Occupational Health and Safety Legal and Regulatory Framework
The statutory spine
You must be able to link a duty to the person who carries it. The Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 creates the core duties: s8 (employer's general duty to provide a safe workplace), s9 (duties to persons other than employees), s13 (information, training, instruction and supervision), s14 (employee duties), s16(2) (a body corporate's CEO must assign duties in writing), s17 (health and safety representatives, required from 20 employees), s19 (committees where two or more representatives exist), s24 (reporting specified incidents to the chief inspector), s25 (recording and investigation, records kept at least three years), s37 (liability of directors and mandataries) and s38 (offences).
The Construction Regulations 2014 allocate construction-specific duties: the client (health and safety specification, notification of construction work, health and safety file), the designer, the principal contractor (health and safety plan, written appointments of construction manager, construction supervisor and CHS officer, provision of PPE) and contractors. COIDA 130 of 1993 governs compensation, not prevention; the SACPCMP Act 48 of 2000 governs your registration and discipline. Mines fall under the Mine Health and Safety Act, not the OHS Act.
Traps: cost alone never justifies an uncontrolled risk, because reasonably practicable weighs the severity of risk and difficulty of control against cost; a s16(2) assignment does not remove the employer's s8 duty; COIDA compensation bars the worker's civil claim against the employer, not against negligent third parties.
Rule of thumb
Asked who must do something, run the chain: the client notifies and specifies, the principal contractor plans and appoints, the contractor implements, and the employer reports s24 incidents within seven days.