10 ASSOCIATIONS
Introducing IOPSA ’ s health and safety practitioner
By
Eamonn Ryan
Many plumbers have heard his voice as presenter of the weekly IOPSA ArticulateIT Tuesday Toolbox Talk , or at Plumbers ’ Evenings . Chris Coetzee – director of OHS Savvy Consulting ( Pty ) Ltd , HSE Member of IOPSA and Technical Member of SAIOSH – sees the role of plumbers as “ putting life into a building and taking death out ”. His role is much the same .
Chris Coetzee has worked along with training facilities as an assessor to provide SAQA Unit Standard training on various subjects . He is currently working as an Occupational Health and Safety Practitioner assisting IOPSA / FEM as well as member companies with OHS related issues . He is the presenter of FEM Tuesday toolbox talks . Coetzee specialises in Fall Protection Plans , Hazard Identification and Risk Assessments , Incident and Accident Investigations and Safety Management Systems / ISO .
His evolution to IOPSA ’ s HSE officer started nine years ago when he was a Starbreak Windscreen Repairs franchise owner , something he says already placed him on the fringes of the business of safety . “ I later moved from Durban to Hartbeespoort for family reasons , where a good friend of mine was heavily involved in Occupational Health and Safety ( OHS ) training . I have a penchant for public speaking , something I ’ ve nurtured since age thirteen and later when I cultivated it preaching as a Jehovah ’ s Witness minister , and which has stood me in good stead in training .
“ I started by attending OHS classes to gain competence and soon began delivering classes myself . At that point I could not assess people , and I realised if I wanted to take this seriously , I would need to set about getting accredited as a facilitator , assessor and moderator .” It was his skill as a public speaker that led to him being called back time and again by companies such as Eskom and Transnet . He ( and his wife ) trained with a local company Agisanang SA for two years , sometimes working in conjunction with an OHS training and assessing firm called Transvaal Training .
He caught the OHS bug with time and read as many books and attended as many courses as possible . “ On any free day I had I would go and attend a course , eventually totalling over 50 ; from basic firefighting to working on cranes . Fortunately , I love studying – so this was no penance . On each course I would register to become an assessor so I could start training on that subject matter . I am currently accredited with ETDP seta as well as a Practitioner with SAIOSH .”
© Eamonn Ryan
Chris Coetzee is director of OHS Savvy Consulting ( Pty ) Ltd , HSE Member of IOPSA and Technical Member of SAIOSH .
At this point he decided to complement his training skills with a more legalistic focus on the OHS Act and Mine Health and Safety Act . “ This veered me more to the actual implementation of management systems to help people understand where the function of each person fits in to the overall health and safety management system and policies .”
www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline March 2021 Volume 27 I Number 1