Construction Medicals
The construction industry is subject to some of the most stringent occupational health and safety regulations. Construction sites are dynamic and hazardous and accidents could be life-threatening. Workers must have an exceptional level of safety awareness and training, and medical fitness must be tested before entering a site. Extreme work pressures are common to the construction industry and exacerbated by long working hours, physically dangerous work and being responsible for others’ safety at work.
The 2014 update of the Construction Regulations in the Occupational Health and Safety Act sets out the requirement for comprehensive, risk-based medical testing for all construction workers. The aim of the construction medical is to:
- Determine whether the employee is physically and mentally fit to do the work.
- Identify medical conditions that may render employees temporarily or permanently unable to perform their duties.
- Determine whether the employee’s current health status may affect risks and safety at work for both the employee and other workers.
- Issue recommendations to the employer on the necessary actions to protect and maintain the health of employees.
Our occupational medical practitioners (OMPs) and occupational health nurse practitioners (OHNPs) are highly experienced in conducting the necessary medical examination and completing the all-important Annexure 3 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, along with a medical certificate of fitness. This includes a “fit with restrictions” or “fit with conditions” certificate, if applicable.
Annexure 3 highlights the possible exposures to which an employee will be subjected, the job-specific requirements the employee face, and the protective equipment the employee needs to perform his or her duties as per his or her job description.
Our OMPs and OHNPs ensure each employee is given a full clinical assessment with all the required medical tests. We also identify the employee’s work conditions and risks and apply them in our testing methodology. This ensures a professional assessment with recommendations that are in the best interest of both the employee and the employer.
The following chart shows the test are done for each category:
Training
Services
Well-trained employees are safe employees
Your construction site is only as safe as the employees working for you – and often they are working alone, without your oversight. They need to know what to do when an unexpected event occurs in order to manage the most rapid response possible and minimise risk exposure, injuries and even deaths.
We can help you with your safety training programme either on-site or at our head office in Midrand, where we have classrooms as well as scaffolding to train employees working on heights. This division aims to take the burden of compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act away from you so that you can focus on your core functions.
Our training is certified by the Health & Welfare Seta and the Construction Seta. We specialise in:
- Working on heights Scaffold erecting and inspection
- First aid level 1
- Health and safety representative
- Hazard identification and risk assessment
- Basic fire-fighting
Safety Files
We will open and manage your contractor health and safety files for you, ensuring all documentation required in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act as well as the Construction Regulations are properly kept and maintained.
Risk Assessments
We will conduct a complete audit to assess your compliance with all aspects of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. This includes a general facility safety inspection of aspects such as storage, lighting, air handling, sanitation, hazardous products, emergency equipment, and so forth. We also develop safety plans as well as fall protection plans. In addition, we offer contractor management to ensure that contractors working on your premises are in compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act. This ensures that their activities do not place you at risk of non-compliance.
Incident Investigation
We can investigate all incidents in the workplace and help you to develop and implement action plans to prevent them happening again.