Dear Reader,

I, for one, am looking forward to National Heritage Day tomorrow (or National Braai Day!). But don’t worry, you’ll still be receiving your email with the highlights for this week. Here at FSP, we’re like Las Vegas – we never sleep! At least, that’s the case when we’re bringing you the latest tips, tools and developments in the world of health and safety.

Question

Our warehouses use dock levelers to bring in stock off trucks parked in offloading bays. When we place the stock on the lowered dock leveler, the mechanism is then activated to raise the steel platform up to floor level where we then take it off. A picking face is allocated and removed to its correct location.

What parts of the OHS Act and Regulations will apply to this piece of equipment? What signage is required? Do we need to do a Safe Operating Procedure (SOP) for it?

Answer

Let's look at the definition of a "lifting machine":

“A power-driven machine which is designed and constructed for the purpose of raising or lowering a load or moving it in suspension.” If this machine performs this function, then it must be load-tested etc, as per the Regulations. There must be a risk assessment which will determine if you need to write an SOP. The other point is you must comply with Section 8 of the OHSA, which also mentions training, hazard identification, precautionary measures (signage, SOP etc.)

You MUST identify health and safety hazards and assess risks in your company. It’s a legal requirement! You must compile a comprehensive risk assessment of your workplace. By doing this you can better protect your employees from health and safety hazards, and save yourself from a R100 000 fine, two years in jail or both!

Are you a subscriber to the Health and Safety Advisor updates?

If you are, look out for your next update which should reach you in the second of week of October. It includes the answers to many more of the questions you send to us every month. If you aren’t a subscriber, but wish to be, email gcs@fsp.co.za.

I’ll chat you next week.

Stay safe,

Nadia Smith-Pisanti

PS: Remember, access to the H&S Helpdesk is only one of the many benefits you get as a Health and Safety Advisor Loose Leafsubscriber. You’ll also benefit from the following features:

• An easy-to-follow format, with step-by-step instructions to ensure there’s no room for misunderstanding.
• Many immediately understandable examples to bring the day-to-day implications of non-compliance to light, and to use these as warnings to yourself in your own business.
• Practical tools and tips you can implement in your company RIGHT NOW!
• You don’t have to bother researching new laws yourself. You’ll automatically receive regular additions, updates and reports from us, which are priced at R1.97 per page (at approximately 100 pages). You’re not obliged to accept these deliveries. You can send them back, in which case your participation in this service ends, or you inform us that you no longer wish to receive further deliveries.
• You never need to build (or add to) your health and safety system from scratch: questionnaires and sample forms will give you a good grounding to assure the fundamentals of compliance in every area of your business.
• 'Warnings’ advise you of things to be aware of and watch out for in your company.
• Handy checklists, so you won’t forget anything.
• Everything is referenced to the OHSA, so you’ll always be legally compliant.
• Your essential Health and Safety Toolkit CD, which contains 73 sample letters, forms, procedures, checklists and meeting agendas.
• A weekly e-bulletin from Christel Fouché, with the latest HSE news, information, tips and tools to fully apply health and safety in your business.
• Access to an online archive of everything we’ve published in the Handbook in case you’ve mislaid your hard copy. 

  
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