|
Dear Folks
This is me essentially
signing off for the year. In particular I wish to thank those of you who
sustained me through a rather pedestrian year which, in my view at least,
saw the virtual collapse of DoL’s policing of OHS matters. As I have
lamented many times before they have only themselves to blame through
arrogant management styles, failed transformation exercises, a
Turnaround Strategy riddled
with inconsistencies and failed objectives and a apparent attitude of
nonchalance. What do they say about power corrupting and absolute power
corrupting absolutely? Now I am not intimating that DoL is corrupt, I’m
merely suggesting that they are not accountable to anyone because many of
the role-players are their bedfellows. COSATU comes immediately to mind with
its hollow slogan about an injury to one is an injury to all and its focus
on everything except the wellbeing of its members. If they really were
serious about their members health and safety they would have been barking
at the door of the Minister of Labour, demanding to know why he has failed
to protect the health and safety of their members by adequately policing OHS
matters at the workplace. Instead they take to the streets – usually
trashing the streets - demanding higher levels of employment while damaging
the economy in the process. Invariably they wait for an accident to happen
before routinely damning a employer’s health and safety record whereas they
could easily have acted pro-actively by, inter alia, approaching the
Chief Inspector with their concerns. The Minister blames the demise of DoL’s
Inspection and Enforcement Service on turnover problems within DoL and looks
to DME’s Mine Health & Safety Inspectorate for OHS policing salvation once
the long promised merger of the OHS and MHS Acts takes place. Wasn’t the
Turnaround Strategy 2001 to 2004
meant to address conditions which lead to turnover problems in the first
place and, ironically enough, developing career paths for OHS (specialised)
inspectors? The irony being that the OHS speciality was removed from the
inspectors many years ago yet they still make reference to OHS Inspectors in
this document. And once we reach the illusive merged promised land, surely
the Mine Health & Safety Inspectorate would be stretched too thin to bail
DoL out of the hole it dug itself? And surely the Mine Health & Safety
Inspectorate still functions as it does because it did not follow DoL’s
doomed transformation path?
You may ask why, as an
employer champion, I would like to see a proper OHS police force? Let’s face
it we are virtually getting away with culpable homicide and why not extend
this honeymoon as long as possible? (I personally know of fatal workplace
accidents where a prosecution would have been successful had the matter
timeously gone to court after a proper investigation). Well firstly it would
be immoral to celebrate this fact merely because of the demise of OHS
policing and secondly, it is far more legally gratifying to work with
professionals as opposed to amateurs who only serve to cloud the issue and
irritate all role-players including the prosecutors who must make decisions
based on sloppy investigative work. In fact its downright demoralising! But
then again it’s not fear of prosecution that drives health and safety at the
workplace and it is admirable to see how far most employers and users have
come since I started out as an OHS prosecutor in the early eighties. This,
despite knee-jerk union postulations about employer commitment to health and
safety after an incident occurs as well as the many negative comments from
government.
Incredibly enough there
is still some movement. Draft General Safety Regulations have been published
for comment. Except for draft GSR6 entitled ‘Prevention of transmission
of HIV, Hepatitis Virus and other Blood-borne diseases’, they are
more-or-less the same as their predecessors. Some remnants of
construction-related provisions have been deleted and some new definitions
added while references to antiquated regulations have been updated.
Employers have until 26 January 2006 to comment on these draft regulations.
Draft GSR 6(1) reads:
An employer shall take
all reasonable steps-
to promote the use of
standard precautions for the prevention of the transmission of the human
immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B and any other blood-borne pathogens in
the workplace; and
(b) to ensure that all
his or her employees receive adequate training in the use of standard
precautions for the prevention of the transmission of the human
immune-deficiency virus, hepatitis B and any other blood-borne pathogens in
the workplace.
(2) For the purpose of
subregulation (l)(a) standard precautions shall include-
(a) treating all blood
and other body fluids as potentially infectious;
taking all reasonable
steps to ensure such blood and other bodily fluids are suitably cleaned up
in a manner to prevent biological agent disease transmission.
taking all reasonable
steps to ensure that the disposal of such blood and other bodily fluids
contaminated materials are suitably disposed of in accordance with the
requirements of regulation 17 of the Regulations for Hazardous Biological
Agents; and furthermore, taking all reasonable steps as may be necessary to
prevent the transmission of the human immune-deficiency virus, hepatitis B
and other blood-borne pathogens.
If promulgated into law
employers who cannot demonstrate that they are promoting the standard
precautions for the prevention of HIV etc. as well as training employees
into the standard precautions would be committing offences. I have bolded
the words ‘shall include’ above merely to highlight that it cannot
exclude the sexual element of HIV transmission. So a condom machine at the
workplace, while being a promotional element, would not suffice! You will
have to train employees into the safe operation of condoms. Does that make a
condom PPE (Personal Protective equipment)? Someone mentioned at one of my
workshops that a study has determined that at least 46% of respondents
admitted to having had sex at the workplace. And while size doesn’t matter
I’m told, I cannot but wonder if all employers, irrespective of size, will
be obliged to comply with this regulation if / once it is promulgated into
law. I emphasize the sexual element of transmission merely because employers,
particularly those who work with patients or blood, would, in any case, be
failing in their (section
8) duty to their employees of providing a safe and healthy
working environment if they did not train employees to treat all blood as
potentially infectious.
Click here for the draft
General Safety Regulations. It does mean that all employers will be required
to have an AIDS programme in place and, if one follows the
National Department of Health’s Guidelines,
you are encouraged to appoint HIV & STD Representatives to an HIV & STD
Committee with various functions relating to that appointment.
As you know in terms
section 7 of the OHS Act
(unlike the MHS Act) employers are not obliged to have a Health & Safety
Policy signed by the CEO and displayed at a place where employees normally
report for duty. The chief Inspector has now published a list of certain
industries which are obliged to compile Health and Safety Policies.
Click here for the relevant
Government Gazette.
I wish to thank those
persons who participated in my poll about whether shopping malls and
supermarkets do enough to protect their employees and the public against the
total onslaught of robberies which have become a daily occurrence. Everyone
voted that they can do more. Well let me play Devil’s Advocate. Surely it is
the duty of the State, through its Ministry of Safety and Security (read
SAPS), to provide us beleaguered folks with security of person. After all
the State undertook this task in section 12 of the Bill of Rights to the
Constitution which states that everyone has the right to
freedom and security of the person. Must shopping malls and supermarkets
take on the role of the SAPS? And if so, how far must they go? One wonders
whether calls for the military to be involved aren’t perhaps valid? I say
bring in the big guns. Lets use (practice) some of that expensive military
hardware at home to protect the public. And what about the Intelligence
Services? Instead of spying on each other they can be trained to infiltrate
these well organised and heavily armed bandits. All they have to do is to
look out for groups of suspicious looking characters wearing muti and
Nikes!
Other
news. Gold Reef City is about to sue Carteblanche for an expose on the
safety of their rides.
Click here for more.
Lastly
I wish to thank all those who participated in my OHS Legislation Workshops
during the last Roadshow. At same time chastise Durban or KZN for forcing me
cancel my performance there. You snooze and I lose. I must confess I lost my
nerve and cancelled the Durban venue just before a barrage of registrations
which would have made it viable. Shall I see you in June next year?
Happy
holidays to all.
As
always
Your Devil’s Advocate
PS.
I’m using a bigger font after receiving a few requests to go bigger. Size
does count.
Click here
for previous OHS Chat & Skinner Newsletters or visit
www.klasslooch.com .
Subscriber newsletter to follow.
|
