This page provides links to the Department of Labour, specifically related to legislation pertaining to underwater medicine and information related thereto.

Newly proposed Diving Regulations, 2007

The new National Occupational Health and Safety Act will incorporate all of the H&S legislation of South Africa into one piece of legislation.  This process was initiated by a cabinet decision on 1 December 1999 to amalgamate the different pieces of legislation.

Background:

At the moment, there are different pieces of legislation addressing Occupational Health and Safety issues in South Africa, namely the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA); the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) and the Merchant Shipping Act (MSA).  The custodians of these pieces of legislation are also situated in different state departments, namely Department of Labour (OHSA), the Department of Minerals and Energy (MHSA) and the Department of Transport (MSA).

Compensation Acts in South Africa are basically the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) and the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act (ODIMWA).

The new National Occupational Health and Safety Act will incorporate and amalgamate all of the provisions related to:

• The Occupational Health and Safety Act

• The Mine Health and Safety Act

• The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act

• The Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act.

Health and Safety at Sea will still be regulated by the Merchant Shipping Act.

With the change of the above legislation, the Regulations pertaining to the acts will also be changed over time to ensure that the regulations are in line with the Act.  This process has already begun for the Diving Regulations.  The members of the Diving Council have started working on the new diving regulations approximately two years ago.

The changes envisaged (pertaining to diving medicine) includes:

• Clearer differentiation between level 1 and level 2 Designated Medical Practitioners

• Incorporation of very specific duties that are contained in "codes of practice" that will be promulgated with the new regulations.

The proposed Diving Regulations, 2007 have not been published for public comment yet.  Watch this space for regular updates.  The Diving Regulations, 2001 are still in force.  To see the National Occupational Health and Safety Bill, you can follow this link.

DoL Home Page

Diving Regulations, 2001