Construction sector’s safety performance slammed
Less than 50% of construction industry health and safety compliant
THE Department of Labour will watch construction companies like a hawk after discovering more than half the sector remains non-compliant to the country’s health and safety standards.
Chief Director of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), Tibor Szana, last week said the construction industry has been beset with incidents causing fatalities over the past 15 years.
‘The level of incidents seemed to be repeating themselves over and over again,’ said Szana.
‘Why is the construction industry failing to reverse the high levels of fatalities?
‘It is imperative that the industry joins hands with the department to reverse the intolerable loss of life.’
Some of the recent incidents that have put a black mark on the construction industry’s safety performance scorecard include the collapse of the Tongaat Mall that left two dead and 29 workers injured, and the collapse of a house in Meyersdal that led to the death of seven workers and hospitalisation of seven.
New regulation
The Department of Labour recently held specialised training sessions targeting more than 650 departmental chief inspectors, specialist and principal inspectors on the elements of administering the new Construction Regulation 2014 and the adjudicating of construction permits – coming into effect on 7 August.
Szana said while there were ‘teething problems’, these were surmountable.
‘It will have to be a collaborative effort with the construction industry. The challenge is to step up inspection and enforcement.’
It will require that all health and safety professionals in the construction industry register to address the challenge of incompetency.
Szana said going forward the department will also spend less time with employers who do what the department expects of them, and more time with those who do not comply.
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