Hidden crisis: could the HVAC & R workforce in SA face the same risks as US construction workers?
ISSN 2412-7779
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
CONTENTS
Cold Link Africa Online
Cold Link Africa ColdLinkAfrica
REGULARS
VOL. 39- NO. 7 | NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2025
10
REGULARS
3 Editor’ s Column 30 Buyer’ s guide 31 Word search
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
4 Retail expansion fuels surge in global refrigerated display cases market 4 Vaccine refrigerators market on track to double by 2033
NEWS
5 Kenya equips RAC trainers with skills for safe use of R290 in split ACs
ASSOCIATIONS
6 You better know how to build a boat
EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
8 Inside the operations of Durban Container Port 11 GCCA panel highlights energy / fire as pillars of sustainable cold storage growth 13 Business resilience in the cold chain 14 Metraclark connects with customers in Centurion
BUSINESS AND TRAINING
17 Factory visit highlights local manufacturing strength at Concord Retail Solutions
18 Multilayer Trading unveils high-efficiency R290 range and new branding at FRIGAIR 2025 19 Rethinking fire safety in the cold chain
FEATURE
20 Think of the box
PROJECT
23 First-of-its-kind integrated CO2 system cools Makro store, promising efficiency gains
CONTRIBUTORS
27 Understanding the transition to zeotropic refrigerants: best practices for optimal system efficiency 28 Optimising cold room capacity for peak season 29 African Union’ s CAADP Strategy and Action Plan
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The silent risk no one’ s counting
Hidden crisis: could the HVAC & R workforce in SA face the same risks as US construction workers?
A
groundbreaking US report has revealed a startling fact: for every worker in construction who dies from an on-site accident, 17 more die from a drug overdose. The research, published by Shegarian Conniff, shows that in states like West Virginia, overdose deaths among construction workers exceed 117 per 100 000 – making workers 20 times more likely to die from opioids and fentanyl than from falling from scaffolding or being struck by equipment.
This is a seismic shift in how we think about workplace risk. It challenges the assumption that‘ safety’ begins and ends with helmets, harnesses and high-visibility vests. Instead, it points to an invisible crisis – substance misuse and untreated mental health issues – that silently claims far more lives than job-site hazards.
South Africa’ s HVAC & R industry sits within the same blue-collar ecosystem as construction. It faces similar workforce pressures:
• Physically demanding work with a high incidence of injuries that may lead to prescription painkiller use
• Irregular contracts and project-driven employment, which create financial stress
• Long hours and high temperatures, especially for technicians on rooftops or in plant rooms
• Frequent travel and remote jobsites, often with limited access to health or support services
These are the same risk factors that, in the US, have contributed to soaring overdose rates among skilled trades. While South Africa does not yet track overdose fatalities by sector, ignoring the possibility that HVAC & R technicians could be similarly affected would be a dangerous blind spot.
THE DATA GAP IN SA
Local safety statistics emphasise physical risks: falls, electrocution, refrigerant exposure or vehicle accidents. The construction sector, for example, records between 150 fatalities and 400 injuries annually, with fatality rates of 30 to 37 deaths per 100 000 workers. But no national data exists on overdose deaths in construction or HVAC & R.
If the US ratios were applied here, the implications would be staggering. For every 150 officially recorded on-site deaths in construction, we could be losing 2 000 to 2 500 more workers to overdoses off-site. Within HVAC & R, where technician numbers are smaller but pressures are similar, even a fraction of this ratio would point to dozens – if not hundreds – of unrecognised fatalities.
HVAC & R is already grappling with skills shortages and an ageing workforce. Losing trained technicians to preventable causes like overdoses would further strain an industry critical to energy efficiency, data centres, cold chains and healthcare. The financial consequences are also real:
• Rising insurance claims linked to health and absenteeism
• Increased project delays from unexpected workforce gaps
• Growing liability risks for employers who fail to address known issues
Just as US lawyers warn of a“ massive legal blind spot” under workplace duty-of-care laws, South African employers could face scrutiny if preventable substance-related risks are ignored.
The solution begins with recognition. For the HVAC & R sector, that means accepting that substance misuse and mental health challenges are not abstract problems – they are realities that can quietly undermine safety, productivity and lives. One of the most important first steps is simply to gather information. Companies and industry bodies should start collecting data on mental health and substance-use challenges among technicians, because without clear evidence the problem remains invisible.
But data alone is not enough. Wellness and support programmes need to be embedded into occupational health frameworks in the same way that protective equipment or risk assessments are. Imagine if, alongside the standard safety briefing before a chiller installation, workers were also reminded of the confidential counselling services available to them. Normalising this kind of support makes it far easier for technicians to seek help early. Breathalysers would probably also help.
Supervisors also play a critical role. They are often the first to notice when a team member is struggling: turning up late, making
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EDITOR’ S COLUMN
uncharacteristic mistakes or showing signs of exhaustion. Training them to respond with compassion rather than punishment can make the difference between a technician being pushed further into isolation and one who finds the support they need.
Finally, harm-reduction strategies should not be overlooked. Overdose awareness campaigns and even simple steps like ensuring staff know what the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence( SANCA) is and how it works, can save lives. In a sector that prides itself on technical precision and safety, extending that mindset to the hidden risks of mental health and substance misuse is not just compassionate – it’ s smart business.
The US research is a warning sign: workers in skilled trades are far more at risk from invisible crises like substance misuse than from the hazards we traditionally regulate. CLA
Eamonn
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