NCOP
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO. 650
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 25 November 2011
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 39)
Mr M J R de Villiers (DA-WC) to ask the Minister of Health:
Whether his department has inspected any state mortuaries with regard to
(a) health and safety and (b) occupational injuries and diseases; if not,
(i) why not, (ii) how often is his department obliged to conduct
inspections in mortuaries and (iii) by which date will every state mortuary
be inspected; if so, (aa) which mortuaries, (bb) in which provinces, (cc)
on which date were the inspections conducted, (dd) which aspect(s) of
legislation did each of the mortuaries fail to comply with, (ee) what
action was taken in each case and (ff) what follow up inspections have been
conducted in each case to ensure that the mortuaries adhere to the law?
CW799E
REPLY:
(a)-(b) Yes
(ii) Environmental Health Practioners conduct inspections twice a
year.
(iii) By the end of financial year 2011/12
|(aa) Mortuaries Inspected |(bb) Province |
|No list of mortuaries provided |Eastern Cape |
|Kroonstad and Saulburg state mortuaries |Free State |
|Ga-Rankuwa, Bronkhospruit, Steve Biko, |Gauteng |
|Germiston, Springs, Diepkloof, Roodepoort, | |
|Sebokeng, Heidelburg and Johannesburg state | |
|mortuaries | |
|No list of mortuaries provided |KwaZulu Natal |
|No list of mortuaries provided |Limpopo |
|No list of mortuaries provided |Mpumalanga |
|No list of mortuaries provided |Northern Cape |
|Lichtenburg State mortuary |North West |
|Mafikeng Provincial State Mortuary | |
|Vryburg District State Mortuary | |
|Klerksdorp State mortuary | |
|Potchefstroom state mortuary | |
|No list of mortuaries provided |Western Cape |
(dd) These are issues identified during inspections:
⢠Health Care Waste collection by service provider was
inadequate
⢠Medical waste storage facilities were inadequate
⢠Although personal protective clothing is available
officials were not wearing it
⢠Some facilities refrigerators were not operating at correct
temperature.
(ee) The following corrective actions were taken:
⢠Where there was lack of compliance, compliance notices were
issued
⢠Where the inadequacy with health care waste disposal a new
service provider was appointed
(ff) Mortuary managers have a responsibility to also monitor
and provide management of their facilities including corrective
action. This is stipulated in the National Code of guidelines
for Forensic Pathology Practice in South Africa. They do daily
monitoring of health and safety, including the prevention of
occupational injuries and diseases.
⢠Details of the accident should be entered in the book,
together with information about actions taken,
⢠to treat any wound or the effects of splashing, and
⢠to avoid a repetition of the incident,
⢠all officials are immunised against hepatitis to prevent
occupational health diseases
END.