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Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002)

Notices

Consolidated COVID-19 Direction on Occupational Health and Safety measures in certain workplaces

24 - 45. Health and safety measures

 

24. Every employer must implement the following health and safety measures.

 

Symptom screening

 

25. Every employer must take measures to—
25.1 screen any worker when they report to work in order to—
25.1.1 ascertain whether they have any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 as per the current NICD definition11, namely a cough, sore throat, shortness of breath (or difficulty in breathing), or loss of smell or taste;
25.1.2 determine whether they suffer from any of the following additional symptoms: fever, body aches, redness of eyes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, weakness or tiredness; and
25.2 require workers to immediately inform the employer if they experience any of the symptoms in sub-clause 25.1 while at work.

 

26. Employers must comply with any guidelines issued by the National Department of Health in consultation with the Department in respect of—
26.1 symptom screening; 12 and
26.2 if required to do so, medical surveillance and testing.

 

27. If a worker presents with COVID-19-related symptoms, or advises the employer of these symptoms, the employer must—
27.1 not permit the worker to enter the workplace or report for work; or
27.2 if the worker is already at work immediately—
27.2.1 isolate the worker, provide the worker with a surgical mask and arrange for the worker to be transported in a manner that does not place other workers or members of the public at risk either to be self-isolated or to be referred for a medical examination or testing; and
27.2.2 assess the risk of transmission, disinfect the area and the worker's workstation, undertake contact tracing and refer those workers who may be at risk for screening and take any other appropriate measure to prevent possible transmission;
27.3 place its employee on paid sick leave in terms of section 22 of the BCEA or if the employee's sick leave entitlement under the section is exhausted, make application for an illness benefit in terms of clause 4 of the Directive issued on 25 March 2020 on the COVID-19 Temporary Employer Relief Scheme under regulation 10(8) of the Regulations promulgated in terms of section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act;
27.4 ensure that the employee is not discriminated against on grounds of having tested positive for COVID-19 in terms of section 6 of the Employment Equity Act, 1998 (Act No. 55 of 1998);
27.5 if there is evidence that the worker contracted COVID-19 arising out of and in the course of employment, lodge a claim for compensation in terms of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, 1993 (Act No. 130 of 1993) in accordance with Notice 193 published on 3 March 2020. 13

 

28. If a worker has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and isolated in accordance with the Department of Health Guidelines, 14 an employer may only allow a worker to return to work on the following conditions:
28.1 The worker has completed the mandatory 14 days of self-isolation;
28.2 the worker has undergone a medical evaluation confirming fitness to work in the worker had moderate or severe illness;
28.3 the employer ensures that personal hygiene, wearing of masks, social distancing, and cough etiquette is strictly adhered to by the worker;
28.4 the employer closely monitors the worker for symptoms on return to work; and
28.5 the worker wears a surgical mask for 21 days from the date of diagnosis.

 

29. If a worker has been in contact with the workplace with another worker who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, the employer must assess that worker's exposure in accordance with the Department of Health's Guidelines15 to ascertain whether the exposure carries a high or low risk of transmission between the workers.

 

30. If there is a low risk of exposure, the employer—
30.1 may permit the worker to continue working using a cloth mask complying with standard precautions; and
30.2 must monitor the worker's symptoms for 14 days from the first contact.

 

31. If there is a high risk of exposure—
31.1 the worker must remain in quarantine for 14 days; and
31.2 the employer of that worker must place the worker on sick leave in accordance with clause 27.3 for that period.

 

Sanitizers, disinfectants and other measures

 

32. For the purposes of these clauses, a hand sanitizer must be one that has at least 70% alcohol content and is in accordance with the recommendations of the Department of Health.

 

33. Every employer must, free of charge, ensure that—
33.1 thee are sufficient quantities of hand sanitizer based on the number of workers or other persons who access the workplace at the entrance of, and in, the workplace which the workers or other persons are required to use; and
33.2 every employee who works away from the workplace, other than at home, must be provided with an adequate supply of hand sanitizer.

 

34. If a worker interacts with the public, the employer must provide the worker with sufficient supplies of hand-sanitizer at that worker's workstation for both the worker and the person with whom the worker is interacting.

 

35. Every employer must take measures to ensure that—
35.1 all work surfaces and equipment are disinfected before work begins, regularly during the working period and after work ends;
35.2 all areas such as toilets, common areas, door handles, share electronic equipment are regularly cleaned and disinfected; and
35.3 disable biometric systems or make them COVID-19 proof.

