OHS in 2025: Are You Compliant or Just Hoping for the Best?
OHS in 2025: Are You Compliant or Just Hoping for the Best? The alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. on a chilly Tuesday morning. Thando, a newly appointed Safety Officer at a food processing plant in Paarl, was already wide awake—scrolling through updates about the latest amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act . His stomach turned as he read: “Failure to implement the new OHS regulations in 2025 could result in criminal liability for CEOs and Directors.” “Criminal?” he muttered. This wasn’t just about clipboards and checklists anymore. 🛑 The Myth of “We’ve Always Done It This Way” Thando’s first week was eye-opening. He found outdated safety files, no record of recent risk assessments, and supervisors who said things like: “We’ve never had a serious injury here. Why fix what’s not broken?” But in 2025, complacency is a risk all on its own. That same month, a nearby packaging company was fined R1.2 million after a machine guard was removed for “faster product...