Dear Healthy and Safe Folks

These days trying to find something of OHS interest on the Net, which is saturated with news from the war in Iraq, has not been an easy task. One notable exception being the SARS "epidemic", which appears to be getting worse by the day. It's already affected flights to the Far East and even the Stock Markets. We also have our first confirmed SARS case in Pretoria. And winter, with its usual influx of nasty illnesses, approaches! I have a chemist friend who, like all chemists, is rubbing his hands in glee in anticipation of the winter but, if things carry on this way, only the undertakers will (continue) to do a thriving trade. Will it place an extra burden on our already strained public health sector? See "Aids crippling SA's public health sector" on www.klasslooch.com.

Incidentally the above title comes from - in turn - the title of a movie and does not suggest that I enjoy the war. Maybe just a little every day on SKY NEWS. "War is hell". Who said that again? It wasn't Bush as it's definitely too much for him to articulate! And while on the topic of the war, I did promise in the previous newsletter that we would explore the hazards of being a human shield in Baghdad. I noticed on Carteblanche (MNET) last Sunday that our brave human shields are all safely at home and have tearfully managed to convince themselves that there is a difference between a human shield and a suicide bombee! Enough said. The other hazardous condition I mentioned was that of having too much political influence and money. It can get you a four year stint in non-designer prison garb. But then again, all that influence, coupled with a notoriously corrupt prison service, will surely enable you to order a Hugo Boss prison outfit?

Those of you who wish to access the new Explosion Regulations can go to www.acts.co.za as they do not appear on DoL's website. They were promulgated on 17 January 2003. My sources tell me that the Construction Regulations may have come into force, in a diluted version, on 1 April 2003 but I cannot obtain a response from DoL in this regard. This is a real pity as these regulations have almost universal applicability. If you are not in the construction industry as such, you will surely be a client as defined at some stage in your life. (DoL is obviously too busy with domestic employee UIF registrations and have neglected to update their Website). All the more reason to remove OHS from the restrictions of DoL. The Health & Safety Commission & Executive in the UK is an example to follow. Australia, NSW and Victoria too. Haven't got to Canada yet but am sure they will impress. Time get in line with the rest of the industrialised world. Perhaps this will happen with the merger? I am very impressed with the UK OHS Sites and its OHS legislation is almost identical to ours. I assume that we can (and have) plagiarised their OHS Act with impunity. Which is fine. Maybe I can really practice OHS law in the UK? It's sad to witness the decline of our OHS inspectorate while other departments, such as SARS - not the disease but equally scary - have improved. Informed sources tell me that the Gauteng South Provincial Directorate / Inspectorate has essentially 3 OHS competent inspectors and they cover large slices of Johannesburg and the East / West Rand which in turn is South Africa's industrial base! You can only imagine how bad the situation is nationally. This has created an insurmountable backlog situation which, in turn, has affected the entire administration of justice.

And now we are told that we can expect more stringent smoking legislation and policing. Are we going to get specialised Smoking Courts which, along with perhaps Specialised UIF Courts, will ensure that justice is seen to be done. You can get up to 5 years in jail for failing to register domestic employees with UIF (before the end of the month), we are repeatedly told by DoL. They are obviously taking threat lessons from their colleagues in the Transport Department. (Expect another barrage of wide-ranging threats from the latter after the expiry date for CCF Drivers licenses). The AA may take the Department of Transport to court after they unilaterally and perhaps illegally declared old format drivers license to be invalid from 1 April 2003. Should we dread that midnight pounding on the door by the UIF Police Task Force wanting to check our UIF credentials? Roadblocks? Enough groaning.

Still time to register for Early Bird discounts to our workshops on:

"The Merger of the Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHS) and the Mine Health & Safety(MHS) Act : Liability Implications for Employers."

Venues / dates:

Johannesburg : 6 June 2003 : Parktonian Hotel

Durban : 10 June 2003 : Protea Edward Hotel

Port Elizabeth : 11 June 2003 : City Lodge CourtYard (Limited seating)

Cape Town : 12 June 2003 : de Waal Holiday Inn

Johannesburg : 8 August 2003 : Parktonian Hotel

November dates already published on www.klasslooch.com. (Even more discount offered)!

Agenda at www.klasslooch.com/Sem%202003%20agenda.htm

Merger information at www.klasslooch.com/OHS%20MHS%20ACTS%20MERGER.htm .

All discount information at www.klasslooch.com/Subscriber%20Seminar%20discount.htm

Celebrating our website's first anniversary with 96,213 hits! Make our day at www.klasslooch.com/Subs%20combined.htm . See our competition at www.klasslooch.com/Competition.htm .

The Devil's Advocate

Don't get caught!

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