By Eamonn Ryan
As health and safety expectations rise in South Africa’s HVAC industry, audits and tender requirements are becoming sharper – and more demanding. In the SAIRAC workshop on empowering HVAC leaders, contractors described being asked for detailed incident statistics, facing inconsistent audit expectations, and wrestling with whether to bring in third‑party safety consultants. Health and safety officer Tegan Beer situates these pressures within a broader picture of leadership and real compliance. This is part six of a ten-part series.
First, audits are no longer an occasional, box‑ticking exercise. On some projects, contractors are required to
External, third‑party safety consultants and auditors can then provide independent verification.
Pressfoto | Magnific.com
submit formal incident records from bodies such as FEM, including breakdowns of incident types and severities as part of the tender process. This effectively turns safety performance into a competitive factor alongside price and technical capability.
Beer’s core message is that if safety is led properly from the top, audits become far less intimidating. “Your leadership ensures not only compliance but also a culture where safety is valued, risks are reduced, and reputations are strengthened,” says Beer.
She notes that many HVAC companies cannot rely on the principal contractor or client to drive the audit agenda. In her own experience, site audits by PCs and clients have dropped off significantly, leaving subcontractors to take more responsibility for their own internal checks.
That is where internal audits and smart use of external consultants come in.
Internally, Beer stresses the need for regular compliance checks (for example, every 30 days) across all divisions: projects, fire, electrical, service and maintenance. These checks confirm that the safety file is not just correct on paper, but that appointments, inspections, toolbox talks and risk assessments are actually happening.
“When a client or a PC does not audit, and we are a subcontractor, it is your responsibility as a subcontractor to have your file audited,” she notes.
External, third‑party safety consultants and auditors can then provide independent verification. Several participants in the workshop shared that they deliberately separated the audit function from their own company to avoid blind spots and internal pressure. An external auditor is more likely to identify shortcuts, missing records or systemic gaps that internal teams might overlook.
Beer supports the use of consultants, but with a warning: contractors must vet them carefully. She cautions against ‘tick‑box’ consultants who are more interested in their fee than in raising real standards. For audits to add value, consultants must understand the actual risks of HVAC work – from cranes and scaffolding to refrigerant handling and occupied environments – and be willing to challenge the business where necessary.
Underpinning all of this is Beer’s insistence that safety cannot be treated as a last‑minute hurdle to clear before mobilisation.
“This workshop is about equipping you with clarity, confidence, and practical insight to embed safety into every decision that you make,” says Beer.
For HVAC contractors, that means:
- Treating incident statistics as strategic indicators, not just paperwork for tenders
- Running consistent internal audits that mirror what clients and regulators will look for
- Using third‑party consultants to raise the bar, not to rubber‑stamp weak systems
When leaders adopt this approach, audits become less about fear of being caught out and more about confirming the strength of a safety culture that protects workers, wins tenders and sustains the business.
