Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993)RegulationsPhysical Agents Regulations, 202411. Illumination |
| (1) | An employer or self-employed person must provide illumination in the workplace in the form of either natural light, artificial light or a combination thereof. |
| (2) | An employer or self-employed person must ensure that, as far as reasonably practicable, illumination provided in the workplace takes into account at least— |
| (a) | illuminance values; |
| (b) | glare; |
| (c) | uniformity of illuminance; |
| (d) | flicker; and |
| (e) | stroboscopic effect. |
| (3) | An employer or self-employed person must ensure that, as far as reasonably practicable, specialised illumination is provided for— |
| (a) | hazardous workplaces or tasks; or |
| (b) | precision tasks. |
| (4) | With respect to the illumination to be provided in terms of subregulation (1), the employer or self-employed person must ensure that— |
| (a) | illuminance provided for the workplace is in accordance with the minimum maintained average illuminance values specified— |
| (i) | in Table 4 for interior workplaces: Provided that where a workplace is not referenced in Table 4, the minimum maintained average illuminance values in Table 5 will apply; and |
| (ii) | in Table 6 for exterior workplaces: Provided that where a workplace is not referenced in Table 6, the minimum maintained average illuminance values in Table 7 will apply; |
| (b) | glare is eliminated at the source or, where this is not reasonably practicable, reduced to a degree that maintains visual performance in the workplace; |
| (c) | the uniformity of illuminance— |
| (i) | at any horizontal working plane in a room within an interior workplace, is not less than 0,75; |
| (ii) | for interior workplaces within five metres of a working plane, is not less than 0,20 between the average illuminance on that working plane and on the adjacent floor areas; and |
| (iii) | for exterior workplaces must be in accordance with the values listed in Table 6: Provided that where a workplace is not referenced in Table 6, the average uniformity in Table 7 will apply; |
| (d) | flicker is eliminated or, where this is not reasonably practicable, reduced to a degree that maintains visual performance in the workplace; and |
| (e) | the stroboscopic effect is eliminated where such a hazard is identified. |
| (5) | Every employer or self-employed person must, with regards to emergency evacuation of a workplace, provide emergency sources of illumination which are such that, when activated, the minimum illuminance for— |
| (a) | escape route illumination is not less than 1 lux at floor level; |
| (b) | emergency escape illumination is not less than 5 lux at floor level; |
| (c) | illumination at an emergency exit is not less than 5 lux at floor level; |
| (d) | workplaces or types of work where it is necessary to stop machinery or shut down plant or processes before evacuating the workplace, is not less than 20 lux at floor level; and |
| (e) | workplaces or types of work where dangerous materials are present or dangerous processes are carried out, is not less than 20 lux at floor level. |
| (6) | An employer or self-employed person must ensure that the emergency sources of illumination— |
| (a) | prescribed in subregulations (5)(a), (b) and (c) are activated within 30 seconds of the failure of the illumination prescribed in subregulation (1); |
| (b) | prescribed in subregulations (5)(d) and (e) are activated within 0,5 seconds of the failure of the illumination prescribed in subregulation (1); |
| (c) | last long enough to ensure the safe evacuation of the workplace; |
| (d) | are— |
| (i) | mounted at a height of not less than 2 metres above floor level; and |
| (ii) | not aimed between 10 degrees above and 45 degrees below the horizontal line on which they are installed; and |
| (e) | are kept clean, in good working order and tested for efficient operation at intervals of not more than 3-months. |
| (7) | An employer or self-employed person must establish and conduct an illumination measurement and monitoring programme at that workplace where a physical agent exposure risk assessment or a review of such assessment indicates that any employee may be exposed to— |
| (a) | illumination below the minimum maintained average illuminance values in Tables 4, 5, 6 and 7; |
| (b) | flicker; |
| (c) | stroboscopic effect; or |
| (d) | specialised illumination for hazardous workplaces or tasks or precision tasks. |
| (8) | The illumination measurement and monitoring programme as contemplated in subregulation (7) must be conducted— |
| (a) | at a frequency determined by the physical agent exposure risk assessment; or |
| (b) | at intervals not exceeding 24-months: Provided that an inspector may direct an employer or self-employed person, in writing, to re-conduct the measurement and monitoring or part thereof; |
| (c) | by a competent person; |
| (d) | by means of instruments calibrated to a national or international traceable standard; |
| (e) | to record measurements that are traceable to national and international measurements standards; and |
| (f) | in accordance with recognised principles and methodology stipulated in— |
| (i) | SANS 10114-1 for interior lighting; |
| (ii) | SANS 10389-1 for exterior lighting; and |
| (iii) | SANS 10114-2 for emergency lighting. |
| (9) | An employer or self-employed person must, in terms of the illumination measurement and monitoring programme as contemplated in subregulation (7)— |
| (a) | consider the recommendations identified by a competent person in the illumination measurement and monitoring report; and |
| (b) | develop a documented action plan for the implementation of the recommendations. |
| (10) | In order to maintain the requirements in subregulation (1), an employer or self-employed person must ensure that— |
| (a) | luminaires and lamps are maintained, kept clean, in good working order and replaced or repaired when defective; and |
| (b) | windows and other sources of natural light are maintained, kept clean, fit for purpose and replaced or repaired when defective. |
| (11) | An employer or self-employed person engaged in building work shall cause all workplaces where danger may exist through the lack of natural light to be illuminated such that it will be safe in terms of the physical agent exposure risk assessment. |
| (12) | An employer or self-employed person must ensure that all windows comply with the requirements of SANS 10400: Part O. |