– by Noluthando Makhaza
The importance of health and safety representatives in organisations lies in their responsibilities to implement and manage various safety regulations. Recently, a number of delegates from around the KZN region attended the Safety, Health and Environment Management (SHEM) Training programme in order to gain the necessary knowledge and skills needed to assist their companies in managing compliance with South African legislation, and to implement and maintain a robust safety, health and environmental management system.
The three-week short course was facilitated by Professor Theo Haupt who has been involved in health and safety (H&S) practice and research for several years, and obtained his PhD from the United States, which focused on alternative approaches to the management of H&S on construction sites. The course covered areas such as Managing SHE legally in South Africa; SHE policies and procedures as well as Fundamental issues in occupational health, safety and the environment.
“The recent spate of occupationally related accidents and listeriosis outbreak highlight the need for improved and effective management of occupational health, safety and the environment by all stakeholders. It is the right of every person resident in South Africa to employment in an environment that does not present a threat to their own health and safety and that of others” – says Professor Haupt.
The course was highly practical as it focused on identifying and solving problems using critical and creative thinking. The delegates who attended the programme came from different career backgrounds including law enforcement officers, educators, medical technologists, assistants as well as fleet officers and administrators.
One of the delegates – Sphumele Makhanya, possesses a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Psychology & Management and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from UKZN and has been teaching for the past 4 years. As she is always looking for new challenges in her career, she stated that with her SHEM certificate she aims to pursue a Postgraduate qualification in Risk Management which will enable her to be a qualified Health & Safety trainer, wherein her teaching experience will prove to be useful.
If you would like to register for the next intake in September 2018, please contact the course coordinator:
Percy Sishi
T: +27 31 260 1853
Or alternatively, you can click here to register