Compliance and governance · · 7 min read · 1,597 words
Health and safety representatives: when you need them
By the LabourLink editorial team. Last reviewed 17 October 2026.
The short answer
More than 20 employees in a workplace means health and safety representatives: one for every 50 employees, or every 100 in shops and offices. Two or more representatives means a committee that meets at least every three months.
The short answer
If you have more than 20 employees at a workplace, the Occupational Health and Safety Act requires you to designate health and safety representatives in writing[1]. The minimum number depends on the type of workplace: at least one representative for every 100 employees or part of 100 in shops and offices, and at least one for every 50 employees or part of 50 in all other workplaces[1]. Once you have two or more representatives at a workplace, you must establish a health and safety committee, which must meet at least once every three months[1].
Those are the headline rules. The rest of this guide explains how to put them into practice so that representatives and committees do useful work rather than exist on paper.
Why the structure matters
The Act places the primary duty on the employer. Every employer must provide and maintain, as far as is reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of employees[1]. That includes safe systems of work, plant and machinery, and taking reasonably practicable steps to eliminate or mitigate hazards before resorting to personal protective equipment[1].
Representatives and committees do not shift that duty. They help the employer meet it, by bringing the knowledge of people who do the work into the decisions about how the work is done safely. In practice, a good representative is often the first person to notice a guard missing from a machine, a blocked fire exit or a near miss that nobody reported.
Step one: count and classify
Start by counting employees at each workplace. The Act provides that employees who work at a place other than where they ordinarily report for duty are treated as working at the place where they report[1]. A delivery driver who reports to the depot counts at the depot.
Then classify the workplace. The lower ratio of one per 100 applies to shops and offices; every other kind of workplace uses one per 50[1]. A business with a warehouse and a separate head office may need to apply different ratios at each site.
Worked numbers
- An office with 45 employees needs at least one representative.
- An office with 130 employees needs at least two.
- A factory with 45 employees needs at least one.
- A factory with 130 employees needs at least three.
An inspector may direct an employer to designate more representatives if the number is inadequate, including at workplaces with 20 or fewer employees[1].
Step two: agree the arrangements
The Act requires the employer and employees, or their representatives, to consult in good faith about the arrangements and procedures for nominating or electing representatives, their period of office and their designation[1]. If the consultation fails, the matter is referred to an inspector for arbitration, and the inspector's decision is final[1].
In practice, agree a short written procedure covering:
- How candidates are nominated.
- How elections are held, if there is more than one candidate.
- The term of office.
- What happens when a representative leaves or resigns.
- How the designation is recorded.
Step three: designate in writing
Only employees employed full time at the specific workplace who are acquainted with the conditions and activities there are eligible[1]. Designate each representative in writing, for a specified period, and for a defined workplace or section[1]. Keep a copy of each designation letter and display the names of current representatives where employees can see them.
Step four: let representatives do their work
The Act gives representatives a defined set of functions in respect of their workplace or section. They may, among other things, review the effectiveness of health and safety measures, identify potential hazards and major incidents, examine the causes of incidents in collaboration with the employer, investigate complaints by employees about health or safety, and make representations to the employer or the committee and, if those are unsuccessful, to an inspector[1].
All activities in connection with the designation, functions and training of representatives must be performed during ordinary working hours, and time reasonably spent on them is treated as time spent carrying out the employee's duties[1]. Build that time into rosters.
Practical support
- Give each representative a simple inspection checklist for their section.
- Agree how they report findings: a short form, a shared log or a standing item at the committee.
- Respond to every representation in writing, even if the answer is no, and give reasons.
- Arrange training. Department of Employment and Labour resources are a sensible starting point[2].
Step five: establish the committee
Where two or more representatives have been designated at a workplace, the employer must establish one or more health and safety committees and consult the committee at every meeting with a view to initiating, developing, promoting, maintaining and reviewing measures to ensure employees' health and safety[1].
