Health and Safety Committees at Rhodes University

At Rhodes University, health and safety concerns are overseen by a Health & Safety Committee. In terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (1993), the Health and Safety Committee is responsible for initiating, developing, promoting, maintaining and reviewing measures that ensure the health and safety of employees in the workplace.

Read the guidelines: RU Health & Safety Guide 3 Health & Safety Committees

• Membership: List of members of the main Health & Safety Committee.

• Meeting dates: Dates of all Health & Safety Committee and Sub-committee meetings.

• Health & Safety Sub-committees: Details below of six (6) Sub-committees.

Because of the diverse activities and functions on campus, health and safety reps at the University are grouped according to the nature of their work:

1. Kitchen-linked workplaces (Food Services, Residential Operations support staff, etc)

2. Housekeeping-linked workplaces (Housekeeping, Residential Operations support staff, etc)

3. Maintenance-linked workplaces (Maintenance sections, Grounds support staff, etc)

4. Office-based workplaces (Humanities, some Sciences, support staff, etc)

5. Laboratory-linked workplaces (Sciences, chemical stores, lab support staff, etc)

6. Residences (under the auspices of the Board of Residences meetings)

Each Health and Safety sub-committee is responsible for the following:

• Conduct regular meetings (monthly or quarterly) with written minutes kept on file.

• Discuss Health & Safety Representatives' monthly inspection reports.

• Discuss all incidents and recommend action to be taken to avoid similar incidents occurring again.

• Discuss HIV / Aids concerns.

• Keep records for a minimum of 5 years (Health & Safety inspection reports; Committee minutes).

• Ensure action is taken to correct high-risk conditions or human error.

• Communicate on a regular basis with all employees regarding health and safety.

More info: RU Safety, Health & Environmental Officer: +27-046-603-7205 or safety(at)ru.ac.za

• Email safety(at)ru.ac.za to be subscribed to the Health & Safety mailing list

• Contact a member of the Rhodes University Health & Safety Committee

• Questions and Answers - compliments of the SA Labour Guide.

An extract from the Occupational Health and Safety Act (1993) - retrieved February 12, 2009, from http://www.acts.co.za/ohs/index.htm - 19. Health and Safety Committees:

1. An employer shall in respect of each workplace where two or more health and safety representatives have been designated, establish one or more health and safety committees and, at every meeting of such a committee as contemplated in subsection (4), consult with the committee with a view to initiating, developing, promoting, maintaining and reviewing measures to ensure the health and safety of his employees at work.
2. A health and safety committee shall consist of such number of members as the employer may from time to time determine: Provided that -
a. if one health and safety committee has been established in respect of a workplace, all the health and safety representatives for that workplace shall be members of the committee;
b. if two or more health and safety committees have been established in respect of a workplace, each health and safety representative for that workplace shall be a member of at least one of those committees; and
c. the number of persons nominated by an employer on any health and safety committee established in terms of this section shall not exceed the number of health and safety representatives on that committee.
3. The persons nominated by an employer on a health and safety committee shall be designated in writing by the employer for such period as may be determined by him, while the health and safety representatives shall be members of the committee for the period of their designation in terms of section 17(1).
4. A health and safety committee shall hold meetings as often as may be necessary, but at least once every three months, at a time and place determined by the committee: Provided that an inspector may by notice in writing direct the members of a health and safety committee to hold a meeting at a time and place determined by him: Provided further that, if more than 10 per cent of the employees at a specific workplace has handed a written request to an inspector, the inspector may by written notice direct that such a meeting be held.
5. The procedure at meetings of a health and safety committee shall be determined by the committee.
6.
a. A health and safety committee may co-opt one or more persons by reason of his or their particular knowledge of health or safety matters as an advisory member or as advisory members of the committee.
7. If an inspector is of the opinion that the number of health and safety committees established for any particular workplace is inadequate, he may in writing direct the employer to establish for such workplace such number of health and safety committees as the inspector may determine.

Return to Rhodes University's Safety front page. Questions/Suggestions? Contact safety(at)ru.ac.za