Health, safety, enviro and Sheq among scarce skills in SA

The top scarce skills in SA include Environmental Engineer, Sheq Practitioner, Environmental Manager, Health and Safety Manager, and Quality Systems Manager.

Among the top 30 scarce skills in South Africa are Sheq-related managers (marked **), listed here in order of job market demand, and with their NQF OFO numbers (see definitions below);

Electrical Engineer 215101
Civil Engineer 214201
Mechanical Engineer 214401
Quantity Surveyor 214904
Programme or Project Manager 121905
Finance Manager 121101
Physical and Engineering Science Technicians 311
Industrial and Production Engineers 2141
Electrician 671101
Chemical Engineer 214501
Construction Project Manager 132301
Mining Engineer 214601
Accountant (General) 241101
**Energy Engineer 215103
Materials Engineer 214907
Electronics Engineer 215201
Metallurgical Engineer 214603
Medical Superintendent / Public Health Manager 134201
Public Health Physician 221103
Nursing Professionals 2221
Registered Nurse (child and family health) 332102
General Medical Practitioner 221101
Veterinarian 225101
Industrial Pharmacist 226202
Hospital Pharmacist 226201
**Environmental Engineer 2143
Retail Pharmacist 226203
**SHEQ Practitioner 226302
Air Conditioning and Mechanical Services Plumber 642701
Automotive Electrician 672106

Among the rest of the top 100 scarce skills are also some Sheq-related practices;

Personnel or Human Resource Manager 121201
Environmental Manager 134901
Health and Safety Manager 121206
Water Quality Analyst 213306
Occupational Instructor or Trainer 242402
Quality Systems Manager 121908

Occupational Cluster Codes
Occupational clusters relevant to Sheq practices include;
2143 Environmental Engineers
214301 Environmental Engineer
214302 Environmental Impact and Restoration Analyst
2221 Nursing Professionals
222101 Clinical Nurse Practitioner
222108 Registered Nurse (Community Health) (Critical Care and Emergency) (Disability and Rehabilitation)
222114 Nurse Educator
2321 Vocational or Further Education Teachers
311303 Energy Efficiency Technician
311502 Boilers and Pressure Vessels Inspector
311705 Mine Ventilation Observer
311706 Rock Engineering Technician
311707 Strata Control Officer
311901 Forensic Technician (Biology, Toxicology)
311902 Fire Investigator
311906 Environmental Engineering Technician

The state labour survey was published in the Government Gazette of 23 May 2014, number 37678, under General notice 380 of 2014, to inform human resource planning and development, and to guide the development of qualifications, programmes and curricula.

The National Scarce Skills List will be reviewed every two years, unless the Minister of Higher Education and Training deems it necessary to review the list earlier.

Scarce skills refer to “occupations in which there are a scarcity of qualified and experienced people, currently or anticipated in the future, either because such skilled people are not available or they are available but do not meet employment criteria.”

Occupation Definition‘OCCUPATION’ refers to a set of jobs or specialisations whose main tasks are characterised by such a high degree of similarity that they can be grouped together for the purposes of classification. Occupations are classified according to two main criteria: (a) skill level and (b) skill specialisation, where skill is used in the context of competency rather than a description of tasks or functions.

Skill Definition‘SKILL’ is defined as “the necessary competencies that can be expertly applied in a particular context for a defined purpose” and “competence” has three elements:

a) Practical competence – ability to perform a set of tasks;
b) Foundational competence – ability to understand what we ourselves or others are doing and why; and
c) Reflexive competence – ability to integrate or connect our performance with an understanding of the performance of others, so that we can learn from our actions and are able to adapt to changes and unforeseen circumstances.

OFO StructureThe ORGANISING FRAMEWORK OF OCCUPATIONS is a skill-based coded classification system, which encompasses all occupations in the South African context. The classification of occupations is based on a combination of skill level and skill specialisation which makes it easy to locate a specific occupation within the framework.

‘JOB’ refers to a set of tasks and duties carried out or meant to be carried out, by one person for a particular employer, including self-employment.

There is a dire shortage of engineers, technologists, technicians and artisans across a range of disciplines. The HRDC report highlights the need for the production of professionals in engineering, mining, health care and the built environment.

This article by Edmond Furter via SheqAfrica.com

What is the fuss about Asbestos?

Asbestos refers to a set of naturally occurring fibrous minerals. The fibres are microscopic in nature, but extremely durable and hardy. It is due to these properties that it was used for a number of years for different commercial and industrial purposes. For example, asbestos has been used to manufacture roofing, floor tiles, ceiling materials, cement compounds, textile products, and automotive parts.

Asbestos is now strictly regulated as exposure to this toxic material has been proven to be a serious health risk and is classified as a known human carcinogen.

Asbestos fibres are microscopic in size and are therefore easily inhaled. Once inhaled, the fibres cling to the respiratory system. The fibres then become lodged in the soft internal tissue of the respiratory system and are not easily expelled or broken-down by the body – there is no safe type of asbestos and no safe level of exposure.

There are three major lung conditions traced directly to asbestos exposure. These are lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. Symptoms include coughing, chest pain, and difficulty breathing.

What does the Law say about Asbestos?
The Asbestos Regulations to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Act 85 of 1993) regulate the duties of employers whose employees may be exposed to asbestos dust in a workplace.

Firstly, the employer must not carry out any asbestos work unless he has notified the Provincial Director of the Department of Labour in writing of such work prior to its commencement.

No employer may allow any employee to work in an environment in which he or she will be exposed to asbestos in excess of the prescribed occupational exposure limit.

Further, no employer may allow any employee to work in an environment in which he or she will be exposed to asbestos in excess of the prescribed occupational exposure limit. The occupational exposure limit for asbestos is currently 0.2 regulated asbestos fibres per milliliter of air averaged over any continuous period of four hours, measured in accordance with the MDHS 39/4 (Method for the Determination of Hazardous Substances no. 39/4).

