Approved inspection authority or competent person: who may do what?

Short answer: the regulation decides, not the job title. The noise, hazardous chemical agents, lead and asbestos regulations give specific monitoring and inspection work to an approved inspection authority (AIA). Most risk assessments, and all assessment and monitoring under the Physical Agents and Hazardous Biological Agents Regulations, call for a competent person instead.

The first term comes from section 1 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993. An inspection authority is anyone who uses specialised knowledge or equipment, or tests, sampling or analyses, to make findings, purporting to be objective, on matters such as a person's health or the risk to health of any work or condition. An approved inspection authority is one approved by the chief inspector, and only for the particular service it was approved for. The Act does not define "competent person"; the regulations that use the term do, typically as someone with the knowledge, training and experience the task needs, relevant qualifications where applicable, and familiarity with the Act and regulations. In short: an AIA is an approved organisation; a competent person is an individual.

Where the law requires an approved inspection authority

In occupational hygiene, four sets of regulations name an AIA for specific work:

• Noise: monitoring must be carried out by an approved noise inspection authority, defined as one approved by the Chief Inspector "for the monitoring of noise in the workplace" (Noise Exposure Regulations, 2024, regulations 1 and 8(2)(b)). The risk assessment that comes first is done by a competent person (regulation 7(1)(c)).

• Hazardous chemical agents: the measurement programme for airborne exposure must be carried out by an AIA (Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2021, regulation 6(1)(c)). So must thorough examinations and tests of engineering control measures, such as local extraction ventilation, at intervals not exceeding 24 months (regulation 12(b)).

• Lead: where exposure to airborne lead exceeds half the occupational exposure limit, measurements must be made by an approved lead inspection authority, or by a person whose ability to do them has been verified by one (Lead Regulations, 2001, regulation 7(1)(c)).

• Asbestos: an AIA must review and endorse the asbestos inventory and asbestos risk assessment at intervals not exceeding six years, unless an AIA did that work (Asbestos Abatement Regulations, 2020, regulation 5(7)). In type 2 and type 3 asbestos work it compiles the plan of work with the registered asbestos contractor and performs planned air monitoring (regulation 13), then issues a written declaration for clearance certification (regulation 22).

The Department of Employment and Labour's May 2026 list of occupational health and hygiene AIAs shows approvals in exactly these fields: asbestos, lead, noise and hazardous chemical agents.

Where a competent person does the work

Three sets of regulations make no mention of an AIA:

• Physical agents: under the Physical Agents Regulations, 2024, the exposure risk assessment for heat, cold, lighting, indoor air quality, vibration and non-ionising radiation (regulation 6(1)(c)) and the monitoring programme (regulation 7(2)(b)) are both done by a competent person. Monitoring must use instruments calibrated to a national or international traceable standard (regulation 7(2)(e)).

• Hazardous biological agents: the risk assessment and the exposure monitoring programme are conducted by a competent person (Regulations for Hazardous Biological Agents, 2022, regulations 6(2)(b) and 7(2)(b)).

• Ergonomics: the ergonomic risk assessment must be performed by a competent person (Ergonomics Regulations, 2019, regulation 6(1)(a)).

Noise and asbestos risk assessments also need a competent person. The chemical agents and lead regulations do not say who must make the assessment, but the chemical agents assessment decides whether AIA monitoring follows (regulation 5(4)), so use someone who knows the hazard. Our article on occupational health risk assessments sets out each assessment and its interval.

How to check an AIA

Before you rely on a monitoring report, check:

• The approval: the Department publishes a list of occupational health and hygiene AIAs. It gives each AIA's regulatory field of inspection, scope of activities, approval number, and effective and expiry dates.

• The service: approval in one field does not cover another. An asbestos AIA is not, by that approval, an AIA for noise.

• The accreditation: the Department requires an occupational health AIA to hold SANAS accreditation, and its approval certificate lists the specific services approved. Our article on SANAS ISO/IEC 17020 accreditation explains how to read a SANAS schedule.

A quick self-check

• List your noise, chemical, lead and asbestos monitoring reports, and confirm each firm was approved for that field on the survey date.

• Find the date of the last thorough examination and test of your extraction systems. If it is approaching 24 months, book the next one with an AIA.

• Check when an AIA last endorsed your asbestos inventory and asbestos risk assessment, unless an AIA compiled them.

• For physical agents, biological agents and ergonomics, keep evidence of the assessor's training, experience and qualifications, plus instrument calibration certificates.

• Make sure every risk assessment shows who did it and when it is due for review.

How Qualitas can help

Qualitas Occupational Consulting is a Department of Employment and Labour Approved Inspection Authority and a SANAS-accredited (ISO/IEC 17020) inspection body for asbestos, lead, noise and hazardous chemical agents. Our noise surveys, hazardous chemical agents surveys, lead monitoring and asbestos assessments fall in those four fields.

Where the regulations call for a competent person rather than an AIA, we offer risk assessments and surveys for heat and cold stress, illumination, indoor air quality, vibration, ergonomics and biological agents. For monitoring intervals, see our articles on chemical monitoring and noise surveys.

Not sure what your site needs? Start with our free Compliance Gap Analysis, request a quote, or call or WhatsApp 082 649 6599.

This article is general guidance based on the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 and the regulations named above. It is not legal advice; refer to the Act and the regulations for the full requirements.

Christo de Wet is a SAIOH-registered occupational hygienist with 15 years' experience and the founder of Qualitas Occupational Consulting.