Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993)RegulationsAsbestos Regulations, 20017. Assessment of potential exposure |
| (1) | An employer or self-employed person shall cause— |
| (a) | his or her undertaking to be assessed within six months after the commencement of these regulations, and thereafter at intervals not exceeding two years, to determine if any person may be exposed to asbestos; and |
| (b) | the assessment results contemplated in paragraph (a) to be recorded as required by regulation 16. |
| (2) | An employer contemplated in subregulation (1) shall, before causing an assessment to be made, consult with the relevant health and safety representative or relevant health and safety committee and thereafter inform them in writing of the arrangements made for the assessment, give them reasonable time to comment thereon and ensure that the results of the assessment are made available to them for comment. |
| (3) | When making the assessment contemplated in subregulation (1 )(a), the employer or self-employed person shall take the following into account: |
| (a) | The presence of any material containing asbestos being used, processed, handled or stored; |
| (b) | where asbestos may be present, the ease with which the asbestos dust may be released and the extent to which a person may be exposed; |
| (c) | the nature of the work, process and any likely deterioration in or failure of any control measures; |
| (d) | the details of expected exposures, in particular— |
| (i) | whether the expected exposure is above the OEL for asbestos, so that the appropriate respiratory protective equipment; shall be selected pending the implementation of engineering control measures; |
| (ii) | whether such exposures are intermittent, including the frequency and duration of exposures; |
| (iii) | the number of employees exposed and any other person who may be exposed, and their expected exposure values; and |
| (iv) | where applicable, results which may be available from any previous monitoring performed at that workplace; |
| (e) | the steps to be taken to reduce exposure to the lowest level reasonably practicable and the steps to be taken to reduce the release of asbestos dust into the environment; |
| (f) | procedures for dealing with emergencies; and |
| (g) | procedures for the removal of asbestos waste from the workplace, and the disposal thereof. |
| (4) | If the assessment or any of its reviews made in accordance with subregulation (I) and (5) indicates that any person is likely to be exposed to asbestos, the employer or self-employed person shall ensure that the exposure is adequately controlled as contemplated in regulation 11. |
| (5) | An employer or self-employed person shall forthwith review the assessment required by subregulation (1) if— |
| (a) | there is reason to believe that the previous assessment is no longer valid; |
| (b) | control measures are no longer efficient; |
| (c) | technological or scientific advances allow for more efficient control methods; or |
| (d) | there has been a significant change in— |
| (i) | work methods; |
| (ii) | the type of work carried out; or |
| (iii) | the type of equipment used to control exposure; and |
| (iv) | subregulations (2) and (3) shall apply. |