Do timber treatment plants need chemical monitoring?

Wood preservatives are hazardous chemical agents, so a risk assessment is required for mixing, treating and handling treated timber. Monitoring and skin protection depend on the products used.

Do packhouses need a cold stress assessment?

Where staff work in cold stores or chilled packing areas for long periods, yes, under the Physical Agents Regulations, 2024.

Is heat a concern in Lowveld workplaces?

Yes. Summer heat and humidity in the Lowveld can cause heat stress outdoors and in hot buildings. The Physical Agents Regulations, 2024 require heat to be assessed where it may affect employees.

OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE IN MBOMBELA (NELSPRUIT)

Mbombela is the Lowveld's commercial centre, serving timber and sawmilling, pulp and paper, citrus and macadamia packhouses, and logistics on the N4 Maputo corridor, as well as hospitals and provincial government.

Qualitas carries out occupational hygiene surveys for these employers: wood dust and chemical monitoring, noise surveys, heat stress surveys and ergonomics assessments.

REACH OUT

Worker cutting steel with an angle grinder as sparks fly

WHERE WE WORK AROUND MBOMBELA

Mbombela (Nelspruit)

White River

Hazyview

Barberton

Malelane and Komatipoort

Ngodwana and Kaapmuiden

Sawmills, timber treatment and pole yards: wood dust, preservative chemicals, noise and extraction systems.

Pulp and paper production: noise, sulphur compounds, chemicals and heat.

Citrus, macadamia and fruit packhouses: noise, cold stores, fungicides and repetitive packing.

Logistics and warehousing on the N4: diesel exhaust, noise and manual handling.

Hospitals and government buildings: biological agents, indoor air quality and asbestos inventories.

THE HAZARDS WE MEASURE HERE

Wood dust, timber treatment chemicals, noise from saws, mills and packing lines, heat in Lowveld summers, cold in fruit stores, fungicides and pesticides, and repetitive work.

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.