Compliance isn't
optional.
It's the law.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act applies to every South African business with employees. We build your OHS file, run your audits, and keep you inspection-ready — so a surprise visit is a formality, not a crisis.
The legal position
Most businesses don't discover their OHS gaps during a quiet week. They discover them after an incident, or when an inspector arrives.
Every employer carries a duty of care
Section 8 places a general duty on every employer to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risk to health. That duty is not scaled to company size, sector, or turnover — a five-person workshop carries it as fully as a factory.
In practice it means documented risk assessments, an appointed safety representative structure, incident records, and evidence that your people were trained. Most businesses have some of it, informally. An inspector needs to see all of it, on paper, on the day they ask.
Reporting deadlines catch people out. A serious incident must be reported to the provincial director immediately by phone, and again in writing on form WCL1 or WCL2 within seven days. Miss either and the failure to report becomes an offence in its own right, separate from whatever caused the incident.
Mines fall under the Mine Health and Safety Act rather than the OHS Act. General guidance only, not legal advice.
How we work
Practical, thorough, and built around your actual operation — not a generic template with your logo on it.
Assess
We walk your site, review existing documentation, and map your obligations against the Act and its regulations. You get a clear gap report — what's compliant, what isn't, and what carries the most risk.
Build
We compile the OHS file: legal register, risk assessments, appointment letters, safe work procedures, and training records. Structured so anyone can find anything in under a minute.
Maintain
Compliance decays. Staff change, equipment changes, regulations change. Monthly management keeps the file current and your appointments valid — so you never scramble.
This month
One thing worth checking before it becomes a problem. Updated monthly.
The two deadlines after an incident
August 2026Most businesses know an incident has to be reported. Far fewer know there are two separate obligations, with two different clocks, and that missing either is an offence in its own right — entirely separate from whatever caused the incident.
A reportable incident must be submitted in writing to the provincial director on form WCL1 or WCL2 within seven days. But where someone dies, is knocked unconscious, loses a limb or part of one, or is injured badly enough that death or permanent disability is likely, that incident must also be reported forthwith by telephone or similar means. Not in seven days. Immediately.
The second one is what catches people. A serious injury happens on a Friday, the team focuses on the hospital and the family, and by the time anyone thinks about paperwork the immediate notification window has closed.
What to do about it
- Put your provincial director's contact number in the OHS file and on the wall, not in someone's phone
- Name who makes that call, and who makes it when they're on leave
- Keep blank WCL1 and WCL2 forms in the file so nobody is hunting for one
- Remember the site may not be disturbed without an inspector's consent after a serious incident, beyond what's needed to help the injured or prevent another
A note from Steyn Herbst, Atlasfire Safety. General guidance on the OHS Act 85 of 1993 and its regulations — not legal advice, and not a substitute for a review of your own operation.
Safety packages
Scope and travel confirmed on a free intro call before anything is invoiced.
- Compiled for your operation
- Legal register for your sector
- Delivered as print-ready PDF
- Email support on setup
- OHS file compiled on site
- Legal register for your sector
- Appointment letters drafted
- Handover walkthrough
- Full compliance audit
- Written findings report
- Prioritised corrective actions
- Re-inspection guidance
- Everything in Safety Audit
- Full risk assessment
- On-site safety briefing
- Emergency procedures
- File kept current
- Monthly site inspection
- Toolbox talks supplied
- Inspector support
- Root cause analysis
- Statutory reporting support
- Findings report
- Preventive recommendations
The digital file, and why it isn't a template
Most cheap safety files are generic template packs with your logo dropped on the cover. They pass a glance and fail an inspection, because the risk assessments describe hazards you don't have and miss the ones you do.
Ours
Compiled by a NEBOSH-qualified practitioner against your actual operation, sector and risks. Delivered print-ready.
A template pack
Generic documents sold to everyone, unchanged. Cheaper, and worth exactly that when an inspector reads it.
Safety Audit + Ops Health Check
Find what's non-compliant and what's inefficient in the same visit. One site walkthrough, two reports, one invoice.