Occupational Health and Safety — Your Obligations as an Employer

The Occupational Health and Safety Act places a legal duty on every employer in South Africa to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of employees. This applies to every employer regardless of size — from a sole director in a home office to a factory with hundreds of workers.

The obligations scale with the risk level of the workplace, but the obligation itself is universal. A low-risk office environment has real but modest OHS obligations. A restaurant kitchen, construction site, or manufacturing facility has significantly more complex requirements. The principle throughout is "as far as is reasonably practicable" — you are not required to eliminate every conceivable risk, but you are required to take all reasonable steps proportionate to the risks involved and the resources available to you.

Two pieces of legislation work together in this space. The OHS Act governs prevention — your duty to maintain a safe workplace. COIDA governs compensation — what happens when something goes wrong. COIDA registration does not substitute for OHS compliance, and OHS compliance does not substitute for COIDA registration. Both apply independently.

The General Duty: Section 8

Section 8 of the OHS Act requires every employer to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of all employees and any other person who may be affected by the business activities. "Any other person" includes clients, visitors, contractors, and members of the public who enter your premises.

The general duty covers six specific obligations:

Provide and maintain safe plant and equipment. Every piece of machinery, tool, equipment, and substance used in the workplace must be safe and properly maintained. This applies to a shared photocopier as much as to an industrial press.

Ensure safe systems of work. The way work is organised and performed must not create unnecessary risk. This includes how tasks are sequenced, how hazardous materials are handled, how people move around the workspace, and how equipment is operated.

Provide adequate information, instruction, training, and supervision. Employees must know what the hazards are, how to protect themselves, and what to do if something goes wrong. Training must be appropriate to the role and documented. Having rules is not sufficient — they must be enforced, and employees must be supervised to ensure they comply.

Maintain the place of work in a safe condition. This includes the physical structure, walkways, storage areas, and all facilities. Wet floors, blocked exits, and overloaded electrical circuits are OHS contraventions regardless of whether an accident has occurred.

Provide a safe working environment without risk to health. This extends to lighting, ventilation, temperature, and exposure to noise, dust, chemicals, and other physical agents.

Report serious incidents. Workplace incidents that result in death, unconsciousness, loss of a limb, or hospitalisation of more than 14 days must be reported to the Department of Employment and Labour on the prescribed form within seven days under Section 24 of the Act.

The 16.2 Appointee: CEO Accountability

The OHS Act places ultimate accountability on the Chief Executive Officer or equivalent. The CEO can delegate health and safety responsibilities in writing to a competent person — the 16.2 Appointee — who oversees OHS on behalf of the CEO.

For most small business owner-directors, you are effectively both the CEO and the 16.2 Appointee. The delegation does not remove your ultimate accountability — it creates a documented chain of responsibility. If you delegate OHS management to an employee or consultant, the delegation must be in writing and the person must be competent to carry out those functions.

For a sole director or owner, document your own appointment in writing as the person responsible for health and safety. It takes five minutes and demonstrates good faith to an inspector.

Risk Assessment: The Starting Point

A written risk assessment is the foundation of OHS compliance. It must be done before your first employee starts and reviewed whenever something material changes — new equipment, new processes, new premises, or after a significant incident.

A risk assessment covers four questions:

1. What could cause harm in this workplace?
2. Who could be harmed and how?
3. What controls are already in place?
4. What additional controls are needed?

For a low-risk office environment — desks, computers, a kitchenette — this is a straightforward document covering slip and trip hazards, ergonomics, electrical safety, fire evacuation, and first aid. It can be completed in an afternoon and does not require an external consultant.

For a restaurant kitchen, the risk assessment must address burns, cuts, slips, chemical cleaning agents, gas equipment, fire risk, and working in heat. For a construction site or manufacturing facility, the assessment is substantially more complex and specialist assistance is usually needed.