The Act sets some rules on membership. If there is one committee for a workplace, all the representatives for that workplace are members[1]. The number of members the employer nominates may not exceed the number of representatives on the committee[1]. The employer designates its nominees in writing[1].
The committee must meet as often as necessary, but at least once every three months[1]. It may make recommendations to the employer, or, where they do not resolve the matter, to an inspector, on any matter affecting health or safety at the workplace, and it must discuss any incident in which a person was injured, became ill or died[1].
A simple agenda
- Apologies and confirmation of the previous minutes.
- Actions from the previous meeting.
- Inspection reports from each representative.
- Incidents and near misses since the last meeting.
- Changes to equipment, processes or premises.
- Training.
- Recommendations to the employer.
- Date of the next meeting.
Minute every meeting and keep the minutes. They are evidence that the employer consults, and they are often the first documents an inspector asks for.
Common mistakes
- Waiting until an inspection to designate representatives.
- Using the shop or office ratio for a workplace that is neither.
- Designating employees who are not full time at the workplace.
- Holding committee meetings only when there is a problem.
- Failing to minute recommendations and responses.
- Treating safety time as personal time.
A worked example
A food processing plant in Paarl employs 140 people across production and a small administrative office. Applying the one-per-50 ratio to the production floor of 120 employees, it needs at least three representatives there. The administrative office of 20 employees is a separate section where the one-per-100 ratio would apply, giving at least one[1]. The plant consults its employees on an election procedure, holds elections by section, designates four representatives in writing for two-year terms and sets up a single committee with four representatives and three management nominees. The committee meets on the first Tuesday of every second month, which is more often than the minimum. Within six months, representatives have identified a recurring problem with wet floors near a wash bay, recommended a drainage change and seen it implemented. The minutes show it, and the next inspection goes smoothly.
Training and the inspection habit
Representatives are most useful when they inspect regularly. A simple monthly walk-through of the section, using a checklist built around the actual hazards, is often enough to catch problems early. The checklist might include housekeeping, access to emergency exits and equipment, guarding on machines, condition of electrical leads and plugs, storage of chemicals, use of personal protective equipment and the condition of ladders and racking.
After each inspection, the representative records what was found and what was reported. The committee then reviews those records at its meeting. That loop, from inspection to report to recommendation to action, is what the Act's structure is designed to produce[1]. Representatives can also make representations to an inspector if their representations to the employer or committee are unsuccessful[1], which is another reason to respond to them properly.
Incidents
When something goes wrong, the committee must discuss any incident in which a person was injured, became ill or died[1]. The aim is to find out why it happened and what will prevent a recurrence, not to assign blame. Representatives may, in collaboration with the employer, examine the causes of incidents[1]. Include them early in the investigation.
Contractors and multiple sites
Many workplaces involve contractors, temporary staff and employees who work away from base. Remember that employees who work elsewhere are treated as working at the place where they report for duty when you count representatives[1]. For contractors, agree in writing how their health and safety arrangements interact with yours, and invite their supervisors to committee meetings when their work affects your employees.
Keeping the record
The minimum file is short: designation letters, the agreed election procedure, inspection records, committee minutes, recommendations and responses, and incident reports. Keep it in one place. When an inspector visits, a complete file shows at a glance that the structure works.
Key points
- More than 20 employees at a workplace means designating representatives in writing[1].
- The ratio is one per 100 in shops and offices and one per 50 elsewhere[1].
- Two or more representatives means a committee that meets at least every three months[1].
- Safety work takes place during working hours and counts as work time[1].
- The employer's duty to provide a safe workplace remains its own[1].
When to get specialist help
A consultant can help count and classify workplaces, draft election procedures and designation letters, set up the committee, train representatives and prepare for inspections. Book a LabourLink consultation if you are approaching 20 employees at a workplace, if an inspector has visited, or if a serious incident has occurred and the committee needs to discuss it[1].