OHS - Strategic Challenges for 2026 and Beyond

Each new year, we take time to reflect on what has transpired in the previous year and then identify the strategies and goals necessary for the year ahead. As I began writing this article, I placed myself in the shoes of Construction Health and Safety Managers and officers who will soon be tasked with developing occupational health and safety (OHS) strategies and objectives for 2026.

Based on recent evidence and developments within South Africa’s construction and civil engineering industry, several strategic health and safety challenges and their associated risks stand out for 2026 and beyond.

Ensuring Effective Oversight and Compliance — Not Just on Paper

Regulatory reform must be accompanied by enhanced inspection capacity, risk-based surveillance, and consistent enforcement. Oversight needs to extend beyond large, well-resourced contractors to include small and medium enterprises (SMEs), informal contractors, and subcontracted labour, where non-compliance is most frequently identified. Without visible and consistent enforcement, even well-drafted legislation risks becoming ineffective.

Mitigating Key Hazard Categories — Transport, Plant, Falls and Structural Integrity

Strategic interventions must continue to prioritise the leading causes of serious injury and fatalities, including:

• Site traffic and vehicle management
• Struck-by hazards involving moving plant and equipment
• Fall-risk positions and fall protection
• Structural integrity failures, including temporary works, scaffolding, load-bearing elements, and geotechnical conditions

While modern tools such as digital inspections, sensor technologies and electronic permit systems offer promise, their impact will remain limited unless adoption becomes widespread, practical and consistently enforced.

Reforming Procurement, Contracting and Supply-Chain Incentives

Clients and developers play a critical role in shaping health and safety outcomes. Health and safety must be embedded as a non-negotiable procurement requirement, including:

• Pre-qualification based on demonstrable OHS competence
• Verification of subcontractor credentials
• Linking staged payments to verified safety milestones

Without reforming commercial and financial incentives, contractors may continue to prioritise cost and programme pressures at the expense of worker safety.

Improving Data Collection, Reporting and Transparency

The industry continues to suffer from fragmented and inconsistent data on incidents, near misses, and occupational disease. A centralised and standardised incident and near-miss reporting system is essential to identify trends, monitor compliance, and guide targeted interventions. Improved data quality would also support evidence-based policymaking, insurance risk modelling and informed investment in safety systems.

Protecting Vulnerable Workers — Informal, Foreign National and Casual Labour

Special attention must be given to workers who fall outside traditional or formal safety systems. This includes:

• Language-appropriate induction and toolbox talks
• Assurance of fair labour practices
• Stronger oversight of subcontracting chains where exploitation and negligent safety practices are more likely to occur

Protecting vulnerable workers is both a legal obligation and a moral imperative.

Recommended Strategic Actions

Addressing these challenges will require coordinated and sustained action across all stakeholders. The following strategic actions are recommended:

1. Regulatory enforcement and capacity building
   Increase inspectorate resources, adopt risk-based inspection models focused on high-risk activities and sites, and ensure meaningful penalties that act as real deterrents to non-compliance.
2. Procurement reform
   Embed measurable health and safety KPIs within tender and contract documentation. Restrict appointments to firms with demonstrable safety management systems and link payments to independently verified safety performance milestones.
3. Site-level hazard control prioritisation
   Focus on effective traffic management plans, exclusion zones for moving plant, robust fall-protection systems, and safe scaffolding and temporary works. Integrate permit-to-work systems for high-risk activities such as hot work and confined-space entry.
4. Data and reporting improvements
   Introduce a national, preferably electronic, system for reporting incidents and near misses. Aggregate and publish data to guide policy development and industry-wide safety investment.
5. Support for SMEs and informal worksites
   Provide targeted grants, subsidies, or technical assistance to smaller firms to support compliance. Establish regional mentorship and training programmes and incentivise compliance through mechanisms such as reduced insurance premiums.
6. Worker protection and empowerment
   Ensure that all workers including casual and foreign national labour understand their rights under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, including the right to refuse unsafe work, and are aware of reporting channels that protect them from retaliation.

Conclusion

The South African construction sector enters 2026 at a critical crossroads. Regulatory momentum heightened public scrutiny, and tragic high-profile failures most notably the 2024 building collapse in George and most recently the Building Collapse in December 2025, have exposed deep-seated weaknesses in oversight, competence, procurement practices and health and safety culture.

At the same time, these pressures present an opportunity. If government, regulators, clients, contractors, insurers, and workers commit to sustained and coordinated reform, the industry can move away from cost and programme-driven shortcuts toward safety-led and competence-based practices.

Success will require far more than stronger laws. It will demand cultural change, investment in human capability, transparency and a fundamental realignment of incentives. Without these shifts, accidents, structural failures and fatalities will continue to undermine worker welfare, public confidence and the long-term sustainability of the built environment.

With decisive action, however, 2026 can mark the beginning of a new era for construction in South Africa one grounded in competence, accountability, safety and respect for human life.

Neil Enslin | Head: Occupational Health and Safety

References

1. Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993), as amended – Republic of South Africa.
2. Construction Regulations, 2014, promulgated under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 – Government Notice R.84 of 7 February 2014, as amended.
3. General Safety Regulations, issued under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 – as amended.
4. Environmental Regulations for Workplaces, issued under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 – as amended.
5. Project and Construction Management Professions Act, 2000 (Act No. 48 of 2000) – Republic of South Africa.
6. South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP) – Registration Guidelines, Scope of Services and Professional Practice Notes.
7. Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) – Construction Sector Occupational Health and Safety Inspection and Enforcement Reports.
8. Association of Construction Health and Safety Management (ACHSM) – Industry Guidance Notes and Competency Frameworks.
9. International Labour Organization (ILO) – Safety and Health in Construction (ILO Code of Practice).
10. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) – ISO 45001:2018, Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems – Requirements with Guidance for Use.
11. Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) – Public Sector Infrastructure Oversight and Governance Reports.
12. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – Built Environment and Construction Safety Research Publications.
13. Western Cape Government – Preliminary findings and public statements relating to the 2024 George building collapse.
14. Federated Employers Mutual Assurance (FEM) and Compensation Fund – Construction industry injury, fatality and occupational disease statistics.