The risk assessment must be a genuine document. An inspector who reviews an assessment that bears no relationship to the actual workplace will treat it as non-compliant. Generic downloaded templates signed without thought are worse than useless — they demonstrate that you went through the form but not the substance.

The Health and Safety Policy

A written health and safety policy should be in place once you have employees. It does not need to be complex, but it must:

• State the employer's commitment to health and safety
• Identify who is responsible for what
• Be signed by the CEO or owner
• Be accessible to all employees
• Be reviewed at least annually

For a small business, this can be a single page. The Chief Inspector of the Department of Employment and Labour may direct specific employers to prepare a written policy — having one in place before being directed demonstrates good faith.

Practical Minimum Requirements

The following apply to every employer regardless of size or risk level.

Emergency evacuation procedures must exist and all employees must know them. Exit routes must be clearly marked and unobstructed at all times. Emergency exits must open from the inside without a key during working hours. Conduct an evacuation drill at least once a year and document it. A workplace where employees do not know where to exit in an emergency is an immediate contravention.

First aid equipment must be accessible. A first aid box appropriate to the number of employees and the risk profile must be maintained and restocked. At least one employee must be trained in basic first aid. The identity and location of the first aid officer must be posted visibly. Check and restock the first aid box quarterly — an empty or out-of-date kit is a contravention.

Electrical safety. Overloaded sockets, damaged cables, extension cords used as permanent wiring, and unsafe installations are all OHS contraventions and are among the most common findings in office inspections. Electrical installations must comply with the Electrical Installations Regulations and must be inspected by a qualified electrician. Do not use multi-plug adapters in a chain.

Fire safety. Fire extinguishers appropriate to the fire risk must be provided, accessible, and serviced annually. Flammable materials must be stored safely and separately from ignition sources. Employees must know where the extinguishers are and how to use them.

Housekeeping. Cluttered walkways, blocked fire exits, improperly stored chemicals, and excessive waste accumulation are OHS contraventions. Housekeeping is not just operational practice — it is a legal obligation.

Health and Safety Representatives

Employers with 20 or more employees must designate at least one health and safety representative. For larger workplaces, the requirement scales — generally one representative per 50 employees or part thereof in a workplace. Health and safety representatives must be:

• Full-time employees, not contractors
• Nominated and elected by fellow employees — not appointed by management
• Familiar with the work performed in their area of responsibility
• Given time during working hours to fulfil their safety functions without loss of pay

Once two or more health and safety representatives are designated, a health and safety committee must be established. The committee must meet at least quarterly.

For employers below 20 employees, health and safety representatives are not legally required. However, involving employees in identifying and discussing workplace hazards demonstrates the supervisory intent of the Act and builds a safety culture without requiring a formal structure.

Employee Obligations

The OHS Act places duties on employees as well as employers. Employees must take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others, comply with OHS rules and instructions, use safety equipment provided, not misuse or damage safety equipment, and report unsafe situations to their employer or health and safety representative.

An employee who wilfully and repeatedly refuses to comply with a lawful safety instruction — refusing to wear required PPE, for example — can be disciplined and, for serious repeat offences, dismissed. Document safety instructions given and compliance or non-compliance with them. This documentation protects the employer in both OHS enforcement proceedings and any subsequent CCMA dispute.

2025 Regulatory Updates Worth Knowing About

Two sets of new regulations were published in March 2025 under the OHS Act that affect certain workplaces.

Physical Agents Regulations 2024 replace the Environmental Regulations for Workplaces, 1987. They will take full effect from September 2026 (18 months after promulgation). They apply to any employer where employees may be exposed to physical agents including noise, vibration, extreme temperatures, and radiation. If your workplace involves significant noise, vibration, or temperature extremes — manufacturing, hospitality with loud music, cold storage, outdoor construction — these regulations are relevant and you should begin assessing compliance now.

