14.2 Environmental Management on Construction Projects
Key Takeaways
Section 28 of NEMA places a duty of care on every person who causes, has caused or may cause significant pollution or degradation to take reasonable measures to prevent, minimise and rectify it.
Section 30 of NEMA requires a responsible person to report an emergency incident, such as a significant spill, to the relevant authorities as soon as reasonably practicable and to take steps to contain and minimise its effects.
The National Dust Control Regulations, 2026, published on 31 March 2026, replaced the 2013 regulations and keep dustfall standards of 600 mg/m²/day for residential and 1 200 mg/m²/day for non-residential areas (30-day average).
Under the National Water Act, landowners and occupiers must take reasonable measures to prevent water pollution (section 19), and activities such as diverting a river or dewatering an excavation may be water uses needing authorisation (section 21).
Environmental and occupational controls overlap: the same dust, noise, chemical and waste controls protect workers under the OHS Act and the community and environment under NEMA and its specific Acts.
1. Why Environmental Management Belongs in the CHSM Role
The SACPCMP core knowledge area Health, Hygiene and Environmental Management links occupational health with the wider environment. On many projects the CHSM also manages, or works closely with, the environmental control officer (ECO). Construction affects air, water, soil, heritage and neighbours, and many hazards, such as dust, noise, chemical spills and asbestos waste, harm workers and the public at the same time.
2. The NEMA Framework
The National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA) is the framework law. Two provisions matter most on site:
- Duty of care (section 28): every person who causes, has caused or may cause significant pollution or degradation of the environment must take reasonable measures to prevent it from occurring, continuing or recurring, or, where it is authorised or cannot reasonably be avoided, to minimise and rectify it. Reasonable measures include assessing the impact, informing and educating employees about the environmental risks of their work, stopping or controlling the activity causing the pollution, containing it, and remedying the effects. The authorities can issue directives, and the duty can attach to the landowner and the person in control of the land as well as the contractor.
- Emergency incidents (section 30): after an unexpected, sudden and uncontrolled release of a hazardous substance, such as a major fuel spill, chemical release, fire or explosion, the responsible person must report it as soon as reasonably practicable to the relevant authorities, including the municipality and fire services, and must take all reasonable measures to contain and minimise its effects, undertake clean-up and remedy the effects.
3. Environmental Authorisation and the EMPr
Many construction activities are listed activities under the EIA Regulations, 2014 and their listing notices, for example developing near watercourses, clearing indigenous vegetation above set thresholds, or building certain roads and pipelines. These need environmental authorisation before work starts. The authorisation usually comes with an approved environmental management programme (EMPr), which sets out:
- the impacts and mitigation measures for each phase;
- the roles of the ECO, the contractor's environmental officer and the site team;
- monitoring, reporting and auditing requirements; and
- environmental induction and training for workers.
Non-compliance with an authorisation or EMPr is an offence. The CHSM should integrate EMPr requirements into the site induction, inspections and method statements so that one set of site rules covers both safety and environment.
4. Waste Management
The National Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2008 requires the holder of waste to avoid generating it where possible, then reduce, re-use, recycle and recover it, and to dispose of it safely only as a last resort (the waste hierarchy). On construction sites this means:
- separating rubble, metal, timber, packaging and general waste for re-use or recycling;
- storing waste so that it does not blow away, block access routes or attract pests (which also meets CR 27 housekeeping duties);
- using only licensed or lawful disposal sites and transporters, and keeping disposal records such as waste manifests;
- treating hazardous waste, including used oils, solvent containers, contaminated soil and asbestos waste, separately; asbestos work and waste disposal must also meet the Asbestos Abatement Regulations, 2020.
5. Dust and Air Quality
The National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act 39 of 2004 controls air pollution. The National Dust Control Regulations, 2026, published on 31 March 2026, replaced the 2013 regulations. They keep the acceptable dustfall rates of 600 mg/m²/day for residential areas and 1 200 mg/m²/day for non-residential areas, as 30-day averages, with a limited number of exceedances allowed per year. They also prescribe dust management plans and dustfall monitoring methods (now SANS 1137). Persons whose activities cause dust must take control measures, and an air quality officer may require a dust management plan and monitoring.
