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It is stated in the Occupational Health and Safety Act, in section 8, that is it the employers responsibility to maintain a work environment that is both safe to the public and to the employees under their control.

The act also sets out various other requirements pertaining to safety in South Africa.

It does this because of a simple fact, the fact that common sense to one individual, might not be to the next, so in order to establish a safe working environment, we assume that all employees are non-the-wiser when it comes to good safety practices. The contents within the legislation is not common sense to most people within our country, so an introduction to the law, from an employees point of view, is a great place to start.

We would  like to draw your attention to some key phrases in the OSH Act which speaks to the training of employees.

In section 8, where the law covers the responsibilities of the employer, it states;

"(e) providing such information, instructions, training and supervision as may be necessary to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees; "

(g) taking all necessary measures to ensure that the requirements of this Act are complied with by every person in his employment or on premises under his control where plant or machinery is used;

(j) causing all employees to be informed regarding the scope of their authority..."

Section 14 in the OSH Act, General Duties of Employees at Work, has 5 points for employees in terms of safety and what the law requiers of them. But we must not forget that there are several sections in the OSH Act that speaks to the employees' responsibilities.

As you can see, the act places the ownership on the employer to make the staff aware of the various rules set out in the act for themselves and employees.

You have the option to do this yourself, however, making use of an accredited provider with an accredited safety induction course is the right way to go to ensure you, the employer, is fully protected.

What we mean by this is, in our beloved country, an individual is deemed innocent, until proven guilty. When there is an serious offence, the judge or department of Labour inspector will ask one simple question, "Was the employee instructed not to do the event in question?", if you respond, "Yes, they were", you will have to prove the sections in the law you covered with them, prove that they understood it, and prove that the session took place.

However, making use of a training provider with an accredited course ensures all those boxes are ticked.

A accredited provider must provide the course at a level that the South African Qualification Authority prescribes, we also assess the individual on the courses contents, in turn providing the learner with a certificate of competence, meaning that when you are asked if the employee received adequate training, you can happily respond, yes, we sent them on an accredited course.

Click here to make your booking for a Safety Induction course.

Our course is accredited through SAIOSH, the South African Institute of Occupational Safety and Health