Noise Exposure Regulations 2024 replace the Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Regulations, also taking full effect from September 2026. They apply to workplaces where employees are exposed to continuous or impulse noise at or above specified thresholds.

If either of these apply to your business, use the transition period before September 2026 to assess your exposure levels, implement controls, and update your risk assessment.

Specific Regulations for Higher-Risk Businesses

The OHS Act is supported by 21 sets of regulations that apply to specific industries and hazards. The most relevant beyond the general ones:

Construction Regulations — apply to any construction work including building renovations and maintenance. Even a small commercial renovation triggers these. They impose requirements on clients (the person who commissions the work), principal contractors, and subcontractors.

General Machinery Regulations — apply to any workplace with machinery. Cover guarding, maintenance, and competency requirements for machinery operators.

Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations — apply where chemicals are used, stored, or produced, including cleaning products in a restaurant, solvents in a workshop, or substances in a laboratory.

If your business operates in construction, manufacturing, food production, healthcare, or any environment involving chemicals, machinery, or physical hazards, identify and comply with the specific regulations applicable to you. Ignorance of a specific regulation is not a defence.

Enforcement

A Department of Employment and Labour inspector may enter any workplace at any reasonable time without prior notice. They may inspect, test, and examine any equipment or substance, question any person, and copy any record.

If they find a contravention, they may:

• Issue an improvement notice requiring corrective action within a specified period
• Issue a prohibition notice stopping specific work or operations immediately
• Recommend criminal prosecution for serious or repeat violations

A prohibition notice can stop your business from operating in whole or in part on the spot. Resuming work contrary to a prohibition notice is itself a criminal offence. There is no warning required before a prohibition notice — an immediate danger justifies an immediate stop.

Criminal prosecution of individual directors and managers is specifically provided for under the Act. Directors cannot shelter behind the corporate structure. Personal liability for serious OHS failures is real and the Department has signalled increased enforcement activity against repeat offenders.

Record-Keeping

OHS compliance must be documented. Maintain the following:

• Written risk assessment and all reviews
• Health and safety policy
• Training records — who was trained, when, and in what
• Incident reports for all workplace accidents and near-misses, including Section 24 formal reports where required
• Equipment inspection and maintenance records
• First aid equipment inspection and restock logs
• Minutes of health and safety committee meetings (where applicable)
• Written appointments (16.2 appointee, health and safety representatives)
• Copies of any improvement or prohibition notices received and actions taken in response

Retain OHS records for at least five years. An inspector who arrives and finds no documentation has essentially the same view as finding no compliance.

Common Mistakes Worth Avoiding

Assuming OHS does not apply to a home office or small office. It does. The obligations are lighter, but they are real. Electrical safety, emergency evacuation, and first aid apply to every workplace.

Using a generic risk assessment template without tailoring it. A document that does not reflect what actually happens in your workplace is not compliant.

Not enforcing safety rules. Written rules that are not enforced are worse than useless from a compliance perspective — they demonstrate that you knew the standard and chose not to apply it.

Blocking fire exits for convenience. This is one of the most common OHS contraventions in inspections and one of the most immediately dangerous. A prohibition notice can follow.

Not reporting serious incidents under Section 24. Failure to report is a separate contravention from the incident itself. Report within seven days.

Not maintaining first aid equipment. Check and restock quarterly.

Not documenting the 16.2 appointee in writing. Even as a sole director, document your own appointment formally.

Ignoring the 2025 regulatory updates. If Physical Agents or Noise Exposure Regulations apply to your business, the September 2026 full commencement date is approaching. Assess now rather than scrambling later.

This article provides general information about the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Specific obligations depend on your industry, workplace activities, and risk profile. Consult a qualified OHS practitioner or the Department of Employment and Labour for guidance on your specific situation. Nothing in this article constitutes legal or safety advice.

This article provides general information about South African business law and regulation. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Laws and regulations change — verify current requirements with a qualified professional or directly with the relevant authority before making decisions.

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