Occupational Hygiene Surveys & Monitoring

Do you conduct the physical exposure monitoring?

Not ourselves, and that's by design. Under regulation 6 of the Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2021, workplace air monitoring may only be done by an approved inspection authority (AIA). We coordinate the survey through our AIA partner, agree the sampling strategy with them, and then interpret the results and build the action plan. You get one point of contact and data that will stand up to an inspector.

How often do we need an occupational hygiene survey?

For chemical agents with a maximum limit or restricted limit in Annexure 2 of the Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2021, representative air monitoring is required at least every 24 months. For noise, the Noise Exposure Regulations, 2024 require a noise risk assessment and monitoring programme, and the interval follows from that assessment. In practice, you should also re-survey whenever a process, machine, product or shift pattern changes, because the old results no longer describe the work.

What exposures does this cover?

Common focus areas include noise, dust, and chemical vapour exposure, though the specific scope depends on your industry.

How does this link to medical surveillance?

Occupational hygiene findings should directly inform which medical surveillance examinations are appropriate for which workers. We help make that link explicit.

What occupational exposure limits do you reference?

For chemical agents we reference Annexure 2 of the Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2021 (Table 2 maximum limits and Table 3 restricted limits). For noise we apply the Noise Exposure Regulations, 2024, and for other physical agents such as vibration, the Physical Agents Regulations, 2024. For substances with no South African limit, we reference the ACGIH Threshold Limit Values and the NIOSH Recommended Exposure Limits, clearly flagged as international guidance. As a screening rule we treat exposures above 50% of an OEL as significant, which is where decisions about monitoring frequency and medical surveillance start.

How do you interpret a noise survey result under the new regulations?

A noise survey reports an 8-hour equivalent rating level for each worker or similar exposure group. We compare it with the 85 dB(A) noise-rating limit in the Noise Exposure Regulations, 2024, which replaced the Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Regulations on 6 September 2026. The new regulations add a lower noise action level of 82 dB(A), or 135 dB(C) for impulse noise, that applies where workers are also exposed to ototoxic chemicals or whole-body vibration. So a result of 83 dB(A) can now carry legal duties if solvents or vibration are present. Audiometric testing now follows a Code of Practice for Audiometry, with entry, initial and periodic tests whose frequency depends on exposure. We don't just hand you the number; we tell you what it means legally and what you must do next.

Do you advise on the hierarchy of controls for chemical exposure?

Yes. Under the Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2021, the hierarchy of controls is mandatory: elimination, substitution, engineering controls (enclosure, local exhaust ventilation), administrative controls (reduced exposure time, job rotation), and finally PPE (respiratory protection). We frequently find that businesses jump straight to respiratory protection without considering whether the exposure can be reduced at source. RPE is the last resort, not the first.

Can you help us set up a medical surveillance programme from the hygiene findings?

Yes. The link between occupational hygiene and medical surveillance is explicit in the regulations: the exposure type and level determine which medical examinations are required (e.g. audiometry for noise exposure at or above the noise-rating limit, or the lower action level where there is ototoxic or vibration co-exposure, lung function testing for respirable dust or chemical exposure, biological monitoring for specific substances like lead). We help you build a medical surveillance programme that is driven by actual exposure data, not by a generic checklist.

What an occupational hygiene survey involves

A survey starts with a risk assessment, not a sampling pump. The aim is to find out which agents are present (noise, dust, chemical vapours, fumes), which groups of workers are exposed in a similar way, and for how long. Those similar exposure groups then get personal monitoring: equipment worn in the breathing zone or near the ear for a representative shift, not a single spot reading in an empty workshop.

Under the Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2021, air monitoring must be done by an approved inspection authority, and only after the health and safety representative or committee has been told about it and given a chance to comment. Samples go to a laboratory, and the AIA's report compares each group's results with the occupational exposure limit. That report is where most businesses stop, and where the real work should start.

What changed for noise on 6 September 2026

The Noise Exposure Regulations, 2024 were gazetted on 6 March 2025 with an 18-month transition, and the 2003 regulations fell away on 6 September 2026. The 85 dB(A) noise-rating limit stays, but three changes catch employers out.

First, there is now a lower action level of 82 dB(A), and 135 dB(C) for impulse noise, where workers are also exposed to ototoxic chemicals such as certain solvents, or to whole-body vibration. A spray shop or vehicle workshop that measured 83 dB(A) and considered itself compliant may not be. Second, audiometry now follows a dedicated Code of Practice for Audiometry, which separates medical screening from medical surveillance, requires written informed consent for screening, and sets testing frequencies by exposure level. Third, the regulations introduce the idea of a vulnerable employee who is at higher risk from noise and is entitled to tailored screening and surveillance.

In March 2026 the Chief Inspector also published an exemption from regulation 8(3) of the new regulations, so check whether it affects your programme before you rewrite it.

Chemical agents: who may measure, and how often

The Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2021 replaced the 1995 Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations. Two changes matter most in practice. Only an approved inspection authority may now carry out air monitoring; the old route of having someone else measure and an AIA verify the programme is gone. And representative measurements are required at least every 24 months for any agent with a maximum or restricted limit in Annexure 2, replacing the old 12-month and 24-month split.

If your last chemical survey is more than two years old, or was done by someone who was not an AIA, treat it as a gap.

Why dust records matter long after exposure stops

Mines report occupational disease every year. In 2024 they reported 1,723 cases, including 705 of noise-induced hearing loss and 136 of silicosis. Outside mining there is no equivalent public count: researchers have noted that the non-mining inspectorates publish no annual reports on occupational disease, so there is nothing to benchmark against. For a foundry, quarry, brickworks or construction contractor, your own monitoring records are the only evidence of what your workers were exposed to.

That matters because silicosis is slow. In a long-term study of South African gold miners, 57% of silicosis cases only appeared on X-ray after exposure had ended, on average 7.4 years later. A claim can arrive long after the worker has left. A defensible survey history, with the AIA's details, dates and results, protects both the worker and the business.

How to read the report you already have

Start with the summary table and mark every similar exposure group above the limit, and every group above half the limit. Then check three things the report can't tell you on its own: whether the AIA was approved for that type of monitoring on the survey date, whether the groups sampled still match how people work today, and whether anything was done after the last report. A report showing exposures above the limit with no action since is evidence against you, not for you. If you'd like a second opinion on an existing report, send it to us.