If the employer has complied with the criteria set out above, and employees are exposed to asbestos, the following duties on the part of the employer will need to be fulfilled, inter alia:

• Information and training: Before the employee is exposed to the asbestos dust he must be adequately trained on all practical and theoretical aspects which are of importance, including the potential health risks, safe working procedures and safe disposal methods.
• Air Monitoring: Where exposure is in excess of half of the occupational exposure limit for asbestos, air monitoring must take place at least once a year.
• Medical Surveillance: Employees who will be exposed to asbestos must undergo medical surveillance by an Occupational Health Practitioner, within 14 days of after a person commences with employment, and then at least every two years thereafter.
• Respirator Zones: Employees who work in areas where they could be exposed to asbestos above the occupational exposure limit, must wear respirators at all times, and such area must be declared a respirator zone.
• Cleanliness of the workplace: Every employer must ensure that workplaces are maintained in a clean state and are free of asbestos waste.
• PPE: All PPE issued to employees who may be exposed to asbestos, must never leave the area in which it is used, and should be stored on site. The reason for this is that contaminated PPE (such as overalls etc) could cause innocent people to be exposed to asbestos dust, should the employee take the PPE off site. Further, any PPE contaminated with asbestos dust which must be disposed of, should be treated as hazardous waste.

It is critically important that employers ensure that they comply with the provisions of these regulations should their employees be exposed to asbestos, especially because of the serious impact exposure could have on the health of those individuals. If they fail to do so, and one of the employees contracts an asbestos – related disease, the employer could face up to twelve months imprisonment!

This article by Natalie Graaff via SheqAfrica.com

Fall Protection and Fall Protection Planning

Fall Protection and fall protection planning are needed because we continue to kill or critically injure workers, specifically on construction sites. You can read more about some of the recent incidents reported here, hereand here and this one.

What is fall protection planning and why do we need to plan for it?
Fall Protection Planning is part of your Health and Safety planning that focus on the health and safety of workers where there is a risk of falling from heights. We also implement Fall Protection Plans to comply with Construction Regulation 10 of 2014.

When preparing a Fall Protection Plan, you need to designate a competent person. The Institute for Working at Heights (IWH) is the registered professional body with SAQA for working at heights designations and the criteria for registering as a Fall Protection Plan Developer is that you must complete unit standards 229995, 229998 and 229994 with a registered and accredited training provider.

Only then can you be registered by the IWK Professional Body as a competent person. Please refer to the definition of “competent person” as per the Construction Regulations 2014.

I currently am employed by one of the largest roof sheeting companies in the country and because of our business; all of our work is carried out at heights. Over the years, I have met several persons who have attended a 1-day course in Fall Protection Plan Development. How is this possible?

How do you do 3 unit standards in a one day course?
Normally this course takes about 5½ days with practical training in Fall Arrest and Basic Rescue and by submitting a POE to the IWH. Even after this, I still don’t think that you can be competent without the practical experience. Valuable experience gained on site is far more important than a piece of paper gained by attending a one day course.

Whenever we start a new project, I prepare a site specific Fall Protection Plan and submit it to the Principal Contractor or Client for approval.

We have the Construction Regulations but still reports of workers falling from height make the news. What then is wrong here?

Most of the time, the person who is responsible for the approval of your Fall Protection Plan doesn’t have the competence themselves.

Now the question is why should they be a competent Fall Protection Plan Developer?
They might have Samtrac and all the other fancy courses and in most cases, working at heights, will not be in their scope of work.
That is where they are wrong! If I am going to work on heights on your site, you need to be competent to address the risk and hazards involved.

What better way than to be a competent Fall Protection Plan Developer?
I have tried my theory and deliberately submitted a generic Fall Protection Plan who anyone can download from the internet to safety officers responsible for large construction sites, and this generic plan was approved.

This plan was approved because they don’t know what the requirements for a Fall Protection Plan is and sometimes they don’t even take time to read through your plan. When submitting your Safety file most of the time the person on the other side of the desk is incompetent or they just tick boxes. The SHE Plan is in the file, tick the box, the Fall Protection Plan is in the file, tick the box and etc.

In the construction industry there is a huge gap when it comes to experienced Health and Safety practitioners. Companies are always looking to save cost and when appointing practitioners, they appoint people with the minimum training and experience, these practitioners is then responsible for everyone’s health and safety on site.

Now I have a fancy Fall Protection Plan and what then?
If you are not a competent Fall Protection Plan Developer, you can get help from “experts “who will supply you with a fall protection plan for a generous fee.

Once you have the fall protection plan, you must implement it on site. Most of the time this is problematic for any practitioner because the employees on site have no training or just the basic training what ultimately is inadequate.

You sit with a fall protection plan that looks great on paper but cannot be applied to your site because of a lack of training or inadequate training.Incompetence is the end result.

Whenever you write the fall protection plan you must consider the training needs of the employees who will be working on the site and for whom you write the plan. Make sure that employees are trained in Unit Standard 229998 and 229995- Fall Arrest and Basic Rescue as a minimum.

Your training ultimately will depend on what access methods will be used; will it be scaffolding or rope access? And also what rescue scenarios will be used in your rescue plan.

Fall Protection is much more than just filing a Fall Protection Plan in your safety file. Training and competence is the key part to effective managing the fall risks.

To conclude; whenever you write a Fall Protection Plan make sure –

• it is site specific,
• it includes a detailed fall risk assessment,
• you train your employees adequately through training providers registered with the IWH,
• and that you implement the plan on site.

This article by Stephan van der Westhuizen via SheqAfrica.com