The decision by the Department of Labour to demand more, and better trained, health and safety officials on construction sites is not just reassuring for casual labourers employed on-site, it also opens up the market for trained officials.
The Department of Labour will enforce new and stricter regulations for the construction industry as off 1 May 2014. The most exciting part of the regulation is that it demands that more, and more qualified, Construction Health and Safety Agents, Construction Health and Safety Managers as well as Construction Health and Safety Officers are being appointed on-site. 'This means that the industry will be in need for more employees than ever, ?� says Christopher Guy of Makrosafe. The company is the trendsetter in the areas of Education, Implementation and Administration of Health and Safety in South Africa. 'For us training providers, this will also mean that more emphasize will be placed on the course content and assessment of trainees. ?� In anticipation of the need for more health and safety practitioners, Makrosafe has recently started to role out its new Certificate course. The course is offered nationwide, wherever the students want it to be. Providing there is enough interest Makrosafe will bring the course to that specific location instead of expecting students to travel to a training institution. Last week Christopher Guy travelled to Bloemfontein to teach matriculates at a local high school. 'It is very exciting to see how kids at high school finally consider pursuing a job in the health and safety profession. But on the same token, it was frightening to hear how many of them knew of people that were injured or even killed in work-related incidents. The focus is often on people killed or injured in crimes or traffic accidents. But the number of people involved in accidents at the workplace exceeds both. ?�
Time for a change
According to the Department of Labour, two labourers are killed on construction sites on average, each week. The new regulations are designed to reduce the number of accidents and casualties but also to formalize the industry. It, certainly, will place more emphasize on health and safety. Makrosafe has, therefore, broken up its course into six different modules. 'I asked each participating child at the start last week about their aspiration. The list I drafted was pretty obvious and included a police officer, nurse, lawyer and one wanted to be a politician. Then I asked them how they perceived the job of Health and Safety practitioner. It was only a few who had some sort of an idea. But at the end of the session many of them came to the conclusion that it has much in common with the job they aspired. ?� Guy is not surprised by the revelation. 'Health and safety boils down to comply with legislation. But it also has a big investigative element. And, of course, there is also a focus on responding to and treating injured people. These, and many more aspects of the job, are discussed in the course. ?�
The lecture in Bloemfontein last week was, in some way, a real eye-opener for Guy. 'The course is supposed to cater for anybody with an interest in health and safety, regardless whether they have previous experience or training, or not. Most of the time we deal with adults but dealing with children was completely different. The scholars in Bloemfontein sometimes had complete different views or opinions than what we would have received from adults. Children look totally different at danger or what they perceive to be a workplace. ?� Guy is convinced that time spent in Bloemfontein will be worth it. 'Once they have completed this course, the children can be employed immediately. They find that very reassuring and was exactly the reason why they decided to do the course while still being in matric as receiving their matric diploma at the end of the year, still doesn't proof or guarantee anything. ?�
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