In brief
The Occupational Health and Safety Act and its regulations were written for a single, fixed workplace, and they set the number of statutory appointments based on the number of employees [1][2]. Modern work has moved on, and the question of who to count has become genuinely difficult.
The key insight is that the law uses two different counts. The employees based at a workplace drive the statutory triggers and ratios for first aiders and health and safety representatives [1][2]. The number of people who can actually be present drives how much first-aid and emergency cover must be available [2][3]. We read the first as a floor that the statute fixes, and the second as a risk-based question that can lift the requirement on a busy day, but not drop it below the statutory floor. That second reading is ours, and we show below that it sits comfortably with ISO 45001 and with how other countries and South African venues already work [9][10][11].
For an employer whose people rotate, the safe approach is to size first-aid and fire cover to the busy day, and to size representatives to the roster based at the site. Staff placed at a client's premises are generally covered by the client that controls those premises, not by a duplicate set of appointments from their own employer [3][4]. And the number of fire wardens has no fixed statutory ratio at all [5].
We have requested guidance from the Department of Employment and Labour on the points we are less certain about. The Confirmed and unconfirmed table near the end of this article shows exactly which parts of the picture are settled law and which are interpretation or practice.
Background: what the law actually says
A short, sourced map of the appointment rules an employer is measured against.
First aiders. General Safety Regulation 3, made under the OHS Act, requires a qualified first aider where more than 10 employees are employed, at a ratio of at least one per 50 employees, or one per 100 in the case of a shop or office [2]. The certificate must come from a body approved by the Chief Inspector [2].
Health and safety representatives. Section 17 of the OHS Act requires representatives where 20 or more employees are employed at a workplace, and section 17(5) of the Act itself sets the ratio: one representative for every 100 employees in shops and offices, and one for every 50 in other workplaces, in each case rounded up [1].
Committees. Sections 19 and 20 require an OHS committee once two or more representatives are designated, and that committee must meet at least once every three months [1].
Duties of the employer. Section 8 places the duty to provide a safe working environment on the employer toward its own employees, and Section 9 extends a duty to persons other than employees who may be affected by the employer's activities [3]. Section 37 deals with the acts of mandataries, that is, contractors, and provides that a written agreement recording the arrangements between the parties can affect liability [4].
Compensation. Under the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, the employer registers and pays for the cover of its employees. Where a contractor on site is not registered and in good standing, section 89 of that Act can deem the contractor's workers to be the site employer's employees, so the liability falls back on the site employer [6].
Analysis: Who do you count, and when
The two counts. First aid and emergency provisions exist to protect whoever is physically present. Representatives, by contrast, represent the workforce attached to the workplace. That is why the same headcount cannot serve both. A site with 400 people on its roster but only 160 in on a typical day needs representatives sized to the roster, and first-aid cover sized to the number who can be present at once [1][2][3].
Part-day attendance counts for cover. A person who comes in for a half-day training session or a town hall is exposed to fire and medical risk while they are there. They count toward the cover that must be available that day, even though they do not raise the number of employees employed at the workplace for the statutory trigger [2][3]. The uncomfortable consequence for open-plan, hot-desking offices is that a busy day can require more first aiders and fire wardens, not fewer.
Placed staff are the host's responsibility on site. Where an employer places its own people at a client's premises for most of their time, the client controls those premises and owes a duty to everyone on them, including the visiting staff [3]. The host's first aiders and fire wardens cover them as persons present. Representation under section 17 is a separate matter, tied to the host's own employees, so a placed worker is physically covered without being represented by the host's committee. The placing employer does not appoint a parallel set of first aiders and fire wardens inside a building it does not control. What the placing employer keeps is real and non-delegable: its own section 8 duty to those employees does not fall away because they work elsewhere, so it must train, inform and supervise them, hold a written section 37 agreement with the client, satisfy itself the host has arrangements, and keep compensation cover. The host's control of the premises and the section 37 agreement reduce, but do not eliminate, the placing employer's concurrent responsibility [3][4]. A firm that places its own permanent professional employees is not a labour broker, and the deeming rules that make a client the employer of placed workers do not apply to it [7][8].
