Many employers believe that once a safety file has been compiled, occupational health and safety compliance is largely under control. A file may appear complete on inspection: appointments are signed, registers are present, policies are filed, and certificates are inserted in the correct sections. Yet in practice, a large number of workplaces in South Africa […]

Did you know that accidents start before someone gets hurt. In many small and medium-sized businesses, when an incident happens the first question asked is often: “Who made the mistake?” While this reaction is understandable, it rarely leads to meaningful prevention. Incidents almost never occur because of one person or one action. They develop over […]

In Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), the terms near miss, incident and accident are often used interchangeably. The Occupational Health and Safety Act, 85 of 1993 (OHSA), however, places clear importance on understanding the distinction between them, as this directly affects compliance, reporting duties, corrective action and the prevention of claims, lost man-hours, injury, property […]