DID ANNUAL REPORT 2023_24

Annual Report 2023-2024

• Emergency evacuation drills: Ten emergency evacuation drills were conducted in all regional offices to raise awareness of fire hazards and familiarise employees with evacuation procedures and prepare them to respond swiftly in a case of emergency. • Compulsory OHS inductions: 80 percent of the staff were inducted on OHS covering the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE), workplace hygiene, safe use of electrical and hand tools, potential hazards identified in the department, as well as measures to mitigate the risks emanating from the hazards. The main purpose of the OHS induction was to train and give information to employees on the identified hazards and how to eliminate them. The induction was also aimed to encourage employees to work safe and ensure that they perform their daily duties safely to reduce incidents and injuries. • Baselines Risk Assessment: For the period under review, the Department conducted baseline risk assessment to identify all potential hazards that the employees may be exposed to in their line of work. The risk assessment identified hazards in areas such as workshops, boiler houses, laundries, mortuaries, administration, and all potential technical hazards. As part of the implementation of recommendations, DID conducted a series of workshops in various sites to educate on the inherent hazards and risks identified through the baseline risk assessment. This is to ensure that employees are informed and conversant with the risks they are exposed to daily and how to eliminate, minimise or mitigate them as required by Section 13 of OHS Act (Act 85 of 1993). • Implementation of GAS and GAP audit findings (Gauteng Audit Standards): In the previous financial year, DID was audited on the by GAS and GAP audit was also conducted by an external service provider on the implementation of OHS systems and practices. Recommendations were also made on areas of non-conformances. The main aim of these audits was to help the department to meet minimum compliance requirements and to ensure that the workplace is safe and healthy as mandated by the OHS Act 85 of 1993 and its Regulations. In the year under review, action plans were developed with a view to implementing audit recommendations and the gaps identified in the department OHS systems.

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DEPARTMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT