Construction medicals

Medicals for construction teams. On site or at our clinics.

General workers, teams at height, and operators. We complete the full medical and the Annexure 3 correctly the first time, so your site files pass inspection.

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Construction hero imageReal SA worker at a Care Net clinic or site. Replace with the 16:9 WebP.
A Care Net practitioner completes a construction worker medical
Why sites choose Care Net

The problems we take off your desk

Workers stopped at the gate

A missing or expired certificate of fitness keeps a worker off site and your programme behind. We schedule medicals around your start dates, not the other way round.

Annexure 3 done wrong

An Annexure 3 that does not match the worker's real risks gets rejected at audit. Our practitioners test against the job and exposures your employer form declares.

Paper files that go missing

Health legislation requires medical records to be kept for years. Paper struggles with that and with POPIA. We store your records securely and digitally.

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The construction medicals

Every worker fits one of four categories.

Each category needs a certificate of fitness and a completed Annexure 3. We build the right test set for each one.

Most workers
General

Limited exposure to dust, noise, or hazardous chemicals.

  • Health questionnaire and vitals
  • Vision, hearing, lung function
  • Urine screening
1.5m and up
Working at heights

Work on movable scaffolding or suspended platforms at 1.5 metres and higher.

  • Everything in General
  • Fitness for height assessed and recorded
  • Supports your fall protection plan
Plant & cranes
Drivers, machine operators & forklift drivers

Anyone who drives or operates plant: tower cranes, mobile plant, and construction vehicles.

  • Everything in General
  • Vision and reaction suited to plant
  • Substance testing where policy requires
Electrical work
Electricians

Electrical work on site, often at height and around live current.

  • Everything in General
  • Colour vision screening for wiring
  • Fitness for height and live work
01 Pre-employment02 Periodic03 Return to work04 Exit
What is included in each medicalThe standard test panel by worker category. The final panel is confirmed against the job risk at booking.

Swipe sideways to see all four categories.

TestGeneralWorking at heightsDrivers, machine operators & forklift driversElectricians
Baseline questionnaire (medical and family history)
Working at heights questionnaire
Weight
Height
Blood pressure
Urine
GlucoseRisk-based medicals only
Audiometry (hearing)SANS 10083
Spirometry (lung function)SATS guideline, ATS and ERS aligned
Antibacterial disposable mouthpieceSANS approved, single use
Snellen eye test
Keystone vision screen
Referral check-upAt one of our clinics only
Risk-based exposures
Annexure 3 risk-based exposure form
Review and sign-off
Reviewed by OHNP (occupational health nurse practitioner)
Reviewed by OMP (occupational medicine practitioner)Reviews all risk-based medicals
Add-ons at additional cost
Biological monitoringAdd-onAdd-onAdd-onAdd-on
Drug strip testMulti-drug screeningAdd-onAdd-onAdd-onAdd-on
Multi-drug cup testChain of custodyAdd-onAdd-onAdd-onAdd-on
Chest X-rayAll medical typesAdd-onAdd-onAdd-onAdd-on
Hearing screening follows SANS 10083. Spirometry follows the South African Thoracic Society guideline, aligned to ATS and ERS. Every spirometry test uses a SANS approved antibacterial disposable mouthpiece, a single-use barrier filter that is the gold standard for protecting your employees against the spread of infection. General and working at heights medicals use the Snellen test; operator and electrician medicals use the Keystone screen, which includes colour vision. Glucose testing applies to risk-based medicals, not the general medical. The referral check-up is included in every medical and takes place at one of our clinics only. Every medical includes an Annexure 3 risk-based exposure form and a review by an OHNP. An OMP reviews all risk-based medicals: working at heights, operator, and electrician. Biological monitoring, the drug strip test for multi-drug screening, the multi-drug cup test with chain of custody, and the chest X-ray are add-ons at additional cost when the job risk calls for them.
How long we keep your records

The law sets different retention periods for different records: some are kept for 5 years, and medical surveillance records for hazardous exposure are kept for 40 years from the date of the last entry, as the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its regulations require. Paper records are easy to lose, hard to secure, and seldom survive these periods intact, which puts your POPIA compliance and your audit defence at risk. Your Care Net records sit in a secure, POPIA-compliant digital storage environment for as long as the law prescribes, ready for audits and access requests.

A Care Net digital medical certificate of fitness shown on a laptop and a mobile phone
What you get back

An audit-ready certificate of fitness and a completed Annexure 3 for every worker.

The Annexure 3, explained simply

Before the medical, the employer completes an Annexure 3 form. It lists the worker's job, the risks and exposures on your site, and the protective equipment the job needs. Our practitioner then tests against that form and issues the medical certificate of fitness, including fit with restrictions or fit with conditions where that applies.

Not sure how to complete it, or which category a worker falls into? Ask us. That is what we do every day.

The law in plain language

The Construction Regulations, on your site

Construction is one of the most regulated industries in South Africa. The Construction Regulations 2014, made under the OHS Act 85 of 1993, name medical fitness in regulation after regulation. Here is what each one asks of you, and what it looks like on the ground.

Regulation 7(8)

Every worker, a valid certificate

A contractor must ensure that every employee has a valid medical certificate of fitness, specific to the construction work to be performed, issued by an occupational health practitioner in the form of Annexure 3.

