NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO. 1627
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 09 OCTOBER 2009
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 20)
Mr N D du Toit (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:
(1) Whether all (a)(i) offices and (ii) sites of his department and (b)
entities reporting to him adhere to the Occupational Health and Safety
Act, Act 85 of 1993; if not, (aa) why not, (bb) which facilities fail
to adhere to the Act, (cc) where are they situated and (dd) what (aaa)
aspects of the Act does each such facility not comply with and (bbb)
action has been taken in each case; if so, what are the relevant
details;
(2) (a) how often should each facility be inspected and (b) when last was
each facility inspected?
NW2033E
REPLY:
(1) (a) (i) No
(ii) No
b) No
(aa) The Department of Health does not have a Cluster of
Occupational Health nor a Directorate of Occupational
health and Safety, the occupational health program is
fragmented falling into different directorates at National
and Provincially. In the National office there is no
official responsible for comprehensive occupational health
program.
(2) (a) Facilities are supposed to be inspected at least every quarter
and again after every workplace incident that is reported.
b) Data not available
This response is only in relation with the National Department
of Health only and does not include that of the entities. The
Honourable Member will be furnished with the rest of the information
in due course.
END.