South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993
South Africa's principal workplace safety statute: the employer's duty to provide a safe and healthy working environment with hazards eliminated before PPE, hazard identification, precautions, information, training and supervision; duties to non-employees; duties of designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers; listed-work monitoring and medical surveillance; employee duties; the chief executive officer's accountability; health and safety representatives and committees; prohibitions on selling non-compliant equipment and on deductions; incident and occupational disease reporting; protection against victimisation; cooperation with inspectors; confidentiality; and vicarious liability for employees and mandataries.
South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 is a compliance framework from South Africa with 4 domains and 21 controls. The largest domains are Sections 7 to 16: Policy and the general duties of employers, self-employed persons, manufacturers and suppliers, employees and chief executive officers – South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (9 controls), Sections 21 to 26: Prohibitions, sale of articles, deductions, reporting of incidents and diseases, victimisation – South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (5 controls), Sections 17 to 20: Health and safety representatives and committees – South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (4 controls). Every control below carries what it requires and what an assessor expects to see.
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Framework Domains (4)
Sections 17 to 20: Health and safety representatives and committees – South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::17 | Health and safety representatives: designated in writing within four months wherever more than 20 employees work at a workplace, after good-faith consultation on nomination, election and term, from full-time employees acquainted with the workplace, at least one per 100 employees in shops and offices and one per 50 elsewhere, more if an inspector directs, with their activities in working hours |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::18 | Functions and entitlements of representatives: reviewing measures, identifying hazards, examining incident causes with the employer, investigating complaints, making representations, inspecting the workplace on notice, accompanying inspectors, attending inquiries and audits, inspecting documents, and the employer's duty to provide agreed facilities, assistance and training |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::19 | Health and safety committees: one or more committees wherever two or more representatives are designated, consulted at every meeting on initiating, developing, promoting, maintaining and reviewing health and safety measures, composed so that every representative sits on a committee and employer nominees do not outnumber them, meeting at least every three months, with co-opted advisers and more committees if an inspector directs |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::20 | Functions of committees: recommendations to the employer or an inspector on any health or safety matter, discussion of every incident causing injury, illness or death with a written report to an inspector where chosen, prescribed functions, records of recommendations and reports, and the employer's duty to take prescribed steps so the committee meets and performs |
Sections 21 to 26: Prohibitions, sale of articles, deductions, reporting of incidents and diseases, victimisation – South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::22 | Sale of certain articles prohibited: nobody sells or markets an article, substance, plant, machinery or health and safety equipment for which a requirement or standard has been prescribed unless it complies |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::23 | No deductions or payments: an employer may not deduct from remuneration, or require or permit payment, for anything the Act requires it to provide or do for an employee's health or safety |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::24 | Reporting of incidents to an inspector: any incident at work or from plant or machinery causing death, unconsciousness, loss of a limb or part, serious injury or illness likely to be fatal, permanent or disabling for 14 days or more, a major incident, or endangerment by spills, uncontrolled pressure release, machinery fracture or runaway, reported in the prescribed period and manner, and the site of a fatal, likely-fatal or limb-loss incident left undisturbed without an inspector's consent except for rescue and prevention |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::25 | Report of occupational disease: a medical practitioner who examines or treats a person for a scheduled compensation disease or any disease believed to arise from employment reports the case to the employer and the chief inspector within the prescribed period and manner and informs the patient |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::26 | Victimisation forbidden: no dismissal, pay reduction, worse terms or disadvantage because an employee gave information to the Minister or an official, complied with an inspector, gave evidence, exercised or refused to breach the Act, or because of medical surveillance results or a disease report |
Sections 27 to 50: Inspectors, investigations and inquiries, liability, offences, exemptions, regulations and machinery – South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::29-30 | Cooperation with inspectors: employers, employees and users provide the facilities an inspector reasonably requires on entering premises, and employers bring every prohibition, direction or notice under section 30 to the attention of the representatives and employees concerned at once and respect barricades |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::36 | Disclosure of information: nobody discloses information about another person's affairs obtained in carrying out functions under the Act except for its administration, the administration of justice or at the request of an entitled representative or committee |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::37 | Acts or omissions of employees and mandataries: the employer or user is presumed to have done what its employee or mandatary did unless it proves the act was without its connivance or permission, outside the employee's authority and that all reasonable steps were taken to prevent it; written agreements on compliance arrangements with mandataries; employees and mandataries also liable themselves |