On your site

No valid certificate, no gate access. Keep copies on site and check expiry dates before the worker's first shift, not after.

Read regulation 7 in the gazette
Regulation 9

The risk assessment leads

Before work starts, a competent person must do a risk assessment of the construction work. The risks it identifies are the same risks your Annexure 3 forms must declare.

On your site

Your risk assessment and your Annexure 3 forms must tell the same story. An inspector reads both. If they disagree, you have a finding.

Read regulation 9 in the gazette
Regulation 10(2)(b)

Fall protection needs proof of fitness

Your fall protection plan must include the process for evaluating the medical fitness of every employee who works in a fall risk position, and the records of that process.

On your site

Heights medicals are not a nice-to-have inside the plan. They are a listed element of it, with records the inspector can ask to see.

Read regulation 10 in the gazette
Regulation 17(12)(a)

Suspended platform crews

Workers on suspended platforms must be physically and psychologically fit to work safely at height, confirmed by a medical certificate of fitness.

On your site

Facade, painting and rope-supported crews need heights medicals before they clip in, including the vertigo and balance checks.

Read regulation 17 in the gazette
Regulation 22(1)(f)

Tower crane operators

A contractor must ensure that a tower crane operator has a medical certificate of fitness before operating the crane.

On your site

Crane operators carry the heaviest loads over the most heads. Their vision, hearing and reaction medicals are checked, dated and filed.

Read regulation 22 in the gazette
Regulation 23(1)(d)(ii)

Vehicle and mobile plant operators

Operators of construction vehicles and mobile plant must be medically fit, with the certificate to prove it.

On your site

TLB, excavator, dumper and forklift operators all fall under this one. The operator medical covers the extra vision and reaction tests.

Read regulation 23 in the gazette
And the file that holds it all together: regulation 7 requires the contractor to keep a health and safety file on site. Your medical certificates, the fall protection fitness records and the operator certificates all live in it. When a Department of Employment and Labour inspector arrives, that file is the first thing they open. If a serious contravention is found, the inspector can issue a prohibition notice under the OHS Act and stop the affected work on the spot.
A tale of two sites

Same project. Same deadline. Two very different Mondays.

Picture two contractors, each starting a 60-worker project on the same morning. The story is made up. The pattern is not.

Site A waited

Site A planned to sort the medicals out "once things settle down". Workers started. Certificates were a mix of expired, missing and borrowed from the last project.

In week three an inspector arrived, opened the health and safety file, and matched the scaffolding crew against the fall protection plan. No fitness records. The work at height stopped there and then, and the crane stood still above it.

Now Site A is paying idle wages, paying plant standing time, phoning around for emergency medicals at walk-in rates, and explaining the delay to the client whose contract has a penalty clause.

Site B booked a mobile clinic

Site B sent us the Annexure 3 forms two weeks before start. A mobile clinic parked on site the Thursday before. Crews rotated through between tasks. Nobody drove to town. Nobody lost a shift.

One rigger's medical picked up early hearing loss. He was moved to lower-noise work with proper protection, kept his job and his hearing, and the record went into the file. That is the law working exactly as intended.

When the same inspector visited Site B, the file was opened, the certificates matched the risk assessment, and the inspector left. The crane never stopped turning.

The moral: compliance was never the product. The product is a site that keeps moving, workers who stay healthy enough to stay skilled, and a file that protects you when someone official opens it. The certificate is just the receipt.

Work the numbers yourself

What does one stopped day cost you?

Put in your own figures. The calculator works out what a single day of stopped work costs your site. Then compare that with the cost of a planned medicals day where the clinic comes to you.

Your stoppage estimate

Idle labourR 0
Plant standingR 0
Days stopped0
Estimated costR 0

An estimate from your own figures, before contract penalties, emergency medical call-out rates and the cost of rebuilding the programme. It is not a quote or financial advice.

Price a planned medicals day instead

Secure records. Long-term peace of mind.

Health legislation requires some medical records to be kept for 5 years and exposure-related records for up to 40 years. Paper files struggle to survive that long and to meet POPIA. Care Net stores your medical records securely and digitally, and you can verify any certificate online in seconds.

See My Clinic Online
Quick answers

Frequently asked questions

How fast can you test a full team?
A mobile clinic can test a large team on your site in a day, depending on team size and the tests needed. Tell us your numbers in the quote form and we will confirm the schedule.
Which category do my workers fall into?
Construction workers fall into three legal categories: general workers, workers at height, and operators. The matrix above shows the tests for each. If you are unsure, send us the job titles and we will categorise them for you.
Who completes the Annexure 3?
The employer completes the exposure section before the medical. Our occupational health practitioner completes the medical section and issues the certificate of fitness.
How long is a certificate of fitness valid?
Usually one year, but the practitioner can set a shorter period based on the worker's health and the risks of the job. The expiry date is printed on the certificate.
Can I verify a certificate someone hands me?
Yes. Use the online verification at My Clinic Online to check that a Care Net certificate is genuine and still valid.

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Contact Care Net Consultants

Call Us: +27 60 070 2723
Call Us: +27 60 070 2723
Email: salesdesk@carenetconsultants.co.za
Care Net Consultants (Pty) Ltd