People and workplace policies · 09
Occupational health and safety policy
The written statement of the employer’s health and safety commitment, and the machinery behind it.
The written statement of the employer’s health and safety commitment, and the machinery behind it.
State the general duty and the specific arrangements; the section 16(2) assignment of responsibility in writing; health and safety representatives and the committee where the headcount requires them; risk assessment and its cycle; incident reporting and investigation; emergency and evacuation procedures; first aid; contractor and visitor duties; and COIDA registration and claims.
The section 16(2) assignment must exist in writing and name a person — without it, the duty stays with the chief executive personally. And the policy must match the actual premises: an evacuation procedure describing a building the organisation left two years ago is the version that will be produced after an incident.
The law it sits under
What governs this instrument.
Section 8 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 places a general duty on every employer to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risk to health, so far as is reasonably practicable. Section 16(2) allows the chief executive to assign that duty in writing, and that assignment is the document an inspector asks for first.
Related pages, tools and documents
Where this instrument sits in the wider set, and the engagement that produces it.
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