PAMPHLET
Reference No: IP021
Date : January 2015
Originator: Leighton Bennett
The H&S Officer/Practitioner vs the H&S Representative
With in industry there are numerous cases where companies have the H&S Officer/Practitioner and the
H&S Representative roles confused. The Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHSAct) requires the H&S
Representative to be nominated by the employees and the selected nominee is to be appointed by the
employer as the Employee’s H&S Representative.
What is being found is that employers often view the H&S Representative as the company’s H&S
officer, who is given the task to maintain the company OHS file, the statutory documentation and
records. This H&S Representative does not have the authority to call H&S committee meetings, ensure
management makes the necessary legal appointments, or to decide on any H&S matter, etc, but is
lumbered with maintaining the company H&S activities and records. By the way all H&S
Representatives carry no civil liability related to doing or failing to perform anything they are required to
do under the Act. Managing the H&S programme is outside their scope of authority.
OHSAct section 37(2) places a vicarious liability on the Employer to ensure H&S is achieved and
maintained at a workplace. Employers appear to think that they are not accountable or responsible for
the H&S if a H&S Officer/practitioner or a H&S Representative is appointed to manage the day-to -day
H&S issues. Wrong, the Employer is totally accountable & responsible all the time, but he/she can
designate senior persons, in the company &/or at the company’s premises located elsewhere, as the
section16(2) appointees, who are empowered to act on behalf of the Employer within their company
area of stated jurisdiction. This means they are usually authorised by the Employer to make decisions
on H&S issues on behalf of the employer. Without such site designees in place the employer is the sole
responsible person of the company.
Even with an appointed H&S Officer/Practitioner employed, the Employer is still accountable &
responsible for H&S in his/her workplace. The H&S officer/practitioner is designated as a management
H&S person, who is a normally a trained/experienced person that should be capable to provide H&S
advice and guidance to the company management, including the Employer, and is often designated to
co-ordinate the H&S programme activities and its records on behalf of the company’s management.
As stated before the Employer, represented by the CEO is accountable for H&S for a company, while
appointees and the other employees can also be held liable for acts or omissions that are OHSAct
offences under section 37(3), & so like the Employer can be prosecuted for such offences.
Documentary proof needs to be retained to prove legal compliance in such cases.
H&S Representatives are not H&S Officers/Practitioners and it is an issue which Employers need to
keep in mind as they cannot abdicate their accountability by appointing, designating or expecting H&S
Representatives to ensure OHSAct legal compliance. A H&S Practitioner can be responsible to coordinate the OHS programme activities and documentation, but is again not responsible for ensuring
OHSAct legal compliance.
Another aspect is that the Employer & the management are usually not made conversant with safety
management practice during their management education & training, so often they are happy to pass
the H&S responsibility to the H&S Officer/Practitioner, but do not delegate the authority to the H&S
Office/Practitioner to make H&S decisions which could or do impact on production activities. Thistype of
situation impacts on the employee’s perception of management’s commitment to safety & the safety
culture of the company.
The Employer & the Management team are empowered to decide & manage the Company H&S
processes & activities as they are the people responsible for ensuring & providing a safe & healthy
workplace & operations
THE INSTITUTE OF SAFETY MANAGEMENT, THE PROFESSIONAL BODY OF CHOICE FOR THE
DISCERNING OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY PRACTITIONER
www.iosm.co.za
PAMPHLET
Reference No: IP021
Date : January 2015
Originator: Leighton Bennett
THE INSTITUTE OF SAFETY MANAGEMENT, THE PROFESSIONAL BODY OF CHOICE FOR THE
DISCERNING OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY PRACTITIONER
www.iosm.co.za