 

36. The employer must ensure that—
36.1 there are adequate facilities for the washing of hands with soap and clean water;
36.2 only paper towels are provided to dry hands after washing - the use of fabric toweling is prohibited;
36.3 the workers are required to wash their hands and sanitize their hands regularly while at work;
36.4 the workers interacting with the public are instructed to sanitize their hands between each interaction with a member of the public; and
36.5 surfaces that workers and members of the public come into contact with are routinely cleaned and disinfected.

 

Cloth masks

 

37. The main benefit of everyone wearing a cloth mask is to reduce the amount of virus containing droplets being coughed up by those with the infection and transmitted to others and to surfaces that others may touch. Since some infected persons may not have symptoms or may not know they are infected, the Department of Health requires that all persons wear cloth masks when in a public place.

 

38. For the reasons underlying the Department of Health's requirement, every employer must—
38.1 provide each of its employees, free of charge, with a minimum of two cloth masks, which comply with the requirements set out in the Department of Health's recommendations16, for the employee to wear while at work and while commuting to and from work; and
38.2 require any other worker to wear masks in the workplace.

 

39. The number and replaceability of cloth masks that must be provided to an employee or required of other workers must be determined in accordance with any sectoral guideline and in the light of the employee or work's conditions of work, in particular, where these may result in the mask becoming wet or soiled.

 

40. Every employer must ensure that workers are informed, trained, instructed and supervise as to the correct use of cloth masks.

 

41. The general requirement for workers to wear masks does not derogate from the fact that, where a risk assessment indicates that specific personal protective equipment is required, those categories of workers must be provided with the accredited personal protective equipment in accordance with Department of Health guidelines.

 

Measures in respect of workplaces to which public have access

 

42. The principal purpose of the measures contained in the following clause is to protect workers from being exposed to the virus through their interaction with the public and to protect members of the public from being exposed to virus through their interaction with workers or other persons present in such a workplace.

 

43. Depending on what is reasonably practicable given the nature of the workplace contemplated in clause 42, every employer must—
43.1 determine the floor area of the workplace in square metres in order to determine the number of customers and workers that may be inside the workplace at any one time with adequate space available;
43.2 arrange the workplace to ensure that there is a distance at least one and a half metres between workers and members of the public or between members of the public; or
43.3 put in place physical barriers at counters or provide workers with fact shields or visors;
43.4 if appropriate, undertake symptom screening measures of persons other than its employees entering the workplace with due regard to available technology and any guidelines issued by the Department of Health;
43.5 if appropriate, display notices advising persons other than employees entering the workplace of the precautions they are required to observe while in the workplace;
43.6 require members of the public, including suppliers, to wear masks when inside their premises;
43.7 take steps to ensure that customers queuing inside or outside the workplace are able to maintain a distance of one and half metres from each other;
43.8 provide hand sanitizer for use by the public at the entrance to the workplace;
43.9 assign an employee as a compliance office to ensure that these measures are complied with and that all directions in respect of hygienic conditions and limitation of exposure to persons with COVID-19 are adhered to.

 

Ventilation

 

44. Every employer must—
44.1 keep the workplace well ventilated by natural for mechanical means to reduce the SARS-CoV-2 viral load;
44.2 where reasonably practicable, have an effective local extraction ventilation system with high-efficiency particulate air HEPA filters, which is regularly cleaned and maintained, and its vents do not feed back in through open windows;
44.3 ensure that filters are cleaned and replaced in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions by a competent person.

 

Specific Personal Protective Equipment

 

45. Every employer must check regularly on the websites of the National Department of Health17, National Institute of Communicable Diseases18 and the National Institute for Occupational Health19 whether any specialised personal protective equipment for COVID-19 is required or recommended in any guidelines given the nature of the workplace or the nature of a worker's duties and the associated level of risk.

 

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11 Clinical management of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 disease - see the link in Annexure A
12 For more specific guidelines see Guidelines for symptom monitoring and management of essential workers for COVID-19 related infection - see the link in Annexure A.
13 GG43126 GN193 of 23 March 2020.
14 Clinical management of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 disease - see the link in Annexure A
15 The Guidelines for symptom monitoring and management of essential workers for COVID-19 related infection and the guideline: Clinical management of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 disease - see the link in Annexure A.
16 Department of Health: How to use mask cloth - see the link in Annexure A.
17 http://www.health.gov.za/
18 https://www.nicd.ac.za/
19 http://www.nioh.ac.za/