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Quick Look Course Summary:Health and Safety Representative (SHE Rep) Training (2 days)
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Next Public Course Date:
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Length: 2 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 10,326 EX VAT 3 Person R 7,594 EX VAT 10 Person R 5,537 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Off-site or in-house. We train in all major city centres throughout South Africa.
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Health and Safety Representative (SHE Rep) Training (2 days)
Your health and safety representatives know what the OHS Act allows them to do, and can inspect their section, raise hazards in writing and work with the committee to get them fixed.
Every employer with more than 20 employees at a workplace must designate health and safety representatives. Section 17 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 requires this to be done in writing, for a specified period, from full-time employees who know the work and the conditions in their section. Many reps are then left with a title and little else: unsure what they may inspect, who they report to, what to do when a colleague complains, or where their role ends and management's begins. This health and safety representative training answers each of those questions in practical terms.
Day one covers the role and the law: how representatives are designated, their functions and rights under section 18, hazards and risk, and how to plan and carry out a workplace inspection with a checklist. Day two covers what happens next: reporting incidents and taking part in investigations, checking PPE and emergency arrangements, working in the health and safety committee under sections 19 and 20, writing representations that get a response, and working with a Department of Employment and Labour inspector.
The course is built around the rep's own section of the workplace. Delegates inspect a real or photographed work area, record their findings, turn one finding into a written representation and take it through a mock committee meeting. They leave with an inspection checklist, a representation template and a 30-day action plan for their section.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Representatives who do the job the Act gives them, not only hold the title
- Hazards found and reported by the people closest to the work
- Committee meetings with real agenda items, owners and follow-up
- Safety concerns raised and resolved inside the business, with a clear route for escalation
- Inspection and representation records that show the system is working
For your delegates
- A clear picture of your functions, rights and limits as a representative
- A checklist and a method for inspecting your own section
- A template for putting a safety concern to management in writing
- Confidence to speak up in committee meetings and with inspectors
What delegates will be able to do
- Explain how health and safety representatives are designated and when a workplace needs them
- Describe the functions and rights of a representative under section 18 of the OHS Act, and what remains the employer's responsibility
- Identify hazards in their section and rate the risk each one poses
- Plan and carry out a workplace inspection with a checklist, and record the findings
- Look into an employee's safety complaint and respond fairly
- Explain which incidents the employer must report to an inspector, and take part in an incident investigation
- Check that PPE, first aid boxes, fire equipment and escape routes are in place and in order
- Prepare for and contribute to a health and safety committee meeting
- Write a clear representation to management and follow it through to a response
- Work with a Department of Employment and Labour inspector during a workplace visit
Who should attend
Newly designated health and safety representatives (SHE reps), and reps who have never had formal training, in offices, shops, factories, warehouses, workshops, farms, hospitals, schools and on construction sites. Members of health and safety committees, supervisors who work alongside reps, shop stewards with a safety portfolio, and HR or OHS coordinators who set up and support the rep structure will also benefit. Mines fall under the Mine Health and Safety Act, which has its own system of representatives, and are not covered.
Course outline
Day 1 – The representative's role, rights and inspections
Why health and safety representatives exist
- The OHS Act 85 of 1993 in brief: the employer's general duty and employees' duties
- The representative as the employees' voice on health and safety
- SHE rep, safety officer, first aider and fire marshal: different roles
- What stays the employer's responsibility, whatever the representative does
- Employees' duty to report unsafe conditions to the employer or their representative
How representatives are designated (section 17)
- When an employer must designate representatives: more than 20 employees at a workplace
- How many representatives the Act requires in shops and offices and in other workplaces
- Who may be designated: full-time employees who know the work and the conditions in that section
- Consulting with employees on nomination or election and the term of office
- Written designation for a specified period and a defined section of the workplace
Functions and rights of a representative (section 18)
- Reviewing whether health and safety measures actually work
- Identifying hazards and potential major incidents
- Examining the causes of incidents together with the employer
- Investigating complaints from employees about their health or safety at work
- Making representations to the employer, the committee or an inspector
- Visiting incident sites, attending investigations and inspections, and inspecting the records the employer must keep
- Facilities, assistance and training the employer must provide
- The Act's protection against victimisation and against civil liability for failing to act, in outline
Hazards and risk through a representative's eyes
- Hazard versus risk
- Common hazards by type: machinery, electricity, chemicals, noise, lifting, workstations and work stress
- Asking the people who do the job where the risks are
- Rating risk by likelihood and consequence
- The hierarchy of controls, and why PPE comes last
- Reading the employer's risk assessment for your section and checking it is up to date
- Exercise: spotting and rating hazards in workplace photographs