Fire wardens have no magic number. There is no generally applicable statutory ratio of fire wardens to employees in the OHS Act or its regulations [5], although municipal fire by-laws, building and occupancy approvals, or event-specific law may impose their own requirements. The number comes from the risk assessment, the building occupancy and the evacuation plan, so that every zone can be cleared safely at peak occupancy. A figure such as one warden per 50 people is a useful starting point for training providers, but it is industry practice, not a legal minimum [5].
A signed agreement is not a shield. In Pick 'n Pay Retailers v Williams, the Supreme Court of Appeal held that a shop's duty to keep its premises reasonably safe was not discharged by outsourcing the cleaning, and that the indemnity against the contractor did not bar the injured customer's claim against the shop [13]. A section 37 agreement is necessary, but it is a precondition, not a discharge. What protects an employer is evidence that reasonable steps were actually taken [12][13].
Does ISO 45001 support the "busy day" reading?
ISO 45001 is the international occupational health and safety management system standard, adopted in South Africa as SANS 45001. It is not the law in South Africa. An employer is not obliged to follow it unless it chooses to, but it is the most widely used framework for doing OHS well, and it is useful to test our reading against it.
Two clauses are on point. Clause 6.1.2.1 requires that hazard identification consider those with access to the workplace and their activities, including workers, contractors and visitors [9]. Clause 8.2 requires the organisation to plan its response to potential emergencies, including the provision of first aid [9]. Read together, ISO 45001 treats first aid as part of emergency preparedness, and it expects the plan to account for everyone who can be present, not only the permanent staff.
That is exactly the logic of sizing first-aid and fire cover to the people who can be present rather than to a fixed headcount. So while ISO 45001 sets no numbers and uses no "floor" or "busy day" language, our reading is consistent with it. We label the framing as our interpretation, supported by the standard, not as a quotation from it.
How other countries handle it
Neither the United States nor the United Kingdom is the law in South Africa. Both are useful because they faced the same question and answered it the same way: size provision to risk and to the number of people present, not to a fixed staff count.
United States. The federal OHS rule on first aid, 29 CFR 1910.151, sets no ratio of first aiders to employees. It requires adequate first-aid provision and, where there is no clinic or hospital in proximity, a trained person on site. OSHA interprets proximity for serious-injury workplaces as the ability to begin first aid within three to four minutes, and accepts a longer response, of the order of fifteen minutes, for lower-hazard offices [10]. For crowds, the National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code, NFPA 101, does set a number: an assembly venue must have at least one trained crowd manager, and where the occupant load is over 250, one crowd manager for every 250 occupants [11]. That is a pure occupancy rule. It counts the people who can be in the room, not the staff who work there.
United Kingdom. The first-aid rules require an employer to carry out a needs assessment rather than meet a fixed ratio, and the Health and Safety Executive publishes suggested numbers as guidance only, for example, at least one first aider per 100 people in a low-hazard workplace with over 50 staff [14]. Fire law works the same way: the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order requires a responsible person to assess the risk and appoint a sufficient number of competent people to carry out the evacuation, with no fixed warden ratio [15].
The common thread is clear. Where these systems fix a number at all, they fix it to occupancy, the number of people who can be present, which is precisely the "busy day" basis. One caution: none of these foreign rules, and ISO 45001 itself, bind a South African employer or inspector. They carry weight only as evidence of what is reasonably practicable under section 8, and reliance on them will not, by itself, satisfy a Department of Employment and Labour inspector who enforces the Act as written.
Mini case studies: how South African venues already do this
South Africa does not leave this to theory. Whole categories of buildings are already required to size their safety, fire and medical provisions to the maximum number of people who can be present, not the average. The principle is familiar, it is just usually applied to buildings rather than to offices.
Cinemas and theatres. Under the National Building Regulations and SANS 10400-A, a cinema or theatre is an assembly occupancy with a design population set by the standard, and that design population may not be exceeded. The building cannot be used until the local authority issues a certificate of occupancy [16]. In practice, this means a cinema is built, ventilated and provided with escape routes for a full house, and the maximum number of tickets it can sell is capped by that occupancy figure, regardless of how many people usually attend.
Conference and training venues. A convention or training venue publishes and is certified for a maximum capacity, and its fire detection, escape routes and assembly areas are designed for that full capacity under SANS 10400-T, not for a typical day [16]. The room is sized for the busy day by law.
