Construction Regulation 17 — Suspended platforms — is the longest and most detailed regulation in the Construction Regulations 2014, running to roughly four and a half pages against the one- or two-line treatment given to sections like tunnelling or stacking and...

Not All Anchor Points Are Equal — And the Difference Could Cost You Your Compliance Certificate Walk around any commercial building in South Africa and you will find anchor points installed on rooftops, façades, and plant decks. Some are engineered and certified....

If you manage or supervise construction activity in South Africa, the term “competent person” will appear throughout your safety file, your fall protection plan, and any correspondence with a Department of Employment and Labour inspector. Yet it is one...

There is a dangerous assumption embedded in how fall protection anchor points are installed across South Africa: that if an anchor holds under a pull-out test, it is fit for purpose. This assumption is wrong — and in a fall arrest event, it can be fatal. Pull-out...

The Standards That Govern Fall Protection Anchor Points in South Africa Anchor points are the foundation of every fall arrest and fall prevention system. A worker’s life depends on them holding — and yet, across South Africa, incorrectly installed,...

Construction Regulation 10: The Fall Protection Plan Obligation No Principal Contractor Can Ignore If you are a principal contractor in South Africa, Construction Regulation 10 is not a footnote in your safety file — it is a direct legal obligation that must be...

Falls from height remain one of the leading causes of fatal occupational injuries in South Africa. Behind almost every preventable fatality is the same root cause: an employer who did not take the legal duty of care seriously — or did not understand what that duty...

Boatswains chairs were originally just a piece of plank that a person sat on. These were intended to suspend a sailor to perform work aloft and evolved to raise commodores or admirals on-board of navy ships whilst at sea. This required the use of a block and tackle...

Why the Basics Still Get People Killed Falls from height remain one of the leading causes of fatal injuries in South African workplaces. The majority of those incidents do not happen because the legislation is unclear or the equipment is unavailable — they happen...

Section 8 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act deals with the duties of employers to their employees and sub-section 2(b) requires in particular that the employer must take “such steps as are reasonably practicable to eliminate or mitigate any hazard or...