MBAWC hosts seminar seeking to reduce number of accidents on building sites
According to figures from the Federated Employer's Mutual Assurance Company (FEM), which provides workmen's compensation insurance to employers in the construction industry, there have already been 412 accidents on Western Cape construction sites, with six fatalities and 58 people left permanently disabled, during the first quarter of 2018.
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Deon Bester, occupational health and safety manager at the Master Builders Association of the Western Cape (MBAWC), says: “These figures are unacceptably high. We should be striving for zero fatalities and zero harm. Based on my experience, education can go a long way towards eliminating accidents and achieving this target.”
Variety of health and safety-related topics
To this end, the MBAWC will be hosting a seminar in June 2018 for mid-level management from Western Cape construction companies where industry experts will deliver talks on a variety of health and safety-related topics such as:
- COIDA (Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act): The facts,
- Ethics in health and safety,
- Scaffolding: What you thought you knew but don’t,
- Occupational risk exposure profiles: Why they need to be done properly,
- The science of human behaviour in respect to health and safety, and
- Unpacking Section 37 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The seminar, set to take place at Belmont Square, is open to both MBAWC members and non-members.
