Report on Construction Health and Safety in South Africa

Executive Summary of the Report

Construction health and safety (H&S) has long been the focus of attention of many industry stakeholders and role players in South Africa, and while it is acknowledged that many industry associations and professional societies, contracting organisations and others have made significant efforts to improve H&S within the construction industry, overall construction H&S is not improving commensurately. Notably, construction continues to contribute a disproportionate number of fatalities and injuries relative to other industrial sectors, and there continues to be high levels of non-compliance with H&S legislation generally, and specifically the construction and other H&S Regulations in South Africa.

Improving H&S in the construction industry therefore continues to remain a priority - including being a priority for the CIDB. Against this context, the CIDB has undertaken this report on the status of construction H&S in South Africa, so as to provide a context for the efforts and actions of industry stakeholders and role players in improving construction H&S. However, given that priorities change, in the medium to long term, H&S needs to be included as a value in the construction industry.

Drawing on research findings, this report shows that at a legislative level, South Africa is not lacking in terms of H&S legislation. However, while the Construction Regulations have had an impact, the Construction Regulations need to be amended to promote optimum H&S throughout all phases of a project, in particular the concept, initiation and detailed design phases. The report also notes that enforcement of the Construction Regulations is inadequate and that the OH&S Inspectorate is understaffed and lacks the requisite construction expertise.

Furthermore, there is a lack of comprehensive construction H&S statistics and the most recent statistics, available from the Compensation Commissioner, are for the year 1999 - and the Compensation Fund is perceived to be "dysfunctional".

At the organisational and site level, poor construction H&S performance is attributable to a lack of management commitment, inadequate supervision and inadequate or a lack of H&S training. A lack of worker involvement, personal risk appreciation and work pressures also contribute to poor performance.

Employer associations namely the MBSA, the respective MBAs and SAFCEC have contributed the most to H&S. Employee associations such as BCAWU, NUMSA and others have contributed sporadically to H&S and then only on high-profile projects. No professional association has championed the discipline of construction H&S on a sustained basis until the recent establishment of ACHASM and this lack of championing has contributed to the lack of professionalism in terms of construction H&S. The tertiary built environment education sector does not adequately address construction H&S and the CETA has not influenced the course of construction H&S training and skills development.

The report also notes that specific attention needs to be given to small and emerging contractors, who typically have limited resources to provide for H&S and whose H&S processes will typically be less structured and based rather on prior contract experience. A developmental approach is needed to support this sub-sector of the industry.

Recommendations

The report then concludes with recommendations for improving construction H&S, including recommendations that the CIDB will champion. The recommendations of the report are grouped into the following key areas:

• enhancing the impact of the Construction Regulations;
• using public sector procurement to achieve improvements in construction H&S;
• enhancing the understanding of the status of construction H&S in South Africa through the timeous provision of H&S information and statistics;
• establishing minimum competence standards and accreditation client appointed H&S agents in terms of the Construction Regulations;
• establishing of a 'H&S Agency' as a focus point for the promotion, awareness, information, advice and promotion of research on construction H&S;
• building H&S capacity within relevant unions and facilitating closer working relationships between employers and union members to enhance construction H&S;
• ensuring that tertiary education addresses construction H&S and related issues; and
• facilitating a developmental approach to support the small and emerging contractors.

Full Report

Discuss this article

Industry role players had the opportunity to give their input on the report at the launch on 11 June 2009. In general the recommendations were supported and suggestions were made to implement these. As the representative of Master Builders KwaZulu-Natal, I will be attending future CIDB meetings and will keep you posted.

Neels Nortje | Health and Safety Manager