Construction dust controls include:
- watering haul roads and stockpiles, with water-conserving methods in dry areas;
- speed limits for site vehicles, paved or stabilised access roads and wheel washing at exits;
- covering trucks and stockpiles;
- wet cutting and on-tool extraction for concrete and masonry, which also protects workers from respirable crystalline silica under the HCA Regulations; and
- suspending dusty work in strong winds.
6. Water Pollution and Water Use
The National Water Act 36 of 1998 applies to most sites:
- Section 19 requires an owner, occupier or person in control of land where an activity causes, or is likely to cause, pollution of a water resource to take all reasonable measures to prevent it. On site this means silt fences and settlement ponds, bunded fuel and chemical storage, spill kits, controlled concrete washout areas and protected stormwater drains.
- Section 20 requires emergency incidents that pollute or may pollute a water resource to be reported and contained.
- Section 21 lists water uses, such as impeding or diverting the flow of a watercourse, altering its bed or banks, and removing water from underground workings (such as dewatering an excavation) or discharging waste water, which need a licence or general authorisation.
7. Heritage Resources
The National Heritage Resources Act 25 of 1999 requires notice to the heritage resources authority before certain developments, such as a road, pipeline or powerline longer than 300 metres or a development changing the character of a site larger than 5 000 m² (section 38). If archaeological material, fossils or graves are found during excavation, work in that area must stop and the find must be reported; graves may not be disturbed without the required permits and consultation.
8. Community Impacts
Construction also affects neighbours through noise, vibration, traffic, lighting and security. Municipal noise by-laws and provincial noise control regulations restrict noisy work hours. Good practice includes notifying neighbours before blasting, piling or long crane operations, monitoring vibration near sensitive structures, keeping public walkways safe (CR 27(f) and (g)), and keeping a complaints register with follow-up.
9. Integrating Health, Safety and Environment
Many controls serve both systems: dust suppression protects lungs and neighbours; spill prevention protects workers' skin and the river; waste segregation prevents fires and pollution; hearing protection and quieter plant protect workers and the community. An integrated induction, inspection checklist and incident reporting system reduces duplication. The CHSM must still respect the separate legal duties, report environmental incidents to the environmental authorities, and coordinate with the ECO.
A fuel bowser on a road project overturns and about 2 000 litres of diesel flow towards a stormwater channel that drains to a river. After making the area safe, what must the principal contractor do under South African environmental law?
Report the matter to SACPCMP within 30 days, because only professional bodies regulate environmental incidents.
Wait for the next monthly client audit under CR 5(1)(o) and include the spill in the audit report.
Contain it, report it as an emergency incident as soon as reasonably practicable (NEMA s 30, NWA s 20), then clean up.
Clean up quietly and record the spill in the site diary only, because environmental incidents need reporting only if a fish kill is observed.
A contractor plans to pump groundwater continuously from a deep basement excavation and discharge it into a nearby stream. The site manager says no permission is needed because the water is 'clean groundwater'. What should the CHSM advise?
Dewatering and discharge may be water uses under section 21 of the National Water Act that need a licence or general authorisation, and section 19 requires reasonable measures such as settlement before discharge.
No permission is needed, because the National Water Act applies only to municipal water supply.
No permission is needed provided the discharge happens at night when the stream is not used.
Permission is needed only from the Department of Employment and Labour, because the excavation falls under CR 13.
Dustfall monitoring at the boundary of a construction site next to a residential suburb shows a 30-day average of 900 mg/m²/day. Which statement is correct under the National Dust Control Regulations, 2026?
The result is acceptable, because the standard for all areas is 1 200 mg/m²/day.
The result exceeds the 600 mg/m²/day residential standard, so dust controls must be strengthened, and the air quality officer may require a dust management plan and monitoring.
Dust is regulated only under the OHS Act, so environmental dustfall rates do not apply to construction sites.
The result is acceptable for 12 months, after which the regulations require a new environmental authorisation.
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