The high rate of accidents recorded in South African industry and the human and economic consequences involved reflect inadequacies in existing safety management policies and practices. The universally accepted right of employees to protection and the demands of social policy make the prevailing situation unacceptable. The complexities of the parameters of the employer's obligation for sound safety management requires practical guidelines for its understanding and application. The aim of this research is therefore to determine these parameters and to provide guidelines for their application. The parameters at issue are regulated by the principles of modern labour law, the developing common law, and statutory law such as MOSA. In order to pursue sound management practices and employment relations, the employer must not only take cognizance of his legal obligations but also various humanitarian, social and economic considerations. To correlate the complex nature of safety management with the demands of social policy, it is necessary to apply an appropriate standard of conduct to which every safety practice must adhere. This standard relates to the employer's general duty to take fair and reasonable precautions to eliminate or minimize occupational hazards. The employer's conduct is measured in terms of the objective standard of the reasonable employer in labour relations. The concept of reasonableness is therefore fundamental to the formulation of the parameters of the employer's obligation. The parameters are shown to centre round the reasonable foresight of the likelihood of harm and the implementation of reasonable precautionary measures to guard against the occurrence of such foreseeable harm. Furthermore, an unforeseeable incident that occurs in spite of preventive measures taken may reflect the need for subsequent preventive and corrective action. There is clearly scope for employers to adopt a more proactive approach in promoting sound safety management practices. Certain statutory, attitudinal and policy changes will be necessary for improved working conditions. These changes will include the formulation and implementation of an objectively-based safety policy that will facilitate the application of the parameters established. The proposed model flow-chart makes it possible to establish whether the parameters have been effectively implemented, and whether the employer or a third party is liable for a particular accident. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1993.

M. Tech. (Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Workplace health and safety is a global concern. South African companies are bound by the stipulations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) (85 of 1993), which regulates employer and employee duties to identify and eliminate hazards, thereby controlling and minimising the risk to health and safety within the working environment. Employees are regarded as the strength of ArcelorMittal. The on-board programme of this employer is designed specifically to support the integration of new employees into ArcelorMittal’s environment and enable them to maximise their contribution to the performance of their team, implementation of a business plan and strategy and realisation of the group’s objectives. This study investigates the perceptions that ArcelorMittal (Vanderbijlpark) employees uphold regarding the effectiveness of the health and safety induction they received. The iron division was identified purposefully for selection of the target population because of its high rate of health and safety incidents. Simple random sampling was used within a quantitative research design to select 317 respondents out of 634 employees. Accordingly, questionnaires were distributed within the demarcated division and a total of 160 questionnaires were completed and returned. The collected data were statistically analysed and presented. The results indicated that the majority of employees perceive the health and safety induction they received to be effective. Respondents also indicated that ArcelorMittal was effective in providing them with the support they need towards their health and safety. Hence, it is recommended that the zero tolerance approach towards safety hazards be reinforced on a continuous basis within the work context of this leading steel manufacturer.

Thesis (MPH.) -- University of Limpopo, 2005 / Refer to document

Thesis (MBA) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / Due to the global economic trends, the subject of workplace safety has become important such that international conventions instituted the international organisation for standardization to help regulate and bring about the improved workplace conditions. Safety in the workplace has become important such that every business irrespective of its size need to have a proper risk management plan in place. Risk management plan will help in identifying hazards; assess the risks and also provide the strategies to be used to mitigate the risks. This demand an ongoing management review for continual improvement through regular audits. Risk management will help in minimizing the risk and saving the cost as this will result in proactive but not re-active measures. Organisation leadership must take the lead in making sure that the employees are safe. They must communicate what is required from employees and employees will comply freely. Effective leadership is the key to a good health and safety. Management must make sure that employees are trained about workplace safety standards and policies so that they can carry out their roles and responsibilities as prescribed in the occupational health and safety act. Risk management is equal to good corporate governance as it helps in dealing with uncertain future events that could influence the achievement of the organisation’s objectives. Therefore risk management must be embedded in all levels of management and in the planning stage so that it must form part of the daily activities of the business.

Thesis (MPH.) -- University of Limpopo, 2012 / The purpose of this study was to establish whether PPE were used effectively, and to determine the knowledge about, attitude towards and practices of PPE by SLM employees. A quantitative research study was conducted using a questionnaire to gather data from employees who were working in a production area and who were exposed to possible occupational injuries and diseases. Two hundred and six employees responded to the questionnaire. The findings revealed that employees demonstrated inadequate knowledge about PPE and compliance while using PPE was not satisfactory. Conclusion There was an inappropriate response to the majority of the questions which indicated that the respondents had little understanding of PPE. They also demonstrated a negative attitude, and non-use of PPE. Key words: knowledge, attitude, practice, personal protective equipment

