SA Affordable Housing January / February 2017 // Issue: 62 | Page 28
FEATURES - HEALTH AND SAFETY
In South Africa, the total cost of accidents is estimated to be about 5% of the value of completed construction. Image: Pixabay
A study in safety - part 2
We continue looking at case studies supplied by the Federated
Employers’ Mutual Assurance Company, particularly on the safety
issues around transporting workers.
By the Federated Employers’ Mutual Assurance Company
H
ealth and safety is vitally important in any industry,
especially those that make use of dangerous
equipment or where work takes place off the ground
– on a roof, for instance.
Equally important, however, is safely transporting
workers. Whatever industry you’re in, transporting workers
from site to site is a delicate process, one that should be
handled carefully to ensure the safe arrival of everyone
involved.
TRANSPORTING EMPLOYEES
RESPONSIBILITY
We are still seeing accidents that are entirely preventable
with proper planning and foresight. People are still being
killed in foreseeable accidents that involve falling from
heights, getting struck by objects or equipment and the
biggest cause in respect of fatalities – motor vehicle
accidents. Training and education, together with the
26
JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2017
AFFORDABLE
SA HOUSING
provision of PPE and correct supervision will result in
fewer accidents. A suitably trained individual is less likely
to have an accident. The industry needs to take greater
responsibility for controlling the risks that it creates.
COMPLIANCE
Addressing the Department of Labour Construction Sector
seminar recently, the OHS chief director, Tibor Szana,
appealed for further collaboration between industry and
the department over health and safety compliance and
enforcement. With the imminent introduction of a new
dispensation for the registration of construction health
and safety professionals in South Africa and the
implementation of the construction work permit in terms
of Construction Regulation 2014, the DoL says it has found
that the construction industry has a less than 50% rate of
compliance with health and safety regulations. This echoes
the fact that the building and construction industry is one
of the most dangerous places to work.