tackling this problem head-on and has engineered 14 unique shoe styles that meet the rigorous requirements laid out by the Podiatry Association of South Africa (PASA) – earning the association’s highly sought-after stamp of approval. Organisations such as the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) also set footwear standards but their focus is on materials’ technology and durability to protect local consumers. Only PASA assesses the entire shoe – from last to upper – with a focus on how design positively affects worker health. Members of the PASA Footwear Committee are registered medical professionals who examine, diagnose and prevent foot ailments, specialising in footwear development and assessment.

PASA members recognise that the foot is a complex marvel of bioengineering, accommodating the many movements of human locomotion, balance and posture. Using research data, designs are developed according to measurements and shape proportions that match the foot. In this way, pathologies caused by poor fit are avoided. Flexible footwear that encourages circulation is all-important, as it helps to avoid fatigue and blood pooling in the feet – considering that the second largest blood-pumping mechanism after the heart is the gastrocnemius and soleus calf muscles. Rigid soles with high toe spring and higher heel elevations cause fatigue, muscle imbalance and poor foot muscle tone. PASA sets flex force torque standards for safety footwear that balance sturdy construction with proper foot flexion.

3M South Africa is also at the forefront of innovation when it comes to PPE development. The company’s latest respirator product – the Aura 9300+ IS – features a specially designed low breathing resistance filter technology. It combines the benefits of 3M’s electret particulate filter material with advanced low breathing resistance filter technology, offering ease of breathing and overall comfort. The product also makes use of 3M’s Cool Flow Valve that removes heat build-up and exhaled air, thereby minimising the risk of fogging eyewear. Ergonomically designed, the curved, low profile design of the respirator conforms well to the contours of the nose and eyes – allowing for better vision and compatibility across various brands of eyewear – while the ingenious three-panel design accommodates facial movements.

On-site assistance

With very few workers having access to on-site healthcare facilities, occupational health clinics are as necessary as proper PPE. The OHS Act requires employers to assess their responsibility for the health and well-being of their workers. One such example of an occupational health clinic is OHS Care, which provides mobile occupational health services to meet the demands of health-related challenges in the workplace. The company specialises in medical screenings and examinations such as X-rays and audiometric testing, and also provides assistance with occupational diseases. Another example is Life Occupational Health, a provider of contracted, on-site occupational and primary healthcare services to employer groups in commerce, industry, mining, parastatals and correctional services. Although occupational health is becoming increasingly complex, there are many clinics and service providers that are equipped to handle the current challenges and adapt to ever-changing demands.

Yes, our country’s injury and fatality rate in the construction and building sector is cause for concern but South Africa is not without the resources, technologies and expertise to effect a positive change. But before we rollout any new plans, perhaps we should head back to basics: familiarise ourselves with the current laws and regulations, instill a behavioural culture and change among workers through the reiteration of safety talks, start out with small training programmes and skills development exercises, and always carry out the necessary risk assessments (never assume). For in the end, damaged machinery and equipment can be replaced – people can’t!