Classes at a Limpopo school have been suspended after the educational institution failed to comply with a raft of health and safety regulations.
The Department of Employment and Labour has announced that its inspectorate in Limpopo recently closed down seven mobile classrooms at Tshikundamalema Secondary School because live electric wires presented an electrocution risk.
The department said the school, located at Maramanzhi village in Masisi, was closed due to non-compliance with Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, as amended.
Non-compliance with regulations
According to provincial chief inspector Lucia Ramusi, the use of the seven mobile classrooms, which threaten the health and/or safety of learners and teachers, has been prohibited due to:
- The use of classrooms where live electric wires are bare and distribution boxes are open without covers, which pose immediate danger of electrocution and possible death to learners; and
- The utilisation of all seven mobile classes in which there is an immediate danger of heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, and possible death to learners that are without mechanical ventilation as the classes produce excessive heat that is unbearable to learners.
Ramusi said an additional prohibition notice was issued for an old, dilapidated block that poses a danger of collapse and may kill people.
The block must be secured, and no one may be allowed near or even enter the building, she said.
Contravention notice issued
Subsequent to the prohibition notice issued, the school was also issued a contravention notice for failure to adhere to the general safety regulations and environmental regulations for workplaces.
- The school has failed to ensure that at least one person is readily available during normal working hours who is in possession of a valid certificate of competency in first aid.
- Provide first-aid boxes near the workplace which shall be accessible for the treatment of injured persons at the workplace, and
- Failure to keep all floors and walkways in a good state of repair, thus requiring the school to completely close all potholes in classes and walkways.
The employer was also found wanting for failing to designate in writing for a specified period health and safety representatives for the workplace or section thereof, failure to allow consultation of employees in the nomination and election of health and safety representatives, and failure to provide training to health and safety representatives in order to enable them to carry out their functions as required.
Health and safety are prioritised
Said Ramusi: “It’s important for the department of education to ensure that both learners and teachers’ lives are protected at all times.
“The non-compliance at the school can result in a tragedy that cannot be reversed if the health and safety regulations are not adhered to.
“Thus, we will monitor the progress and ensure that corrective measures are put in place. As the department, we value education, but the health and safety of all people in workplaces is our utmost priority.”
She said the departments’ inspectorate will continue to heighten efforts around the province to ensure that all workplaces and sectors adhere to labour legislation.
Up until the province’s department of education corrects the inspector’s findings of non-compliance, the school’s prohibited areas will remain closed.
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