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Quick Look Course Summary:Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Course (2 days)
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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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Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Course (2 days)
Your safety officers, SHE representatives and supervisors understand the OHS Act and can identify hazards, assess risk and run a workable safety programme.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 places the duty for a safe workplace on the employer: section 8 requires every employer to provide and maintain, as far as is reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risk to employees' health. In practice that duty is carried by a handful of people – the safety officer, the health and safety representatives, the committee and the supervisors on the floor. This occupational health and safety course gives them the knowledge and tools to do it properly.
Day one covers the law and the people: the duties of employers and employees, how health and safety representatives and committees work, what a safety officer does, the main regulations, and how to identify hazards and run baseline, issue-based and continuous risk assessments. Day two turns that into a working programme: health and safety policy, personal protective equipment, inspections, health and hygiene at work, emergency planning, construction safety plans, and writing and implementing a safety plan for your own site.
The course is practical throughout. Delegates spot and rate hazards in a workplace scenario, complete a risk assessment and draft the outline of a safety plan they can finish back at work. Trained staff find hazards sooner, follow procedures and keep records of what was done – which matters when an incident is investigated. Prices for this health and safety training are per delegate and drop as the group grows – see the price table, or ask us for a quote.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Safety officers, reps and supervisors who know what the OHS Act requires of them
- Hazards identified and controlled before they cause injuries or downtime
- Health and safety committees that work rather than exist on paper
- Training records that support your due-diligence position after an incident
- A written safety plan and emergency procedures suited to your site
For your delegates
- A clear map of the OHS Act, its main regulations and who must do what
- A practical method for hazard identification and risk assessment
- Templates for inspections, risk assessments and a safety plan
- Confidence to raise and follow up safety issues with management
What delegates will be able to do
- Explain the main duties of employers, managers and employees under the OHS Act
- Describe how health and safety representatives and committees are set up, what they do and how they work with management
- Identify the regulations that apply to their workplace and where to find them
- Identify hazards and rate them as immediate, serious or minor
- Carry out baseline, issue-based and continuous risk assessments and record the controls
- Specify suitable PPE and explain when PPE is the right control and when it is not
- Conduct a workplace inspection and follow deficiencies through to close-out
- Contribute to an emergency response plan and a workplace safety plan, including construction-site requirements
Who should attend
Health and safety officers and people moving into that role, OHS assistants, SHE representatives and members of health and safety committees, supervisors and managers responsible for safety in their area, and employees in higher-risk sectors such as construction, manufacturing and logistics. Office-based employers who need a sound grounding in the Act will also benefit.
Course outline
Day 1 – The OHS Act, roles and risk
The OHS Act in context
- Why the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 exists and who it covers
- Key terms: employer, employee, workplace, hazard, risk and 'reasonably practicable'
- Section 8: the employer's general duties to employees
- Section 9: duties to contractors, visitors and the public
- Section 14: employees' duties, including reporting unsafe conditions and incidents
- Mines and the Mine Health and Safety Act: where the OHS Act does not apply
Roles and responsibilities
- The chief executive officer's responsibility and assigning duties to managers in writing
- What a safety officer does, and the limits of the role
- Health and safety representatives: when they must be designated and what they may do
- Health and safety committees: who sits on them, meetings and records
- Working with contractors and checking their safety files
Regulations you need to know
- General Administrative Regulations: incident records, reporting and committee administration
- General Safety Regulations, including first aid and PPE
- Facilities, environmental and electrical installation regulations at a glance
- Construction, ergonomics and hazardous chemical regulations in outline
- Finding the regulations that apply to your workplace
Hazard identification
- Hazard versus risk
- Sources of hazards: physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic and psychosocial
- Walk-throughs and talking to the people who do the work
- Rating hazards as immediate, serious or minor
- Practical exercise: spotting hazards in a workplace scenario
Risk assessment
- Baseline, issue-based and continuous risk assessment – when to use each
- Rating likelihood and consequence
- The hierarchy of controls: eliminate, substitute, engineer, administer, then PPE
- Recording a risk assessment and assigning actions
- Practical exercise: completing a risk assessment
Day 2 – Building a safe and healthy workplace
Health and safety programmes and policy
- The building blocks of a health and safety programme
- Writing a health and safety policy that management will sign and follow
- Management commitment and safety culture
- Involving and consulting employees
- Induction, on-the-job training and safety talks
Personal protective equipment
- When PPE is needed and the employer's duty to provide it
- Selecting, issuing, fitting and maintaining PPE
- Training employees to use PPE and enforcing its use
- PPE issue registers and records
Inspections and follow-up
- Planning an inspection and building a checklist
- Prioritising the deficiencies you find
- Reporting findings to management and the committee
- Tracking corrective action to close-out
Health and hygiene at work
- How flu, colds, sore throats and stomach bugs spread through a workplace
- Cleaning, disinfecting and waste routines that cut sick days
- When staff should stay home, and remote-work options
- First aid arrangements in outline
Emergency preparedness
- Building an emergency response plan for fire, medical emergencies and evacuation
- Planning for power failures and other site-specific emergencies
- Communicating the plan and running drills
- Reviewing and updating the plan after drills and incidents
Construction work and your safety plan
- Client, principal contractor and contractor duties under the Construction Regulations
- The health and safety specification and the contractor's health and safety plan
- Writing your own site safety plan: responsibilities, controls, training and incident follow-up
- Implementing the plan, monitoring it and reviewing it each year
- Action plan 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; examples tailored to your sector on request. Workbook, inspection checklist, and risk assessment and safety plan templates 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.”
“The facilitator was excellent and took time to ensure that the employee understood the content and was able to apply the learning in order to develop the portfolio of evidence.”
“We were particularly impressed by the quality of facilitation and the practical relevance of the content presented. The programme was delivered with professionalism, clarity, and a strong emphasis on real-world application”
Frequently asked questions
Can you run this course at our offices?
Yes. Most groups are trained at the client's premises anywhere in South Africa, which lets the facilitator use your own site for the hazard and inspection exercises. We can also host it at a BOTI venue or deliver it live online.
Does this course qualify someone as a safety officer?
It builds the knowledge the role needs, but appointments are made in writing by the employer. Some roles, such as first aiders or construction health and safety officers, also need specific training or professional registration.
Is it accredited?
No – it is a non-accredited short course and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance. The focus is a practical working knowledge of the Act and how to apply it on site.
Can it be tailored to our industry?
Yes. Send us your current risk assessment, inspection checklist or a recent incident and the facilitator uses them in the exercises – whether you run offices, a factory, a warehouse or construction sites.
How is this different from your other safety courses?
This two-day course is the broad foundation. Safety In The Workplace is a one-day practical course on everyday hazards and the manager's role; Incident & Accident Investigation covers investigating and reporting incidents; and OHS Act Legal Liability is a one-day course on personal liability for Section 16.2 appointees.
Can you run this course in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban?
Yes. We train on site at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and across South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online so a team spread over several offices can attend together.
Get your price – the more delegates, the less each pays
Change the options to see your price per person, then email yourself the quote and course outline.
Contact us now – we reply within 15 minutes during office hours
Monday to Friday, 08:00–17:00. After hours, we reply on the next working day – or call 011 882 8853.