Public events. The Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act requires the organiser of an event to appoint a safety officer, prepare a written safety plan, and have the event risk categorised as low, medium or high, with crowd management and medical provision, on-site first aid, paramedics, ambulances and hospital coordination, scaled to the expected crowd [17]. Medical standby providers size the number of medics and ambulances to the crowd, not to the number of event staff.
The lesson for the workplace is simple. When South African law cares about emergencies, it already sizes the response to how many people can be present. Applying the same logic to an office on a town-hall day is not a stretch; it is consistency.
Confirmed and unconfirmed: what is settled and what is not
We separate what the Act fixes from what is interpretation or practice. Key to the indicators: ★ means it is in the OHS Act or its regulations, with the section shown; ◆ means established South African practice; ▲ means supported by ISO 45001 or by other countries, which is persuasive but not South African law; ● means we have asked the regulator, or the point needs further confirmation, before relying on it as settled.
| Point | In the Act or regs | SA practice | ISO / other countries | Regulator or legal | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-aid box required over 5 employees | ★ GSR 3 [2] | ◆ | Confirmed | ||
| First aiders are required for over 10 employees | ★ GSR 3 [2] | ◆ | ▲ UK, US [10][14] | Confirmed | |
| First-aider ratio 1 per 100 office, 1 per 50 general | ★ GSR 3 [2] | ◆ | ▲ UK 1 per 100 office [14] | ● office classification | Confirmed ratio, classification queried |
| OHS reps trigger over 20 employees | ★ OHSA s17 [1] | ◆ | Confirmed | ||
| OHS rep ratio 1 per 100 office, 1 per 50 other | ★ OHSA s17(5) [1] | ◆ | Confirmed | ||
| OHS committee at 2+ reps meets quarterly | ★ OHSA s19 and s20 [1] | ◆ | Confirmed | ||
| Fire wardens: number set by risk and occupancy, no fixed ratio | ★ duty only, s8 and Environmental Regs for Workplaces 1987 reg 9 [3][5] | ◆ 1 per 50 practice | ▲ US and UK risk-based [11][15] | ● | Unconfirmed number |
| Reps counted on the base roster, not daily attendance | ◆ | ▲ ISO 6.1.2.1 [9] | ● | Unconfirmed, interpretation | |
| First aid and fire sized to peak presence, including visitors | ◆ venue practice [16][17] | ▲ ISO 8.2 and 6.1.2.1 [9], NFPA 1 per 250 [11] | ● | Unconfirmed, interpretation | |
| Placed staff covered by the host, no duplicate appointments | ★ basis, s8, s9, s37 [3][4] | ◆ | ● | Largely confirmed, interpretation in detail | |
| Contractor in good standing: their workers can become your COIDA liability | ★ COIDA s89 [6] | ◆ | Confirmed | ||
| On-site contractors are covered but not counted in triggers | ★ basis, s9 and s37 [3][4] | ◆ | ▲ ISO 6.1.2.1 [9] | ● | Unconfirmed, interpretation |
| First-aid cert 3 years, rep 2 years, s16 annual | ◆ | ● | Unconfirmed, practice | ||
| Appointments determined per site, not per entity | ★ framing [1] | ◆ | ● | Unconfirmed, interpretation |
Practical implications
For an employer with a distributed workforce, five things follow.
Keep two numbers for every site: the peak number of people who can be present on a busy day, and the number of employees based there. Size first aid and fire to the first, and representatives to the second.
Do not duplicate appointments for staff placed at client sites. Instead, hold a written section 37 agreement with each client, train and supervise your people, and confirm the host actually has first-aid and evacuation arrangements.
Collect a current Letter of Good Standing from every contractor working on your premises. If they are not in good standing, their workers can become your compensation liability under COIDA section 89 [6].
Build fire warden numbers from the evacuation plan and occupancy, not from a borrowed ratio, and keep the plan current.
Record every appointment in writing, with dates, and track the expiry of first-aid certificates and representative designations, so the cover never quietly lapses.
