Customised OHSA and MHSA Training in South Africa: How Capax Builds a Real Safety Culture

Most South African employers know the law requires them to train their staff on health and safety. The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and, where applicable, the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) are clear on the principle. What is less clear is what "training" should actually look like in practice, and how to tell a programme that builds a real safety culture from one that just produces certificates for a file.

At Capax Skills Health Safety, our approach is to build the training around the operation rather than the other way around. Below is how we think about it, and what we deliver.

Customised, not off-the-shelf

A construction site, a chemical plant and a deep-level mine share a regulatory framework but face very different hazards. A generic compliance course produces staff who can recite definitions but not necessarily make better decisions on the ground. We build every programme around three inputs:

• Industry sector - construction, manufacturing or mining
• Scope of work - the specific tasks your team performs
• Organisational safety standards - your internal policies and any client-imposed requirements

The result is training material that references the actual machines, chemicals, heights and PPE your people use on shift, not stock images from a slide deck.

The accredited programmes we deliver

Our offering covers QCTO and Department of Employment and Labour aligned programmes. Among the courses available:

• First Aid Certification
  • Occupational Skills Programme: Basic Emergency First Aid Responder (SP-230801)
  • Occupational Skills Programme: Intermediate Emergency First Aid Responder (SP-230802)
  • Occupational Skills Programme: Advanced Emergency First Aid Responder (SP-230803)
• QCTO Programmes
  • Operational OHS Risk Assessor (SP-250603)
  • Essential OHS Compliance Ensurer (SP-250604)
  • Essential OHS Representative - Low Risk (SP-250815)
  • Evacuation Marshal (SP-250817)
  • Incident Investigation Team Member (SP-250906)

The wider course list

Beyond the programme codes above, we run training in:

• OHSA compliance training
• Construction site health and safety management
• Fire safety awareness and firefighting techniques
• First aid and basic life support certification
• Risk assessment and hazard identification
• Working at heights and fall protection
• Hazardous chemical handling and storage
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) training
• Incident investigation and reporting procedures
• Emergency response and evacuation planning
• Contractor health and safety induction
• Safety representative and committee training

How we deliver it

Different teams learn differently, and not every operation can pull a full crew off-site for a classroom day. We run our programmes in five formats:

• On-site training sessions at your premises, around your shift patterns
• E-learning modules for staff in remote sites or with rotating schedules
• Interactive workshops for committee members and safety representatives
• Industry certification programmes for staff who need formal accreditation
• Safety consulting services for employers who need ongoing advisory support, not just a once-off course

What "customised" actually involves

The work behind a customised programme is not glamorous. It looks like this:

1. Needs assessment - we walk the site, review your existing risk assessments, and identify the gap between current competency and what the law and your operation require.
2. Material development - learning content built around your hazards, your equipment and your incident history. Not generic.
3. Delivery - in the format that fits your shifts and team size.
4. Assessment - against accredited standards, with formal certification where applicable.
5. Ongoing support - refresher cycles, toolbox talk content, and advisory check-ins so the training does not decay over the following twelve months.

Why a real safety culture matters more than a certificate

Compliance documents matter and we produce them properly. But the harder, longer-term goal is shifting how staff think about hazards in the moments when no inspector is watching. That is where genuine reduction in workplace incidents comes from. It is what we mean when we describe our work as "training today for a safer tomorrow", and it is the standard we hold our programmes to.

Get in touch

Capax is based in Bloemfontein, Free State, and delivers training to clients across South Africa. To discuss a programme for your operation, contact Teboho Phooko on 060 919 8245 or 051 011 9593, or email teboho@capax.co.za. Full details and the contact form are at capax.co.za.