A Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) inspector can walk onto your site at any reasonable time without a warrant, question anyone, inspect records and issue notices that stop the job on the spot. And if someone is killed or seriously injured on your site, you must report it to the DEL without delay using the official Annexure 1 incident form, with a separate report to the Compensation Commissioner. Here is how inspections work, what the notices mean, and exactly what must be reported.
Inspector powers: sections 28, 29 and 30
DEL inspectors get their powers from sections 28, 29 and 30 of the OHS Act. Under section 29 an inspector may enter any workplace at any reasonable time without a warrant, question any person on the premises, inspect records, machinery, chemicals and documents, seize items where charges are anticipated, and bring along an interpreter, police officer or assistant. Section 30 adds the power to issue notices and directives where non-compliance is found.
One genuinely useful right for employers: every inspector must carry a certificate of designation signed by or on behalf of the Minister (section 28(2)), and you may ask to see it before the inspection proceeds (section 28(3)). The Labour Court confirmed in 2025 that an inspection conducted without a valid certificate is invalid, and a contravention notice issued on the back of it falls away. Ask politely, note the details, then cooperate.
The three notices
- Contravention notice: a formal record that you have breached the Act or Regulations, requiring action.
- Improvement notice: an existing breach that can be fixed without stopping work. It specifies the breach, what must be done, and by when.
- Prohibition notice: the serious one. The activity poses an imminent risk of serious injury and must stop immediately. It may not resume until the specified measures are in place, and violating a prohibition notice is a criminal offence that the DEL has prosecuted employers for.
Penalties under section 38
Section 38(1): general non-compliance with the Act, or obstructing an inspector, carries a fine of up to R50,000 or up to 1 year imprisonment, or both. Section 38(2): an employer whose act or omission injures someone in circumstances that would have been culpable homicide had the person died faces a fine of up to R100,000 or up to 2 years, or both. These figures are widely seen as low for fatal-risk failures, and they are not the whole exposure: an employer can also face COIDA consequences, civil claims and an actual culpable homicide prosecution.
What must be reported under section 24
Report to the DEL Provincial Director when a work incident causes:
- The death of any person.
- Unconsciousness.
- Loss of a limb or part of a limb.
- An injury or illness likely to cause death or permanent disability.
- An injury that keeps the person off work for 14 days or longer.
- A major incident (emergency plan activated).
- A dangerous occurrence: spilled hazardous substances, uncontrolled pressure release, objects flying or falling, machinery out of control.
How and when to report
Use the Annexure 1 incident report form under the General Administrative Regulations, submitted to the DEL Provincial Director's OHS division by email, fax or in person. On timing: report without delay. The commonly cited rule is by close of business on the day of the incident where practicable, but confirm the current Annexure 1 and General Administrative Regulations wording when you report, because the precise phrasing matters if compliance is later questioned. The formal internal investigation must start within 7 days, and if the injured person later dies, a further notification to the Provincial Director is required.
In a fatality, also call SAPS immediately (the Annexure 1 form asks for the SAPS reference). A DEL inspector will attend, and the scene must not be disturbed until the inspector has finished, unless there is a continuing risk to life or the inspector gives permission.
One report is not enough. A reportable injury must also go to the Compensation Commissioner under COIDA on form WCL 2. That is a separate obligation with a separate form: the OHS Act report does not cover it, and vice versa.
Worked example: a trench fatality
A worker falls into an unguarded trench during a concrete pour and dies. The principal contractor must: stop work at the incident location, call SAPS, notify the DEL Provincial Director the same day using Annexure 1, preserve the scene, start the formal investigation within 7 days, and file WCL 2 with the Compensation Commissioner. The client's 30-day audit records will be examined, and both PC and client face potential section 38(2) prosecution.
Common mistakes
- Not asking for the certificate of designation. It is your right, and it protects you from invalid notices.
- Reporting to COIDA but not the DEL, or the other way round. Two regimes, two reports.
- Cleaning up a fatality scene before the inspector arrives. Unless life is at risk, leave it.
- Missing the 14-day rule. An injury that keeps someone off work for 14 days or more is reportable even if it looked minor on the day.
- Arguing with an inspector on site. Comply with the notice, then challenge it through the proper channels if you believe it is wrong.
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