OHS Officer

[Neil Enslin]

I regularly come across sites where the site OHS Officer wants to pull, his/her hair out because site management(Site foremans) feels that the site OHS is not their responsibility but of the OHS Officer, so I decided to give our OHS guru Adv. Raynard Looch a call and ask him what his thoughts are on this "thinking" of site management.

Here is his response to this ongoing concern:

Dear Neil

I assume that we are talking construction since only the construction regulations provide for OHS officers?

One must also distinguish between responsibility and liability or legal accountability. The employer as a corporate body, the CEO and his management team appointed / assigned in terms of section 16(2) as well as the construction work supervisor are legally obliged to ensure OHS on site. They have statutory duties which in essence requires them to ensure OHS. Criminal liability is created when a statutory duty is infringed and thus they are the prime candidates for prosecution in the event of an incident on site or contravention of the OHS Act. In construction ,the prime candidate for potential criminal liability is the construction work supervisor although much will depend of the evidence. If, for example, it comes to light that an incident was caused by an inadequate risk assessment, the focus will be on the competent person who compiled the risk assessment , perhaps the construction work supervisor as well as the person in control of the site who should be a person of section 16(2) level.

The bottom line is that OHS officers act in an advisory capacity and, although contractually responsible for safety on the site, they have no statutory duties which create criminal liability. The statutory duties imposed upon employers are to be found in section 8 (General Duties of Employers to Employers), section 10 (Duties of Designers, Installers, Erectors of articles) , section 9 (General Duties of Employers to Persons other than Employees) and the construction regulations.

I hope that this will assist you when site management "thinks" site OHS is the responsibility of the OHS Officer.

[Neels Nortje]

Thanks Neil for initiating this discussion, and thanks Raynard for your reply.

All site OHS personnel will benefit from this; they can simply cut and past Raynard’s comment and use it as the perfect answer/reply when next faced with this ever ongoing problem.

[Edmund]

One of the most important things when it comes to construction safety is the use of the right equipment and clothing. Safety helmets, boots and gloves should be worn at all times. Following on-site safety rules is vital, as one wrong move in an unstable environment could result in a construction accident.

[FIRDAWS]

Hi Guys,

Thank you so much for this clarrification, this is one of my biggest issues with the company contracts managers. I also find that because of the managers " dont care attitude", the crew in turn dont really care about Health & safety. Crew often see toolbox talks & other training sessions as a break from production. If the managers dont take responsibilty for managing their crew, how on earth can Health & safety be taken seriously. I often get told that I am just handing out work that is my responsibilty.

This is extremely helpfull in my fight against ignorance!

[james-laws]

According to a study conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the U.S. Department of Labor, there are 5,703 deaths annually due to construction site related accidents. The department of labor admits that this number is on the decline but it still accounts for most workplace injuries in the U.S. A construction accident lawyer can help you file a claim against those responsible for your injuries.