8 min read
OHS Act Compliance Checklist: Are You Meeting the Requirements?
A practical OHS Act checklist for South African employers covering incidents, risk assessments, legal appointments, and workforce health surveillance.
Understand your legal duties first
Sections 8, 16 and 37 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act place responsibility on employers to provide a safe working environment, appoint competent persons and maintain detailed records.
TriSentry Safety digitises these obligations so startups can operate with the same governance standards as established enterprises.
Incident reporting and investigation workflow
Capture incidents and near misses on mobile devices with photo evidence, witness statements and root cause analysis templates. Assign corrective actions with due dates and track completion in real time.
For injury on duty cases, generate Compensation Commissioner (W.CL.2) forms instantly and monitor recovery plans within the platform.
Risk assessments and control measures
Use hazard identification and risk assessment (HIRA) templates to log hazards, assign risk ratings and document control measures. Review schedules ensure risks are reassessed at agreed intervals.
Link risk registers to inspection checklists so that outstanding issues are flagged during site visits.
- Risk matrix visualisation for leadership reporting
- Management of Change workflows for new processes
- Permit-to-work tracking for construction projects
- PPE issuance logs for compliance proof
Competency, training and legal appointments
Maintain a skills matrix that tracks mandatory training, certifications and expiries. Section 16 and 17 legal appointments can be generated, signed and stored digitally, with reminders for renewals.
Toolbox talks, induction records and contractor competencies live alongside inspection evidence, creating a single source of truth.
Integrating OHS and workforce data
When combined with TriSentry Attendance and Leave modules, safety teams can quickly access exposure hours, medical history and workforce allocation to support investigations.
Leadership gains visibility into safety KPIs alongside productivity metrics, reinforcing a culture of accountability.
Key takeaway
Compliance is easier when every OHS obligation is digitised and assigned. Request a TriSentry Safety demo to see how our founder-led team helps you build a resilient safety culture.
