Minister Nhleko on building capacity of inspections to tackle occupational health and safety contraventions
Public Works Minister, Nkosinathi Nhleko has expressed concern regarding occupational health and safety contraventions in the construction sector. Minister Nhleko highlighted the urgent need to build capacity of inspections to prevent collapse of private buildings and public infrastructure on the second day of the three-day South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP) 5th Conference that ends today.
“We need to conscientise as well as intensify education on maintaining safety standards while maintaining zero tolerance on non-compliance as part of enforcement to reverse the growing trend in unfortunate incidents such as fatalities, injuries and accidents that occur on construction sites,” Minister Nhleko told delegates in his keynote address delivered at the Birchwood Hotel & OR Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg.
The Minister warned that if the SACPCMP does not continue with its efforts to tackle contraventions, there will be catastrophe.
“These contraventions should not occur because they are anti-development. We have to work with professional councils within the built environment and other state agencies to firm up interventions to prevent collapse of buildings and improve safety standards because we have a responsibility to develop as well as protect human lives,” he emphasised.
He urged for engagements between the SACPCMP, the Department of Labour and the Department of Public Works on building the required technical competencies for the Construction Health and Safety discipline to be pursued earnestly and brought to finality.
SACPCMP Registrar, Nomvula Rakolote said that the main aim of regulating the construction management professions is to ensure that there are adequate controls, evaluation and constant monitoring of the levels of compliance by the construction and related industries with Construction Health and Safety issues.
The Construction Regulations which were promulgated on 7 February 2014 have placed legal responsibility on key stakeholders to ensure their role is defined so that they can work together on behalf of the industry to improve health and safety performance.
The regulations followed the 2009 Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Report on Health and Safety in South Africa which was commissioned in the aftermath of the June 2008 Stellenbosch Temporary Works collapse and the October 2008 Roodepoort structure collapse.
The report had among others identified unsafe acts as failure to use proper scaffolding, unsafe working procedures, use of non-tested materials, construction worker without proper personal protective equipment as well as lack of sufficiently skilled, experienced and knowledgeable persons to manage health and safety on construction sites.
For more information contact:
Lesiba Kgwele, Ministerial Spokesperson
Cell: 082 803 5133
E-mail: Lesiba.Kgwele@dpw.gov.za
