FITTING THOUGHT 1
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Compliance
By
Tanya Olckers, writer
In this issue, we look quite strongly at compliance – particularly when it comes to ventilation. Health and Safety has definitely been at the forefront of many of our issues this year, and that ' s not by accident.
We know the value of taking care of ourselves, our staff and the safety of anyone who might wander onto our building site, but how often do we actually implement many of these things?
I recently observed a man who had been employed to fix a roof balancing a twometre ladder on a balcony in order to reach the roof. Another man was holding the ladder in place. This clearly was not something safe to do. Anything could have gone wrong. What if the man holding the ladder slipped? What if the man on the roof fell from the second-floor balcony and onto the ground?
In a task that carries as much risk as working on the roof, why was neither of the workers adhering to safety protocols? Is this simply a matter of not having had enough training for staff, or is it a case of staff outright ignoring their training?
Ultimately, all staff members need to be educated and trained on health and safety, not just in their workplace, but how it also applies to the job sites that they ' re working on, as well as in the broader sense when it comes to their finished product – as in the case of ventilation. I ' ve seen so many crazy photographs of poorly installed vents with ventilation pipes reaching just under a bathroom window, ventilation pipes opening up onto an outdoor dining area and ventilation pipes that were not even fixed in place with proper adhesive.
Yet this is such a fundamental part of plumbing. Getting it right means that the effects of harmful gasses and pathogens won’ t affect the people who live in that house or work in that building. I think part of this, from my perspective, comes from a lack of understanding on the part of the plumber, their staff or their apprentices of their fundamental role in health and well-being.
It all starts with plumbing. In order to have good medical care, we need access to clean water and effective waste removal. There can be no sterile hospitals without plumbing.
Why keep coming back to a building site to fix mistakes when it could have all been done right in the first go with ventilation and drainage? Specifically, some architects and developers forego a compliant and lawful plumbing installation for the sake of aesthetics. Ventilation pipes and gulleys are not pretty and won’ t sell properties.
Even if the plumber protests, he may feel that he is under duress to create or install things exactly the way the developer wants it, because he doesn ' t want to lose the work. Unfortunately, this is not a helpful situation to be in. The reason being is that, at the end of the day, health and well-being are being forfeited for aesthetics. PA
Tanya
Freepik. com
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October 2025 Volume 31 I Number 08 www. plumbingafrica. co. za