According to the most recent report by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) on the state of construction health and safety in South Africa, "Construction continues to contribute a disproportionate number of fatalities and injuries relative to other industrial sectors and there continues to be high levels of non-compliance with Health and Safety legislation generally, and specifically with construction and other Health and Safety regulations in South Africa."

Deon Bester, occupational health & safety manager of the Master Builders Association of the Western Cape (MBAWC) says, "In order to improve the situation companies should make themselves and their construction sites available for safety star grading audits. The purpose of this is twofold. Firstly, to determine the contractor's compliance with the necessary Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) laws. And secondly, to highlight any shortcomings and subsequently assist the contractor to comply with statutory regulations."

The audit is performed on site by an accredited Master Builders South Africa (MBSA) auditor, who will establish OHS compliance based on the MBSA Audit System. The System takes 19 specific elements into account including aspects such as administrative requirements, education and training of employees, public safety, housekeeping and plant machinery. From this the auditor will award a grading - a total of 1840 points could potentially be awarded during the audit process.

In order for a site to be awarded a five star grading it must achieve an overall score of more than 90% and have a Disabling Injury Frequency Rate (DIFR) of one or less. A disabling injury is defined as an injury that results in a person not being able to return to work for at least one shift or more and an international formula is used to calculate the DIFR for each construction site. "The DIFR formula takes man hours worked and time worked into consideration. A DIFR of 3.2, for instance, means that a company has 3.2 people injured for every 200 000 man hours worked over a 12 month period," explains Bester.

The MBAWC continues to monitor the site throughout the life cycle of the project to ensure that standards are maintained. A star grading may be reduced if standards decline and similarly, where a site's standards have improved a star grading may be increased.

As the system is used nationally by all regional master builders associations to grade sites and companies, it enables a company site based in KZN to be easily compared with one based in Gauteng - making it an ideal tool to measure the OHS performance of companies in different regions. However, each regional association still has its own rules. "In the Western Cape, companies can request one of two systems of grading. The first allows for star grading of an individual site or numerous sites and the second for star grading of all sites and offices as well as storage and plant facilities. The latter is preferable as it provides an overall view of the company's compliance with legislation," states Bester.

"In addition to providing an independent view of the health and safety systems in place within a company or on a specific site, the system offers a number of other advantages. For example, a full report is prepared following the audit which is then forwarded to the management of the company. This enables management to implement new systems where failures exist in the current OHS system. They can also measure the performance of the site management and gauge their company's performance against others in the industry. Furthermore, star grading certificates can be included with tenders to prove to clients that health and safety is a priority and is managed properly", shares the OHS Manager.

The MBAWC offers its members a free star grading service and provides this service to non-members at a fee based on the size and duration of the contract.

"The MBSA star grading system has been in operation for approximately 20 years and although it is not formally recognised by any specific accreditation body, it is widely recognised as the industry standard for construction health and safety", concludes Bester.