(1) A principal contractor must—
| (a) | provide and demonstrate to the client a suitable, sufficiently documented and coherent site specific health and safety plan, based on the client's documented health and safety specifications contemplated in regulation 5(1)(b), which plan must be applied from the date of commencement of and for the duration of the construction work and which must be reviewed and updated by the principal contractor as work progresses; |
| (b) | open and keep on site a health and safety file, which must include all documentation required in terms of the Act and these Regulations, which must be made available on request to an inspector, the client, the client's agent or a contractor; and |
| (c) | on appointing any other contractor, in order to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Act— |
| (i) | provide contractors who are tendering to perform construction work for the principal contractor, with the relevant sections of the health and safety specifications contemplated in regulation 5(1)(b) pertaining to the construction work which has to be performed; |
| (ii) | ensure that potential contractors submitting tenders have made sufficient provision for health and safety measures during the construction process; |
| (iii) | ensure that no contractor is appointed to perform construction work unless the principal contractor is reasonably satisfied that the contractor that he or she intends to appoint, has the necessary competencies and resources to perform the construction work safely; |
| (iv) | ensure prior to work commencing on the site that every contractor is registered and in good standing with the compensation fund or with a licensed compensation insurer as contemplated in the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, 1993; |
| (v) | appoint each contractor in writing for the part of the project on the construction site; |
| (vi) | take reasonable steps to ensure that each contractor's health and safety plan contemplated in subregulation (2)(a) is implemented and maintained on the construction site; |
| (vii) | ensure that the periodic site audits and document verification are conducted at intervals mutually agreed upon between the principal contractor and any contractor, but at least once every 30 days; |
| (viii) | stop any contractor from executing construction work which is not in accordance with the client's health and safety specifications and the principal contractor's health and safety plan for the site or which poses a threat to the health and safety of persons; |
| (ix) | where changes are brought about to the design and construction, make available sufficient health and safety information and appropriate resources to the contractor to execute the work safely; and |
| (x) | discuss and negotiate with the contractor the contents of the health and safety plan contemplated in subregulation (2)(a), and must thereafter finally approve that plan for implementation; |
| (d) | ensure that a copy of his or her health and safety plan contemplated in paragraph (a), as well as the contractor's health and safety plan contemplated in subregulation (2)(a), is available on request to an employee, an inspector, a contractor, the client or the client's agent; |
| (e) | hand over a consolidated health and safety file to the client upon completion of the construction work and must, in addition to the documentation referred to in subregulation (2)(b), include a record of all drawings, designs, materials used and other similar information concerning the completed structure; |
| (f) | in addition to the documentation required in the health and safety file in terms of paragraph (c)(v) and subregulation (2)(b), include and make available a comprehensive and updated list of all the contractors on site accountable to the principal contractor, the agreements between the parties and the type of work being done; and |
| (g) | ensure that all his or her employees have a valid medical certificate of fitness specific to the construction work to be performed and issued by an occupational health practitioner in the form of Annexure 3. |
(2) A contractor must prior to performing any construction work—
| (a) | provide and demonstrate to the principal contractor a suitable and sufficiently documented health and safety plan, based on the relevant sections of the client's health and safety specification contemplated in regulation 5(1)(b) and provided by the principal contractor in terms of subregulation (1)(a), which plan must be applied from the date of commencement of and for the duration of the construction work and which must be reviewed and updated by the contractor as work progresses; |
| (b) | open and keep on site a health and safety file, which must include all documentation required in terms of the Act and these Regulations, and which must be made available on request to an inspector, the client, the client's agent or the principal contractor; |
| (c) | before appointing another contractor to perform construction work be reasonably satisfied that the contractor that he or she intends to appoint has the necessary competencies and resources to perform the construction work safely; |
| (d) | co-operate with the principal contractor as far as is necessary to enable each of them to comply with the provisions of the Act; and |
| (e) | as far as is reasonably practicable, promptly provide the principal contractor with any information which might affect the health and safety of any person at work carrying out construction work on the site, any person who might be affected by the work of such a person at work, or which might justify a review of the health and safety plan. |
| (3) | Where a contractor appoints another contractor to perform construction work, the duties determined in subregulation (1)(b) to (g) that apply to the principal contractor apply to the contractor as if he or she were the principal contractor. |
| (4) | A principal contractor must take reasonable steps to ensure co-operation between all contractors appointed by the principal contractor to enable each of those contractors to comply with these Regulations. |
| (5) | No contractor may allow or permit any employee or person to enter any site, unless that employee or person has undergone health and safety induction training pertaining to the hazards prevalent on the site at the time of entry. |
| (6) | A contractor must ensure that all visitors to a construction site undergo health and safety induction pertaining to the hazards prevalent on the site and must ensure that such visitors have the necessary personal protective equipment. |
| (7) | A contractor must at all times keep on his or her construction site records of the health and safety induction training contemplated in subregulation (6) and such records must be made available on request to an inspector, the client, the client's agent or the principal contractor;. |
| (8) | A contractor must ensure that all his or her employees have a valid medical certificate of fitness specific to the construction work to be performed and issued by an occupational health practitioner in the form of Annexure 3. |