Inspecting your section
- Agreeing inspection intervals with the employer and giving reasonable notice
- Building a checklist for your own section
- What to look at: housekeeping, guarding, electrical, chemicals, fire equipment, exits and PPE
- Recording a finding: what you saw, where, the risk and the action you recommend
- Photographs and notes that make a finding hard to ignore
- Practical inspection of a work area with a checklist
Day 2 – Incidents, committees and getting things fixed
Incidents and the representative's part in investigations
- Employees' duty to report incidents and injuries, and how reports reach the employer
- Incidents the employer must report to an inspector under section 24: deaths, serious injuries, major incidents and dangerous occurrences
- Keeping the scene of a serious incident undisturbed, unless people need rescuing or further harm must be prevented
- Your right to visit the incident site and attend the investigation
- Basic investigation: facts, witnesses, immediate causes and root causes with the 5 Whys
- Following corrective actions through to close-out
- Injury-on-duty claims under COIDA as a separate process
PPE and emergency preparedness: what the representative checks
- When PPE is needed, and why employees may not be charged for PPE the employer must provide
- Checking that PPE is suitable, fits, is worn and is maintained
- Emergency plans, alarms, exits, escape routes and assembly points
- Fire equipment: present, accessible, serviced and signposted
- Evacuation drills and what to look for afterwards
- Power failures and load-shedding: emergency lighting, generator safety and lifts
- Checking first aid boxes are stocked and first aiders are known – first aid training itself is a separate, specialised course
The health and safety committee (sections 19 and 20)
- When a committee must be set up: two or more representatives at a workplace
- Membership: all the representatives, employer nominees who may not outnumber them, and co-opted advisers without a vote
- Meetings at least once every three months
- Making recommendations to the employer, and to an inspector when a matter is not resolved
- Discussing every incident in which someone was injured, became ill or died
- Keeping a record of recommendations and of reports to an inspector
- Preparing your section's report and agenda items
- Agreeing actions, owners and dates, and following them up at the next meeting
Making representations and handling complaints
- Raising an issue with the supervisor first, and when to put it in writing
- Writing a clear representation: the hazard, the risk, the evidence, the proposed fix and a response date
- Handling an employee complaint fairly and keeping the person informed
- The escalation route: supervisor, management, committee, then inspector
- Working with management constructively, without becoming the safety police
- Exercise: turning an inspection finding into a written representation
Working with the inspector
- What Department of Employment and Labour inspectors do and why they visit
- Your right to take part in consultations with the inspector and to accompany them on inspections
- Information inspectors may give to representatives
- Notices an inspector may issue, in outline
- Having your inspection records and representations ready before a visit
Putting it together
- Mock committee meeting: tabling a finding and agreeing action
- Toolbox talks: sharing safety information with co-workers
- Your 30-day action plan as a representative
- Evaluation and close
How it is delivered
Two days, 08:30-16:00. In person at your offices anywhere in South Africa, at a BOTI venue, or live online. One delegate or a group of up to 20; on-site groups inspect a real work area, online groups work from photographs and video of a workplace. Workbook, inspection checklist, representation template and committee agenda template included. We deliver it at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and anywhere else in South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online for teams in different places.
What our clients say
“BOTI demonstrated professionalism, sound subject knowledge, and effective facilitation throughout the training. The programme was well organised, relevant and beneficial to our delegates.”
“All training programmes were delivered in a highly professional manner, with effective coordination and strict adherence to our scheduling requirements. The facilitators demonstrated a commendable level of expertise, and the quality of delivery consistently met our expectations.”
“BOTi has consistently and expertly delivered quality training services in respect of our Soft Skills requirements. We feel confident in recommending BOTI as a training services provider par excellence.”
Frequently asked questions
Can you train our representatives at our offices?
Yes. Most groups are trained at the client's premises anywhere in South Africa, which lets delegates inspect a real work area. We can also host it at a BOTI venue or deliver it live online, for one delegate or a group of up to 20.
Does this course appoint someone as a health and safety representative?
No. The employer designates representatives in writing, for a specified period, after consulting employees on how they are nominated or elected. The course gives designated reps the knowledge to do the job, and the Act expects employers to provide the training their representatives reasonably need.
Is it accredited?
No – it is a non-accredited short course and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Does it include first aid or fire fighting?
No. Representatives learn to check first aid boxes, fire equipment and escape routes during inspections, but first aid and fire-fighting training are separate, specialised courses.
How is this different from your OHS course?
The two-day Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Course is the broad foundation for safety officers and supervisors: the Act, the regulations, formal risk assessment and safety plans. This course is built around the representative's own job under sections 17 to 20 – inspections, complaints, representations, incidents and committee work. Incident & Accident Investigation goes deeper into investigating incidents.
Can it be tailored to our workplace?
Yes. Send us your current inspection checklist, committee minutes or an anonymised recent incident and the facilitator builds them into the exercises, whether your reps work in offices, a factory, a warehouse or on construction sites.