Monthly update: September 2014
Comments:
May saw two notices published which have a direct impact on health and safety liability under the Mine Health and Safety Act. These relate to the reporting of Occupational Diseases. In addition to the MHSA amendments, we also list the more important amendments to National Standards as Gazetted during September.
These are discussed below. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions, or need assistance in managing your health and safety legal exposures.
The Minister of Mineral Resources has published a correction notice that has the effect of amending Mine Health and Safety Act Regulation Chapter 11 (Occupational Health)
Regulation 11.8 is inserted (no Regulation 11.8 was included before). The new Regulation deals with the reporting of occupational disease. It specifies the reporting of occupational diseases to the Principal Inspector within 30 days of the occupational disease being diagnosed.
It details the respective reportable diseases (including hearing loss) as well as the format of reporting on form 231. Form 231 is a new document included in Chapter 21 of the Regulations.
In order to give effect to the new requirements for the reporting of occupational diseases in terms of Regulation 11(8), Chapter 21 of the Regulations is amended by adding a new document, form 231.
The Notice further includes explanatory notes on the reasons for the inclusion of the new form as well as an employee consent form for the disclosure of information to the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate.
The stated intent with regards to information obtained is the creation of a central database to be used by the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate for research purposes. It further explains the role of the OMP (Occupational Medical Practitioner) in the gathering of data.
Some of the more important new standards include:
Some of the more important amended standards include:
The following standards have been cancelled
This has remained unchanged.
FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION, COMMENTS OR QUERIES, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT THE WRITER.
Regards,
Jaco Swartz Managing Director Legislative Compliance Specialists (Pty.) Ltd. 011 704 4814 082 898 9463 |
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