Sections 7 to 16: Policy and the general duties of employers, self-employed persons, manufacturers and suppliers, employees and chief executive officers – South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::10 | General duties of designers, manufacturers, importers, sellers, suppliers, erectors and installers: articles for use at work safe and compliant when properly used, safe erection and installation, substances safe with information on use, risks, safe conditions and accident procedures, and relief by written undertaking |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::12 | Duties regarding listed work: after consulting the health and safety committee, identify hazards and evaluate risks, prevent or minimise exposure, run an occupational hygiene programme and biological monitoring and apply medical surveillance, keep representatives informed, and release individual results only with written consent |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::13 | Duty to inform: make every employee conversant with the hazards of their work, articles, substances, plant and machinery and the precautions to observe, inform representatives beforehand of inspections, investigations, inquiries and exemption applications, and inform them promptly of incidents |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::14 | General duties of employees: reasonable care for themselves and others, cooperation with the employer's duties, compliance with lawful orders and health and safety rules, reporting of unsafe or unhealthy situations, and reporting of incidents by the end of the shift |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::15 | No intentional or reckless interference with, damage to or misuse of anything provided in the interest of health or safety |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::16 | Chief executive officer: ensure as far as reasonably practicable that the employer's duties are properly discharged, with power to assign duties in writing to persons under their control without shedding responsibility; heads of State departments deemed chief executive officers |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::7 | Health and safety policy when directed: a written policy on protecting employees' health and safety, including the organisation and the arrangements for carrying it out and reviewing it, displayed prominently and signed by the chief executive officer |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::8 | General duties of employers to employees: a safe working environment without risk to health as far as reasonably practicable, including safe systems, plant and machinery, hazard elimination before PPE, safe handling of articles and substances, hazard identification and precautions with the means to apply them, information, instruction, training and supervision, no work without precautions, enforcement, trained supervision and informing employees of the scope of their authority |
| south-africa-occupational-health-and-safety-act-85-of-1993::9 | General duties to persons other than employees: employers and self-employed persons conduct their undertakings so that people outside their employment who may be directly affected are not exposed to hazards to their health or safety |
What is South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 and who does it apply to?
South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 is a compliance framework from South Africa with 4 domains and 21 controls. South Africa's principal workplace safety statute: the employer's duty to provide a safe and healthy working environment with hazards eliminated before PPE, hazard identification, precautions, information, training and supervision; duties to non-employees; duties of designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers; listed-work monitoring and medical surveillance; employee duties; the chief executive officer's accountability; health and safety representatives and committees; prohibitions on selling non-compliant equipment and on deductions; incident and occupational disease reporting; protection against victimisation; cooperation with inspectors; confidentiality; and vicarious liability for employees and mandataries. It is used by organisations to establish and maintain compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements.
What does South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 actually require?
South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 has 21 controls organised across 4 domains. The largest domains are Sections 7 to 16: Policy and the general duties of employers, self-employed persons, manufacturers and suppliers, employees and chief executive officers – South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (9 controls), Sections 21 to 26: Prohibitions, sale of articles, deductions, reporting of incidents and diseases, victimisation – South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (5 controls), Sections 17 to 20: Health and safety representatives and committees – South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (4 controls). Each control defines specific requirements that organisations must implement to achieve compliance.
If I already comply with another framework, how much of South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 do I already cover?
South Africa Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 does not currently have cross-framework mappings in our system. Check back as we continuously expand our mapping database.
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