LIFTING OF COVID-19 REGULATIONS
On 22 June 2022 COVID- 19 Regulations 16A, 16B and 16C were repealed. As such, regulations pertaining to the wearing of masks, limitations on gatherings and entry requirements for foreigners into South Africa were officially lifted. While these regulations may have been lifted, employees to the workplace may still be required to wear marks.
In terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers still have an obligation to provide a safe working environment. This is in line with the Code of Practice: Managing Exposure to SARS-COV-2 in the Workplace and the Hazardous Biological Agents Regulations (the HBA Regulations).
In terms of the HBA Regulations, COVID-19 is classified as a Group Three Hazardous Biological Agent. Where there is a risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace, an employer must conduct a further risk assessment before determining whether employees are no longer required to wear masks and revise their workplace plan. As part of the risk assessment, employers must ensure that an employee’s risk of exposure to COVID-19 is limited through appropriate workplace measures such as vaccination, the wearing of masks, practising social distancing and sanitising. These kinds of precautions may be necessary especially in workplaces where there is a high risk of COVID-19 transmission. In these workplaces employers may still insist that employees continue wearing masks in the workplace, as part of their risk assessment, despite the regulations being repealed.
In instances of where there is minimal risk of exposure to COVID-19 in a workplace, employees would not be required to wear masks.
