South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions

South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP).

Construction health and safety agents, managers and officers all have to register with the SACPCMP as part of the new regulations. The aim is to enforce the appointment of competent and professionally registered practitioners to ensure safer construction sites.

The SACPCMP wants to ensure that there are adequate controls, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of the levels of compliance with construction health and safety regulations.

Speaking at the launch of the regulations, Minister of Public Works Thulas Nxesi said that insufficient regulation in the area of health and safety is one of the fundamental reasons for the poor standards of health and safety management in construction projects. The Council for the Built Environment (CBE) found this to be the case after conducting extensive research on the current state of construction health and safety in the country.

“The safety of employees must be an absolute priority. It is unacceptable that on average two South African construction workers die every week,” he said.

Nxesi says the safety of employees must be an absolute priority for government. However, the public works department also expects every employer to ensure that health and safety regulations are implemented and enforced.

Management of construction health and safety on site also allows for its incorporation into the wider management of construction project delivery, that is, from inception or conception. Nxesi says this can be viewed as sound business practice.