STC SA 1 Flashcards
Two types of law?
a) Criminal liability (public law);
b) Civil liability (private law).
Define Criminal liability (public Liability)?
Criminal liability falls within the ambit of the public law.
Define Civil liability (private liability)?
Civil liability falls within the ambit of the private law. Civil liability arises between two or more subjects, where they litigate against each other
Define Vicarious Liability?
Vicarious liability is where a company, for example, is held legally liable for the conduct of its employees or agents.
What does Section 9 OHSA determine?
That an employer has a duty towards persons other than employees, who may be directly affected by the employer’s activities are not exposed to
hazards to their health and safety
In accordance with Section 14 OHSA what are the duties of employees?
Employees must, at work:
- Be aware of and understand all the hazards and risks associated with their job and
work area;
- Co-operate and carry out all instructions given to prevent any incidents related to
health and safety;
-Follow safe work procedures as identified and implemented by the employer, for
any hazardous tasks;
-Report any high-risk conditions to the SHE Representative as soon as possible
- The SHE Representative in turn should report these to the employer;
- Report any incident (an injury or anything which may affect health), to the SHE
Representative as soon as possible, or before the end of the shift;
- Assist the employer to establish and maintain a healthy and safe working
environment.
- Every employee has the responsibility and duty to take “reasonable care” of his or her
own safety and health as well as the safety and health of any other person who may be
affected by his or her acts or omissions.
Define Mandatary?
Includes an agent, a contractor or a subcontractor for work, but without derogating from his
status in his own right as an employer or a user.
Define User?
In relation to plant or machinery, means the person who uses plant or machinery for his own
benefit or who has the right of control over the use of plant or machinery, but does not
include a lessor of, or any person employed in connection with, that plant or machinery.
Define Employee?
Any person who is employed by or works for an employer and who receives or is entitled to
receive any remuneration or who works under the direction or supervision of an employer or
any other person.
Define Employer?
Any person who employs or provides work for any person and remunerates that person or expressly or tacitly undertakes to remunerate him, but excludes a labour broker as defined in section 1(1) of the Labour Relations Act, 1956 (Act No. 28 of 1956).
Define Prohibition notice?
In the case of threatening danger, an inspector may prohibit a particular action, process, or
the use of a machine or equipment, by means of a prohibition notice. No person may
disregard the contents of such a notice and compliance must take place with immediate
effect.
Define Contravention Notice?
If a provision of a regulation is contravened, the inspector may serve a contravention notice
on the workers or the employer. A contravention of the Act can result in immediate
prosecution, but in the case of a contravention of a regulation, the employer may be given
the opportunity to correct the contravention within a time limit specified in the notice which is
usually 60 days.
Define Improvement notice?
Where the health and safety measures which the employer has instituted do not satisfactorily
protect the health and safety of the workers, the inspector may require the employer to bring
about more effective measures. An improvement notice, which prescribes the corrective
measures, is then served on the employer.
Define the Environment?
The surroundings within which humans exist and that are made up of:
- Land, water and atmosphere of the earth;
- Micro-organisms, plant & animal life;
- Any part of the above and the interrelation between them;
- Physical, chemical and aesthetic and cultural properties and conditions of the
above that influence human health and well-being.
Explain the The triple bottom line principal in environmental law?
The concept behind the triple bottom line is that companies should focus as much on social and environmental issues as they do on profits.
The TBL consists of three elements: profit, people, and the planet.
The triple bottom line aims to measure the financial, social, and environmental performance of a company over time.
- Economic aspect involves financial as well as non-financial aspects relevant to a company’s business;
- Environmental aspects include the effect on the environment of the product or services produced by the company; and
- Social aspects embrace values, ethics and reciprocal relationships with stakeholders other than shareholders.
Explain the The triple bottom line principal in enviromental law?
- Economic aspect involves financial as well as non-financial aspects relevant to a
company’s business; - Environmental aspects include the effect on the environment of the product or
services produced by the company; and - Social aspects embrace values, ethics and reciprocal relationships with stakeholders
other than shareholders.
Explain the Precautionary principle?
This principle refers to the idea that the lack of certainty should not be used as an excuse to postpone action when there is a threat of serious or irreversible damage and/or harm. Parties
have to take precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent or minimize the causes of such damage or harm and mitigate its adverse effects. It is an obligation of due diligence and
requires abstinence from conduct that carries significant risk or harm.
What is the best practicable environmental option?
The option that provides the most benefit, or causes the least damage, to the environment as a whole, at a cost acceptable to society, in the long term as well as in the short term. This
reminds of the OHSA’s “reasonable practicable” principle. The irony is that, apart from the definitions, the term is used only once in the act, and that is in the principles (section 2). This
section will be utilised by anyone — including the courts — when the Act is applied, so the definition is not futile.
Explain what is meant by the “Cradle to grave” responsibility?
Responsibility for the environmental and health and safety consequences of a policy, programme, project, product, process, service or activity exists throughout its life cycle. It starts with conceptualisation and planning and runs through all stages of implementation to reuse, recycling and ultimate disposal of products and waste or decommissioning of installations.
Explain Polluter pays principle?
Polluter pays principle is defined in Section 28 under Duty of care and remediation of environmental damage. On occasion where the polluter does not pay for or implement the remediation process once significant pollution has taken place the Director General of that Province can implement a remediation process as he sees as appropriate and the costs of the clean-up will be charged to the account of the polluter
What is the purpose of NEMA?
- Promote co-operative governance; and
- Establish systems, procedures and policies for a coordinated national environmental management.
What does Ergonomics seek?
To fit the job to the worker
Define ionising radiation?
Nuclear radiation occurs when unstable atoms decay. It is often called “ionising radiation” because it has enough energy to knock electrons off atoms, turning them into ions. lonisation disrupts the functioning of the cells that make up our bodies.
High levels of radiation kill cells, resulting in radiation burns, sickness and death
What are the three risk ratings?
- QUALITATIVE
- QUANTITATIVE
- SEMI-QUANTITATIVE
