What Construction Regulation 10 requires on a construction site: who must have a fall protection plan, who may draw it up, and the five things it must contain.
Guidance, not legal advice. This page explains what the Construction Regulations, 2014 require. It is not legal advice and it is not a substitute for a fall protection plan prepared by your designated competent person. Confirm the current wording of the regulations with the Department of Employment and Labour before you rely on it.
Content reviewed for accuracy by Nyaku Thema, Quality Assurer at Fundza Training Institute.
A fall protection plan is a documented plan a contractor must have for any construction work done from a fall risk position. Regulation 10 of the Construction Regulations, 2014 requires it, sets out the five things it must contain, and says a competent person must be designated to draw it up.
A fall protection plan is the document that sets out how a contractor will stop people falling on a construction site, and what happens if someone does. It is required by regulation 10 of the Construction Regulations, 2014, published under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 in Government Notice R84, Government Gazette 37305 of 7 February 2014.
The Construction Regulations define a fall risk as “any potential exposure to falling either from, off or into”. That is deliberately wide. It covers falling from a roof, off a scaffold or platform, and into an excavation or an opening in a floor.
The plan is not a certificate and it is not a once-off form. Regulation 10(1)(b) requires the contractor to make sure the plan is implemented, amended when and where necessary, and maintained. Regulation 10(1)(c) requires the contractor to take steps to ensure people keep following it.
Regulation 10(1) places the duty on the contractor. If a construction site has any work done from a fall risk position, a fall protection plan is required. The size of the site does not change the duty.
Regulation 10(3) adds a second duty. The contractor must make sure that the construction manager appointed under regulation 8(1) holds the most recently updated version of the plan. A plan filed at head office while the site works to an older version does not meet regulation 10(3).
Regulation 10(1)(a) requires the contractor to designate a competent person to be responsible for preparing the fall protection plan. The designation is the contractor's decision and the contractor's responsibility.
The Construction Regulations define a competent person as someone who has the knowledge, training and experience required for the work or task, and who is familiar with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the regulations made under it.
Two things follow. The regulation does not name a qualification, a course or a registration body for this person. And a training provider cannot designate a competent person on a contractor's behalf: that is a decision the contractor makes and records.
Fundza Training Institute does not draw up fall protection plans and does not approve them. What Fundza does is train the people who work from a fall risk position, which is one of the five things regulation 10(2) says the plan must cover.
Regulation 10(2) lists five items. All five must be in the plan.
Regulation | What the plan must include |
|---|---|
10(2)(a) | A risk assessment of all work done from a fall risk position, with the procedures and methods used to address each risk identified, for each location on the site |
10(2)(b) | The processes for evaluating employees’ medical fitness to work from a fall risk position, and the records of those evaluations |
10(2)(c) | A training programme for employees working from a fall risk position, and the records of that training |
10(2)(d) | A procedure for inspecting, testing and maintaining all fall protection equipment |
10(2)(e) | A rescue plan setting out the procedure, the personnel and the suitable equipment needed to rescue a person after a fall, to be put into effect immediately after the incident |
The rescue plan under regulation 10(2)(e) is the item most often missing. The regulation is explicit that the rescue happens immediately after the fall, which means the people and the equipment have to be on site rather than called out.
Regulation 10(4) sets out duties that apply on the site itself, whether or not they appear in the plan.
Regulation 10(4)(d) sets the order of preference. Stop the fall first. Arrest it only where stopping it is not reasonably practicable.
Where roof work is performed on a construction site, regulation 10(5) requires the fall protection plan to indicate, on top of everything in regulations 10(2) and 10(4), that:
Regulation 10(2)(c) is the part of the fall protection plan that training answers. The plan must contain a training programme for employees who work from a fall risk position, and the records of that training. An inspector asking about regulation 10 will ask to see both.
Fundza Training Institute runs two courses for people working at height:
Course | Duration | Fee | Refresher | Certificate valid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Working at Heights | 2 days | R1 628 | 1 day, R980 | 24 months |
Fall Arrest and Rescue | 2 days | R1 628 | — | 24 months |
Fall Arrest and Rescue is the course that speaks to regulation 10(2)(e). A rescue plan needs people who can carry out the rescue, and that is a separate competency from working at height safely.
Both courses run at the Mokopane centre, or on your site anywhere in South Africa for a group. See on-site training.
Fundza Training Institute trains the people who work from a fall risk position, at the Mokopane centre or on your site anywhere in South Africa.
Each line is a sub-regulation, so a gap here is a gap against the regulation rather than against an opinion.
The fall protection plan sits inside a wider set of duties on a construction site. The Construction Regulations page lists all 29 regulations and which of them apply to your site. The Occupational Health and Safety Act page covers the general duties the regulations are made under, and the health and safety file page covers the file the plan is usually kept in.
Yes, on construction sites. Regulation 10(1) of the Construction Regulations, 2014 requires a contractor to designate a competent person to prepare a fall protection plan, to ensure it is implemented and maintained, and to take steps to ensure it is followed. The Construction Regulations are made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993.
A competent person designated by the contractor, under regulation 10(1)(a). The Construction Regulations define a competent person as someone with the knowledge, training and experience required for the task, who is also familiar with the Act and its regulations. The regulation does not name a specific qualification or registration body.
Five things, listed in regulation 10(2): a risk assessment per location, the process for evaluating medical fitness and its records, a training programme and its records, a procedure for inspecting, testing and maintaining fall protection equipment, and a rescue plan.
Yes. Regulation 10(2)(e) requires a rescue plan covering the procedure, the personnel and the suitable equipment, and it must be put into effect immediately after a fall. Because the rescue has to happen immediately, the people and the equipment need to be available on site.
Regulation 10 does not set a fixed interval. Regulation 10(1)(b) requires the plan to be amended when and where necessary and maintained, and regulation 10(3) requires the construction manager to hold the most recently updated version. In practice the plan changes when the site, the method or the risk changes.
No. They are separate documents with separate duties, although the fall protection plan is usually filed in the health and safety file.
No. Training answers regulation 10(2)(c) only. The plan still needs the risk assessment, the medical fitness process, the equipment procedure and the rescue plan, and the on-site duties in regulation 10(4) apply regardless.
