14.1 Noise, Physical Agents & Ergonomics on Construction Sites

1. Physical Health Hazards in Construction

Falls and collapses cause sudden deaths, but construction workers also suffer slow, permanent harm: hearing loss from breakers and saws, vibration white finger from tools, heat illness on hot roofs, back injuries from heavy manual handling, and eye damage from welding arcs. These hazards fall under the SACPCMP knowledge area Health, Hygiene and Environmental Management. Two major sets of regulations, published on 6 March 2025 in Government Gazette 52226, changed this area: the Noise Exposure Regulations, 2024 and the Physical Agents Regulations, 2024.

2. Noise Exposure Regulations, 2024

The Noise Exposure Regulations replace the Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Regulations, 2003, which are repealed 18 months after promulgation, from 6 September 2026. Key definitions:

• Noise action level: an 8-hour rating level of 82 dBA, or a peak of 135 dBC. At this level the employer must start acting to reduce exposure.
• Noise-rating limit: an 8-hour rating level of 85 dBA, or a peak of 137 dBC. Exposure at or above this level triggers stronger controls, hearing protection and audiometry.

The employer must:

• carry out a noise exposure risk assessment and, where needed, noise monitoring to identify who is exposed and at what level;
• reduce noise at source through the hierarchy of controls: quieter equipment, enclosures and silencers on compressors and generators, damping, maintenance, and scheduling to keep people away from noisy tasks;
• designate and clearly demarcate noise zones, including mobile plant without a fixed location, where the level is at or above the rating limit, or at or above the action level together with ototoxic chemicals or whole-body vibration above the Physical Agents Regulations action level, and allow no one in a noise zone unless effective hearing protective devices are worn correctly (regulations 11 and 12);
• provide medical screening by an occupational health practitioner at the start of employment and periodically, at intervals not exceeding 24 months, and audiometry for employees exposed at or above the rating limit, or at or above the action level together with ototoxic chemicals or whole-body vibration, and for vulnerable employees;
• conduct audiometry according to the Code of Practice for Audiometry by a competent person; and
• keep records of training, risk assessment, monitoring, medical surveillance and maintenance of controls for 40 years (regulation 14).

Typical construction noise sources include jackhammers and breakers, concrete saws, piling rigs, compactors, angle grinders and generators. Short tasks can still exceed the daily limit because the decibel scale is logarithmic: an increase of about 3 dB doubles the sound energy.

3. Physical Agents Regulations, 2024

The Physical Agents Regulations (GN 5952) replace the Environmental Regulations for Workplaces, 1987, which are repealed from 6 September 2026. They cover cold stress, heat stress, illumination, indoor air quality, vibration and occupational non-ionising radiation (including ultraviolet and infrared radiation and electromagnetic fields). Like the noise regulations, they require information and training, a physical agent exposure risk assessment, monitoring, medical screening and surveillance where needed, control of exposure, PPE, maintenance of controls, and records kept for 40 years. Housekeeping, flooding and fire and egress rules moved into the General Safety Regulations as regulations 13H, 13I and 13J.

Table 1 of the regulations sets action levels and limits, including:

Construction examples:

• Heat stress: roofers, road crews and steel fixers in summer. Controls include shade, cool drinking water, work-rest schedules, acclimatisation of new workers, moving heavy work to cooler hours, and training workers to recognise heat illness.
• Cold stress: early-morning work on high structures and in winter in high-altitude areas.
• Hand-arm vibration: breakers, grinders, rotary hammers, compactor plates. Controls include low-vibration tools, anti-vibration mounts, limiting trigger time, tool maintenance and job rotation.
• Whole-body vibration: operators of dump trucks, graders, rollers and excavators on rough haul roads. Controls include maintained haul roads, suspension seats and limiting exposure time.
• Non-ionising radiation: welding arcs (ultraviolet and infrared) and sun exposure for outdoor workers.
• Illumination: night work, basements and stairwells need adequate lighting for safe movement and work.

4. Ergonomics

CR 9(2) requires a contractor to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that ergonomic hazards are analysed, evaluated and addressed in a risk assessment. The Ergonomics Regulations, 2019 (GN R. 1589 of 6 December 2019) apply to all workplaces and require the employer, before starting work that may expose employees to ergonomic risks, to have an ergonomic risk assessment done, and then to control the risks, inform and train employees, provide medical surveillance where appropriate and keep records.

Common ergonomic hazards in construction:

• lifting and carrying heavy materials such as cement bags, blocks, kerbs and reinforcing bars;
• repetitive tasks such as tying rebar, tiling and bricklaying;
• awkward postures such as overhead drilling, kneeling for floor work and bending to ground level;
• forceful exertions such as pushing loaded wheelbarrows on uneven ground;
• vibration and contact stress from tools.

Controls follow the hierarchy: design out manual handling (smaller block sizes, pre-cut materials, delivering materials to the workplace), mechanical aids (hoists, telehandlers, trolleys, vacuum lifters), adjustable working heights, job rotation and rest breaks, team lifting plans, and training in safe handling as a supporting measure.

5. Managing These Hazards on a Project

A practical approach for the CHSM:

1. Include noise, vibration, heat and ergonomics in the baseline and issue-based risk assessments, by activity and phase.
2. Specify low-noise and low-vibration equipment in plant procurement.
3. Arrange monitoring by competent persons (noise dosimetry, vibration assessment, heat stress measurement) for high-exposure activities.
4. Make sure the Annexure 3 matrix lists noise, vibration, heat and manual handling exposures so the occupational health practitioner examines for them (CR 7(8)).
5. Train workers and supervisors to recognise symptoms such as tinnitus, tingling fingers, dizziness from heat and back pain, and to report them early.
6. Keep the records for the required 40 years and plan how they will be kept when the project or company closes.