Do your appointment letters reflect real responsibility?
A quick check on whether legally or operationally important safety roles are identified, appointed, competent, understood and actually active.
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An appointment letter does not transfer accountability by itself.
Good governance links the right role to the right person, gives them competence and authority, and produces evidence that the duty is being carried out in practice.
What this check covers
This free check asks whether the safety roles your workplace needs have been identified, appointed in writing, filled by competent people, understood by those people and actually carried out. Ten questions in four groups: mapping which appointments your activities and regulations require; the written appointments, including the chief executive officer’s accountability, any section 16(2) assignment, health and safety representatives designated through consultation, and letters that define workplace, scope, authority and period; competence verified against the real hazards and machinery of the role; and execution and review, meaning authority, time and resources, refresher training, review when people leave or move, and evidence that the inspections, meetings and supervision linked to each appointment happen. One question is safety-critical: whether competence is verified against the actual hazards of the role. The basis is the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 85 of 1993, particularly sections 16 to 20. An appointment letter does not transfer accountability by itself, and this check is built around that point. Our guide to health and safety legal appointments lists the common appointments and explains who may appoint whom.
Legal references used to bound this screening tool
Primary Act. Sections 16-20 are particularly relevant to appointments, representatives and committees.
An independent health and safety audit.
A workplace and document review, with findings and an action plan you can work from.
Health & Safety Audits →Turn findings into controlled actions and evidence.
Use the assessment as an entry point, then connect risk assessments, incidents, plant, training, medicals, contractors, legal duties and controlled documents in the live OHSE system.
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