South Africa is a labour-intensive industrially developing country. As a result, in excess of 200 000 workers suffer from musculoskeletal injuries in a year. Research is thus essential to develop more effective strategies in the reduction and rehabilitation of occupational musculoskeletal disorders within industry. It was the hypothesis of this study that by improving the physical work capacity of manual labourers, through participation in an occupation specific work-hardening programme, that the ergonomic stress index and therefore the occurrence of musculoskeletal injuries within industry, may be reduced. Twenty-five male Black and Coloured manual labourers volunteered to participate in this study. In addition to in situ task analyses, the subjects participated in cardiovascular and strength assessments in the laboratory, both pre- and post-participation in the ten-week work-hardening programme. The data were statistically analyzed in order to identify any significant • improvements in the workers' physical work capacity, as measured by cardiovascular, strength and perceptual responses, following the period of work-hardening. Two significant reductions were noted in measures of working heart rate together with significant improvements in grip strength and trunk strength tested at a velocity of 60°.sec·1 at the post-conditioning assessments. In conclusion, the ten-week work-hardening programme resulted in nominal improvements in all the cardiovascular measures and significant improvements in the subjects' strength performance. However, industrialists must recognise that this study dealt with only one aspect of reducing the ergonomic stress index at the workplace and realise that, in addition to this focus, it remains essential to design the task to fit the human operator.

Lifting and overstraining are major causative factors related to musculoskeletal injuries and low back pain. A great number of work-related injuries arise from the handling and/or mishandling of materials. Hence there is a need to quantify risk factors in situ and develop guidelines for safe lifting practises in industry. The aim of this study was to make appropriate in situ quantification, within a commercial warehouse, of the stresses and physical demands imposed on the worker when performing two handed lifts in the sagittal plane. The performance of employees was assessed under normal working conditions through an observational methodology of data collection. Task performance evaluation was based on detailed measurement of all containers handled, an activity and time analysis, and the 'Work Practices Guide to Manual Lifting’ (NIOSH, 1981) which was used as the primary guide to developing theoretical recommendations to probable MMH risk factors for the workers involved. Of the 191 tasks analysed 103 were deemed unsuitable. Appropriate task factor adjustments were made where necessary to both the frequency and Hfactors (horizontal distance between the centre of gravity of the container and that of the worker) in order to reduce the risk factor for the workers

The construction industry is one of the most dangerous industries in the world, with many workplace fatalities every day. The existence of legislation that governs Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is an intervention to ensure that all governments, employers and employees play their part in establishing and implementing policies that will help secure healthy and safe working environments. The study is qualitative and with the help of an interview guide, semistructured interviews were used to collect the data. The respondents were selected using purposive and snowball sampling methods. Ten managers from ten (five small, five large) construction firms, two employees from each firm, and the OHS inspector from the Department of Labour in Grahamstown were interviewed. Having explored management’s practices, communication methods, training and distribution of information, employee representation and participation, and industrial relations, several conclusions were reached. During the study it was found that there are a number of obstacles that are hampering effective OHS in the construction industry. Some of these include; management’s lack of commitment to a participatory approach in OHS decision-making, limited resources to invest adequately in OHS, and the lack of sufficient trade union involvement. In addition, we know very little about OHS in the construction industry, and the mere existence of OHS legislation does not help reduce the risks associated with construction work, especially when there is a shortage of skilled personnel to enforce the legislation and regulations.

The prosperity of small micro and medium enterprises (SMME’s) in the construction industry is vital for the improvement of the South African economy. Unfortunately, the poor safety record of this industry negatively affects the sustainability of SMME’s and augments the loss of human lives. Owners and managers of SMME’s in the construction industry are usually financially fragile and unaware of the direct and an indirect cost associated with injuries that may result in potential profit loss and ultimately, bankruptcy. The construction industry continues to lead with high levels of fatalities and injuries compared to other industrial sectors. High levels of non-compliance with health and safety legislation in the construction industry necessitate creative interventions to improve health and safety standards. The objective of the research was to establish to what extent SMME’s comply with health and safety in the construction industry. Research was done by means of a survey questionnaire and the findings concluded that government laws are appropriate however the enforcing of such law needs attention. Furthermore, most owners are aware of the required legislation but the competitive nature allude that “that shortcuts are taken”.

This study investigated the health and injury risks faced by emergency medical workers in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality. The aim of the study was to establish the emergency worker`s awareness, level of knowledge and attitude to practices of health and safety issues. The study sample consisted of eighty (80) emergency medical workers stationed in Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage. A self- administered questionnaire was developed and used in an empirical survey to collect data from the respondents on information such as health and safety knowledge, behavior, experiences, attitudes, beliefs and opinions in their workplace. The results of the study indicated that 90% of the workers experienced all occupational hazards identified in the questionnaire. Percutaneous injuries were found to be at 48%, PTSD was rated at 40% due to horrific accidents and incidents complicated by violent threats and armed robberies with emergency workers being victims. Musculoskeletal injuries were found to be very common. Ordinary stress was caused by dissatisfaction over human resources issues and structural changes by the management internally. The findings revealed that some workers took incapacity leave for long periods, sometimes more than three years at a time. The emergency workers are at high risk of being infected by ordinary TB or the more complex type, the DR-TB in their line of duty. The study revealed that there were no health and safety structures in the institution; as a result there was no formal documenting and identification of hazards in order to implement measures to protect the workers from future incidences. Health related absenteeism was high when employees were exposed to such hazards and replacement of skill was not implemented. The main recommendations included wearing of personal protective equipment, safe disposal of sharps objects, guidelines for lifting objects, introduction of organizational safety culture and safe transportation of PTB patients.