Appointment

Recorder and Investigator of Incidents

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT, ACT 85 OF 1993

GAR 9(1) & (2) – RECORDER OF INCIDENTS AND INCIDENT INVESTIGATOR
APPOINTMENT
(appointee’s name)

I, (appointer’s full names), the (legislative reference of appointment) appointee of (appointer’s

area), hereby appoint you, (appointee’s name), as the recorder of incidents for (area of
responsibility).

In terms of GAR 9(1) you are required to establish and maintain a register in which particulars of
incidents are recorded under the following headings:
1 Near Miss – means an incident without any apparent injury or property damage;
2 Property Damage – means incidents which resulted in property damage only;
3 First Aid – means incidents which required only first aid treatment of the injured person;
4 Medical Treatment – means incidents which required medical treatment other than first aid, but
which did not result in a “time lost incident”;
5 Time lost incident – incidents which resulted in any person not being able to perform his/her normal
duties for up to 13 days; and
6 Section 24 incidents – means any incident as contemplated in section 24 of the Occupational Health
and Safety Act.
7 As a member of the health and safety committee you are further required to table an up-to-date
register of recorded incidents for discussion at each meeting of the committee.
In terms of GAR 9(2) you must also investigate all recordable incidents, i.e. all incidents reportable in
terms of section 24 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and all other incidents which resulted in
the person/s concerned having had to receive medical treatment, other than first aid treatment, i.e.
referred to a doctor or hospital for examination/treatment, etc.

Your duties in this regard are summarised as, but not necessarily restricted to, the following:
1 once you are advised/become aware of such incident you must immediately arrange/start the
investigation;
2 where reasonably practicable you must visit the site of the incident with the view to establishing the
conditions at the time of the incident;
3 all incidents must be investigated within 7 days of the incident and finalised as soon as possible;
4 the results of the investigation must be recorded in the form of (Annexure 1/company document
for this purpose) and this document must be tabled and discussed at the first meeting of the Health
and Safety Committee following the incident; and
5 all documentation pertaining to incident investigations must be properly filed in (name and or
reference of file).
Document Number: COR-APP-SHE-021 Date issued: 02 September 2015
Rev.No.00 Page 1 of 4

This master document is controlled electronically. Always verify that the correct version is used when in hard copy format. Compare printed
copies with the master document register to verify authenticity.
Printed copies are only valid for the day on which printed: 17 July 2024
 Appointment
Recorder and Investigator of Incidents

You will be required to undergo training in order to obtain the necessary competencies to carry out these
tasks effectively. Any problems which you may experience in the execution of this appointment must be
brought to my attention immediately.

Any difficulties which you may experience in the execution of this appointment must be discussed with
(me/alternative person’s name) immediately.

Your appointment is valid from (date of commencement) to (date of termination).

................................................................. ........... /........... /.............

Signature (appointer’s designation/legal reference) Date

Kindly confirm your acceptance of this appointment by completing the following:

ACCEPTANCE

I, (appointee’s full name) understand the implications of the appointment as detailed above and
confirm my acceptance thereof.

................................................................. ........... /........... /.............

Signature (appointee) Date

Document Number: COR-APP-SHE-021 Date issued: 02 September 2015

Rev.No.00 Page 2 of 4

This master document is controlled electronically. Always verify that the correct version is used when in hard copy format. Compare printed
copies with the master document register to verify authenticity.
Printed copies are only valid for the day on which printed: 17 July 2024
 Appointment
Recorder and Investigator of Incidents

8. RECORDER OF INCIDENTS

LEGAL REFERENCE – General Administrative Regulation 9(1)

9. Recording and investigation of incidents.
(1) An employer or user shall keep at a workplace or section of a workplace, as the case
may be, a record in the form of an Annexure 1 for a period of at least three years,
which record shall be open for inspection by an inspector, of all incidents which he or
she is required to report in terms of section 24 of the Act and also of any other
incident which resulted in the person concerned having had to receive medical
treatment other than first aid.

EXPLANATION:
The main purpose of this regulation is to enable the employer to establish the cause of an incident and
what corrective action to implement. This will hopefully prevent the recurrence of the same type of
incident. The following incidents have to be investigated and recorded in the form of Annexure 1:
• all incidents required to be reported in terms of section 24 or the Act; and
• any incident (not only those referred to in section 24 of the Act) that resulted in the receiving of
medical treatment other than first aid.
Although only the above-mentioned incidents must, legally, be recorded and investigated employers
need to take note that the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act are the bare minimum
requirements and any employer who is serious about health and safety will do much more in this regard.

It is, for this reason, that it is strongly suggested that every employer should collect as much data as
possible regarding all incidents. To get an overall impression of the number and types of incidents
occurring at a workplace it is further suggested that a person be made responsible to collect and record
such information and that this information be considered and discussed, as a standard item on the
agenda, at all meetings of the health and safety committee.

9. INCIDENT INVESTIGATOR

LEGAL REFERENCE – General Administrative Regulation 9(2)

9. Recording and investigation of incidents.

Document Number: COR-APP-SHE-021 Date issued: 02 September 2015

Rev.No.00 Page 3 of 4

This master document is controlled electronically. Always verify that the correct version is used when in hard copy format. Compare printed
copies with the master document register to verify authenticity.
Printed copies are only valid for the day on which printed: 17 July 2024
 Appointment
Recorder and Investigator of Incidents

(2) An employer or user shall cause every incident which must be recorded in terms of
sub-regulation (1), to be investigated by the employer, a person appointed by him or
her, by a health and safety representative or a member of a health and safety
committee within 7 days from the date of the incident and finalised as soon as is
reasonably practicable, or within the contracted period in the case of contracted
workers.

EXPLANATION:
It should be noted that employers have the duty to either investigate incidents themselves, or to ensure
that any of the following persons does it:
• a person designated (appointed in writing) by the employer;
• a health and safety representative; or
• a member of the health and safety committee.
Legally it means that only the person designated by the employer has to be appointed in writing, and
should it be the employer, a health and safety representative or a member of the health and safety
committee, then such person does not have to be appointed in writing. It is however recommended that
appointing a person who is competent to investigate incidents should be done in writing. Such person
needs to be conversant with the Act and its Regulations, the process, plant, machinery, equipment, etc.,
as well as how to investigate incidents properly.

Sub-regulation (4) should, in particular, be read together with section 20(1)(b) of the Act. This sub-
regulation requires that an incident be examined, and section 20(1)(b) of the Act further requires that
such incident be discussed. Although this sub-regulation does not require the signing of the document in
which the investigation has been recorded, it is required by Annexure 1 that the investigator, the
employer and the chairperson of the health and safety committee sign it.

Document Number: COR-APP-SHE-021 Date issued: 02 September 2015

Rev.No.00 Page 4 of 4

This master document is controlled electronically. Always verify that the correct version is used when in hard copy format. Compare printed
copies with the master document register to verify authenticity.
Printed copies are only valid for the day on which printed: 17 July 2024