Do cold store workers need a cold stress assessment?

Yes. The Physical Agents Regulations, 2024 cover cold as well as heat. Freezer and chiller work needs a cold stress assessment that looks at temperature, air movement, time spent inside and the clothing provided.

We are renovating an older building in Cape Town. Do we need an asbestos survey first?

If the building may contain asbestos, yes. The Asbestos Abatement Regulations, 2020 require asbestos to be identified before work that could disturb it. Qualitas is a DEL AIA for asbestos.

What does welding in a ship's hold need?

A risk assessment for welding fume and any coating or solvent vapours, ventilation that works in the confined space, and personal monitoring by an approved inspection authority where exposure may be significant.

OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE IN CAPE TOWN

Cape Town's economy runs on food and beverage production, cold chain logistics, the port and ship repair, healthcare and a steady building and renovation trade. Qualitas has carried out occupational hygiene assessments in Cape Town.

We do noise surveys, hazardous chemical agent monitoring, cold stress surveys, asbestos inventories and indoor air quality surveys for employers from Epping and Montague Gardens to Bellville and the harbour.

REACH OUT

Worker cutting steel with an angle grinder as sparks fly

WHERE WE WORK AROUND CAPE TOWN

Cape Town CBD and the harbour

Epping and Parow

Montague Gardens and Milnerton

Airport Industria and Philippi

Bellville and Brackenfell

Somerset West and Strand

Food, beverage and packaging in Epping, Montague Gardens and Parow: noise from filling lines, flour and sugar dust, cleaning chemicals, and ammonia refrigeration.

Cold stores and cold chain distribution near the airport and port: cold stress, forklift noise and manual handling.

Port, ship repair and marine engineering: welding fume, paint and solvent vapours in confined spaces, noise, and asbestos in older vessels and buildings.

Hospitals, clinics and laboratories: hazardous biological agents, formaldehyde and anaesthetic gases.

Construction, renovation and property management: asbestos inventories before demolition, and silica from cutting and chasing.

THE HAZARDS WE MEASURE HERE

Cold in chillers and blast freezers, noise in food and packaging plants, flour and wood dust, solvents and isocyanates in paint shops, welding fume in ship repair, and asbestos in pre-2008 buildings.

Interior of a large industrial warehouse with overhead cranes

INDUSTRIES WE SERVE

Foundry workers in protective gear pouring molten metal

WHY QUALITAS

Qualitas Occupational Consulting is a Department of Employment and Labour Approved Inspection Authority (AIA) and a SANAS-accredited (ISO/IEC 17020) inspection body for asbestos, lead, noise and hazardous chemical agents, and applies the same quality system to all its assessments.

Every assessment is led by Christo de Wet, an occupational hygienist registered with the Southern African Institute for Occupational Hygiene (SAIOH), with 15 years of experience.

We work nationwide, and Qualitas has also carried out assessments in Botswana and Kazakhstan. Travel is quoted upfront.

You receive a professional, audit-ready report that stands up to inspection by the Department of Employment and Labour.