GRC Shop view (Opinion). The honest position is that the Act does not answer the rotating-workforce question in plain words, so reasonable people can read it differently. Our reading is the one set out above, and it is reinforced by ISO 45001, by the United States and United Kingdom approaches, and by the way South African venues are already required to plan for maximum occupancy. We have requested written guidance from the Department of Employment and Labour on the counting basis for a rotating workforce, the treatment of staff placed at client sites, the classification of a professional office for the first-aider ratio, and the treatment of visitors and on-site contractors. We think asking the regulator is the right thing to do. Forecast. As hybrid and placed work becomes the norm, we expect the inspectorate, and any future amendment of the Act, to address distributed workforces more directly. Until then, sizing to the busy day and documenting the basis is the defensible path.
Abbreviations
COIDA: Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993. DEL: Department of Employment and Labour. EFAW: Emergency First Aid at Work (United Kingdom). FAW: First Aid at Work (United Kingdom). GSR: General Safety Regulations. HSE: Health and Safety Executive (United Kingdom). ISO: International Organisation for Standardisation. LRA: Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995. NBR: National Building Regulations. NFPA: National Fire Protection Association (United States). OHS: occupational health and safety. OHSA: Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993. OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (United States). s: section. SANS: South African National Standard. SASREA: Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act 2 of 2010.
References
[1] Republic of South Africa, "Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, sections 8, 9, 16, 17, 19, 20 and 37, read with the General Administrative Regulations", 1993. https://www.saflii.org/za/legis/consol_act/ohasa1993273/
[2] Republic of South Africa, "General Safety Regulations (regulation 3, first aid), under the Occupational Health and Safety Act", as amended. https://www.gov.za/documents/occupational-health-and-safety-act-general-safety-regulations
[3] Department of Employment and Labour, "Occupational Health and Safety: employer duties (sections 8 and 9)", accessed 30 Jun 2026. https://www.labour.gov.za/occupational-health-and-safety
[4] Republic of South Africa, "Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, section 37 (mandataries)", 1993. https://www.saflii.org/za/legis/consol_act/ohasa1993273/
[5] Republic of South Africa, "Environmental Regulations for Workplaces, 1987 (regulation 9, fire and means of egress), under the Occupational Health and Safety Act". https://www.gov.za/documents/occupational-health-and-safety-act-environmental-regulations-workplaces
[6] Republic of South Africa, "Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993, section 89 (contractors) and the Letter of Good Standing", 1993. https://www.labour.gov.za/the-compensation-fund
[7] ENSafrica, "Independent contractor or labour broker: substance over form", commentary, 2019. https://www.ensafrica.com/news/detail/3473/independent-contractor-or-labour-broker-court
[8] Constitutional Court of South Africa, "Assign Services (Pty) Ltd v NUMSA and Others [2018] ZACC 22", 26 Jul 2018. https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2018/22.html
[9] International Organization for Standardization, "ISO 45001:2018 Occupational health and safety management systems, clauses 6.1.2.1 and 8.2 (adopted as SANS 45001:2018)", 2018. https://www.iso.org/standard/63787.html
[10] Occupational Safety and Health Administration (United States), "29 CFR 1910.151 Medical services and first aid, and interpretation letters", accessed 30 Jun 2026. https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.151
[11] National Fire Protection Association (United States), "NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, crowd manager requirement for assembly occupancies (one per 250 occupants)", accessed 30 Jun 2026. https://www.nfpa.org/news-blogs-and-articles/blogs/2022/11/01/strategies-for-crowd-management-safety
[12] North Gauteng High Court, "Joubert v Buscor (Pty) Ltd (2013/13116) [2016] ZAGPPHC 1024; also reported as [2016] ZAGPJHC 340", 2016. https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPPHC/2016/1024.html
[13] Supreme Court of Appeal, "Pick 'n Pay Retailers (Pty) Ltd v Williams and Another (238/2024) [2026] ZASCA 7", 26 Jan 2026. https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2026/7.html
[14] Health and Safety Executive (United Kingdom), "First aid at work: assess your first aid needs, and INDG214", accessed 30 Jun 2026. https://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/firstaid/assess-business-need.htm
[15] Government of the United Kingdom, "Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005", 2005. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1541/contents/made
[16] South African Bureau of Standards, "SANS 10400-A (occupancy classification and design population) and SANS 10400-T (fire protection), under the National Building Regulations", in force. https://www.sans10400.co.za/
[17] Republic of South Africa, "Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act 2 of 2010", 2010. https://www.gov.za/documents/acts/safety-sports-and-recreational-events-act-2-2010-27-may-2010
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