Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993)

Regulations

Asbestos Regulations, 2001

1. Definitions

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In these Regulations, any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act shall have the meaning so assigned and, unless the text otherwise indicates—

 

"approved asbestos inspection authority"

means an approved inspection authority for the monitoring of asbestos concentrations in the air;

 

"asbestos"

means any of the following minerals :

(a)Amosite
(b)Chrysotile
(c)Crocidolite
(d)Fibrous actinolite
(e)Fibrous anthophyllite; and
(f)Fibrous tremolite,

or any mixture containing any of these minerals;

 

"asbestos dust"

means airborne or settled dust, which contains or is likely to contain regulated asbestos fibres;

 

"asbestos waste"

means an undesirable or superfluous asbestos-containing by-product, emission or residue of any process or activity that has been—

(a)discarded by any person;
(b)accumulated and stored by any person with the purpose of eventually discarding it with or without prior treatment connected with the discarding thereof; or
(c)stored by any person with the purpose of recycling, re-using or extracting a usable product from such matter;

 

"asbestos work"

means work that exposes or is likely to expose any person to asbestos dust;

 

"demolition work"

includes demolition, alteration, stripping, removing, repair, gleaning of any spilt asbestos, or high-pressure water jetting of any structure containing asbestos lagging or insulation, but does not include work performed on asbestos cement sheeting and related products and asbestos cement products that form part of the structure of a workplace, building, plant or premises;

 

"exposed to asbestos"

means exposed or likely to be exposed to asbestos dust while at the workplace, and "exposure" has a corresponding meaning;

 

"HSG 173"

means the Monitoring Strategies for Toxic Substances, HSG 173, published by the Health and Safety Executive of the United Kingdom;

 

"MDHS 39/4"

means the Methods for the Determination of Hazardous Substances 3914 of the Health and Safety Executive of the United Kingdom: Asbestos fibres in air, sampling and evaluation by phase contrast microscopy (PCM) under the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations, 1995 HSE ISBN 0 71 76 091 3 8, as revised from time to time;

 

"measurement programme"

means a programme according to the monitoring strategy as contemplated in OESSM and HSG 173;

 

"monitoring"

means the planning and carrying out of a measurement programme and the recording of the results thereof;

 

"occupational exposure limit" or "OEL"

means a limit value set by the Minister for a stress factor in the workplace;

 

"OESSM"

means the Occupational Exposure Sampling Strategy Manual, published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), United States of America: Department of Health, Education and Welfare;

 

"occupational exposure limit for asbestos"

means an occupational exposure limit of 0,2 regulated asbestos fibres per milliliter of air averaged over any continuous period of four hours measured in accordance with MDHS 3914;

 

"provincial director"

means the provincial director as defined in regulation 1 of the General Administrative Regulations published under Government Notice R. 1449 of September 1996;

 

"registered asbestos contractor"

means a mandatory or employer conducting demolition work, who is registered with the chief inspector;

 

"regulated asbestos fibre"

means a particle of asbestos with a length-to diameter ratio greater than 3 to I , a length greater than 5 micrometres and a diameter less than 3 micrometres;

 

"respiratory protective equipment"

means a device which is worn over at least the mouth and nose to prevent the inhalation of air that is not safe, and which device conforms to a standard approved by the Minister;

 

"respirator zone"

means a respirator zone contemplated in regulation1 O(a);

 

"SABS 0228"

means the Code of Practice for the Identification and Classification of Dangerous Substances and Goods, SABS 0228, published by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS);

 

"SABS 0229"

means the Code of Practice for Packaging of Dangerous Goods for Road and Rail Transportation in South Africa, SABS 0229, published by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS);

 

"short-term exposure limit"

means the concentration to which workers can be exposed continuously for a short period of time, which is a 10-minute Time-Weighted Average (TWA) exposure for asbestos, which should not be exceeded at any time during the working day even if the 4 hour TWA is within the OEL-TWA;

 

"short term exposure limit for asbestos"

means an exposure limit of 0,6 regulated asbestos fibres per milliliter of air averaged over any 10 minutes;

 

"the Act"

means the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993).