Skip to content
Colab Training – Health & Safety Training & Services

Occupational physical agents

Understand and manage physical-agent exposure in your workplace

Practical support for employers and SHE professionals: identify exposure hazards, assess the risk, put sensible controls in place, train your people and keep the right records.

Request an assessment or training quoteLegal context and sources

Overview

What are occupational physical agents?

Physical agents are sources of energy at work that can harm people when exposure is too high or poorly controlled. Managing them well reduces ill health, lost time and disruption — and gives you clear evidence of the steps you have taken.

Physical agents

Forms of energy that can harm the body — for example heat, cold, vibration, poor lighting and non-ionising radiation. Noise is a physical agent but is covered by its own regulations.

Chemical hazards

Substances such as solvents, dusts, fumes, gases and corrosives that can be inhaled, absorbed or ingested. Managed under separate hazardous chemical agent regulations.

Biological hazards

Living organisms or their products — bacteria, viruses, fungi, blood and body fluids. Managed under separate biological agent regulations.

Exposure scenarios

Where exposure may occur

Typical examples only. Whether an exposure is significant depends on your work, duration and controls.

Heat stress

Foundries, bakeries, kitchens, boiler rooms, outdoor construction and agricultural work in summer.

Cold stress

Cold rooms, freezers, cold-chain warehousing and outdoor winter work.

Vibration

Handheld power tools (hand-arm) and earthmoving equipment, forklifts or trucks (whole-body).

Illumination

Warehouses, workshops, offices, loading bays and exterior yards with poor or uneven lighting.

Indoor air quality

Enclosed offices, call centres and buildings with mechanical ventilation.

Non-ionising radiation

Welding arcs, UV curing, lasers, outdoor sun exposure and radio-frequency equipment.

Employer support

Workplace assessment services

[Service scope to be confirmed by the provider.]

Initial workplace walk-through

Identify where physical agents may be present and which work activities, areas and people are affected.

Exposure risk assessment support

Help structure and document a risk assessment, using available information and your existing records.

Control measure review

Review engineering, administrative and PPE controls against the hierarchy of controls and suggest practical improvements.

Exposure measurement and specialist coordination

Formal measurements are taken by an accredited consultant working with us. Where occupational hygiene, medical surveillance or other specialist input is needed, we help you scope the work and brief an appropriately qualified provider.

Guidance versus specialist work

What we provide

  • Education, awareness and general guidance
  • Help structuring risk assessments and records
  • Practical control and follow-up recommendations
  • Formal exposure measurements, taken by an accredited consultant working with us

May require qualified or registered practitioners

  • Medical screening and medical surveillance
  • Occupational hygiene assessments outside our consultant's scope
  • Radiation and other specialist work

Formal exposure measurements are conducted in accordance with the Physical Agents Regulations by a SAIOH-registered Occupational Hygiene professional. Consultant credentials and registration details are provided upon quotation.

Training

Training and awareness options

Delivered on-site or online. Accreditation is stated per course only where verified.

Employee awareness sessions

What physical agents are, how they can cause harm, warning signs and how to use controls and PPE.

Supervisor and SHE rep briefings

Spotting exposure risks, reporting defective controls and supporting the risk assessment process.

Management overview

An overview of the Regulations' structure and the employer's decisions involved in managing exposure.

Documentation and follow-up

Keep records that show what you've done

Good records support decision-making, audits and continual improvement.

  • Risk assessment templates and registers
  • Control measure maintenance and inspection checklists
  • Training attendance records
  • Action plans with owners and target dates
  • Periodic review and follow-up visits

Legal context

South African legislation — summary

General information only, not legal advice. Last reviewed 25 October 2026. Always check the official Government Gazette.

  1. The Physical Agents Regulations, 2024 were made under section 43 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act 85 of 1993) and published as Government Notice 5952 on 6 March 2025. [1][3]
  2. The Regulations cover topics including information and training, exposure risk assessment, exposure monitoring, medical screening and surveillance, cold stress, heat stress, illumination, indoor air quality, vibration, occupational non-ionising radiation, control measures, PPE and records. [1]
  3. They apply to employers and self-employed persons whose work may expose a person to a physical agent, and to designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers of plant and machinery for use at a workplace (regulation 2). [1][4]
  4. Noise is dealt with in the separate Noise Exposure Regulations, 2024 (Government Notice 5953), published in the same Gazette. They replace the Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Regulations, 2003, which regulation 18 repeals 18 months after promulgation. [4]
  5. Regulation 21 provides that the Environmental Regulations for Workplaces, 1987 (Government Notice R. 2281 of 16 October 1987) will be repealed 18 months after promulgation of the Physical Agents Regulations. Counting from publication on 6 March 2025, this points to about 6 September 2026. The Regulations do not state the exact date, so a legal adviser should confirm whether the 1987 Regulations have now ceased to apply. [1][4] Expert verification required before publication
  6. Government Notice 7149 of 20 February 2026 amended the Regulations, including the electromagnetic field exposure table and illumination tables. [2]

Sources (reviewed 25 October 2026)

  1. [1]Physical Agents Regulations, 2024 — Government Notice 5952, Government Gazette 52226 (6 March 2025)
  2. [2]Amendment to the Physical Agents Regulations — Government Notice 7149, Government Gazette 54177 (20 February 2026)
  3. [3]LawLibrary consolidated text and history — Physical Agents Regulations, 2024
  4. [4]ENSafrica commentary (11 March 2025) — Physical Agents, Noise Exposure and General Safety Regulations

This summary must be reviewed by a legal or occupational hygiene professional before publication.

Get started

Request an assessment or training quotation

Tell us about your site, the activities involved and what you need.

Request a consultation

Fields marked * are required.

We use your contact details and enquiry to respond and prepare a proposal. Please do not include identity numbers, medical information or other sensitive personal information.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Do you carry out formal exposure measurements?

Yes. Formal exposure measurements are conducted in accordance with the Physical Agents Regulations by a SAIOH-registered Occupational Hygiene professional. Consultant credentials and registration details are provided upon quotation. Where a measurement falls outside that scope, we tell you and help you brief a suitable provider.

Is your training accredited?

Accreditation is confirmed per course. Unless a course page states verified accreditation, treat the training as awareness training.

Will your assessment make us compliant?

No assessment or training on its own guarantees legal compliance. We help you understand risks and put practical controls and records in place; legal compliance remains the employer's responsibility.

Do you provide medical surveillance?

Medical screening and surveillance must be done by suitably qualified occupational health practitioners. We can help you plan for it, but we do not provide medical services.

Are noise and lighting covered by the same regulations?

Lighting (illumination) is in the Physical Agents Regulations, 2024. Noise has its own Noise Exposure Regulations, 2024. Confirm the current position with the official Gazette before relying on this.