Essential Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Representative Course for Low Risk Work Areas (NQF 2)
The Essential Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Representative (Low Risk Work Area) skills programme, SP-250815, prepares you to serve as an elected health and safety representative, often called a SHE rep, where hazards are lower, such as offices, schools, retail stores and healthcare facilities. You learn the legal framework, how to inspect your designated area, how to report hazards and non-compliance, how to receive and investigate employee complaints, and how to represent colleagues to the employer and the OHS committee.
It is a QCTO skills programme at NQF Level 2 with 2 credits (1 knowledge, 1 practical), and the Health and Welfare SETA (HWSETA) is the quality partner. Entry requires an NQF Level 2 qualification and six months' workplace experience in your designated work area. This essential OHS representative course is delivered from Wheelset Academy's Pretoria and Kempton Park branches, and the High Risk version has its own page.
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What the Essential OHS Representative course covers
The 2-credit skills programme is built from one knowledge module (1 credit) and one practical skill module (1 credit), each assessed against defined internal assessment criteria.
Knowledge module · 1 credit
Regulated responsibilities of an Occupational Health and Safety Representative
- The framework of workplace health and safety legislation that applies to health and safety representatives (14% of time)
- The requirements for conducting safety, health and environmental representation activities at a workplace (14%)
- How to address safety, health and environment issues within your scope of authority (14%)
- How to comply with the activities of safety, health and environmental structures (14%)
- The purpose of the OHS representative: functions in the legislation, rights and duties of employer and employees, and the rights and powers of representatives (14%)
- How OHS representatives are appointed: negotiation and consultation, designation of work places, qualification requirements, election and appointment (14%)
- How OHS committees work: structure, rights and powers, the legal duty to support them and why compliance matters (16%)
Practical skill module · 1 credit
Apply appropriate behaviours when executing the work of an OHS representative
- Inspect the workplace for hazards and compliance with OHS regulations, with attention to detail and integrity
- Receive and investigate employee complaints about health and safety, with empathy and integrity
- Assist in investigating workplace incidents to find root causes and recommend corrective actions, with analytical thinking and objectivity
- Facilitate training sessions that educate employees on OHS practices and procedures, with clear communication and commitment
Learners who complete both modules and pass the required assessments receive a QCTO skills programme certificate. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is available for learners who can show the required competencies.
Behaviour is assessed as well as knowledge
Each practical activity in this programme names the behaviour you are expected to show: attention to detail, integrity, empathy, objectivity, clear communication and commitment. You are assessed in a simulated environment with incident reports, inspection checklists and communication tools, so how you inspect and speak is part of the result.
Inspect and report
Walk a simulated workplace, spot hazards and non-compliance, and report your findings accurately without leaving anything out.
Listen and investigate
Receive a colleague's safety concern with empathy, document it truthfully and follow up with appropriate action.
Represent and train
Raise OHS matters with the employer or OHS committee in an open-minded, assertive way, and help colleagues understand safe practice.
Inspections, complaints, incident investigation and training in practice
- Explain your regulated role as an elected OHS representative in a low-risk workplace
- Identify and report potential hazards in your designated work area
- Help review whether existing OHS measures are working
- Walk through the workplace using an inspection checklist
- Record non-compliance and report it to the right workplace authority
- Receive and document an employee health and safety complaint
- Take part in an incident investigation and suggest corrective actions
- Raise OHS matters with the employer or OHS committee
- Explain how OHS representatives are appointed and how committees function
- Spot where a representative's rights or duties are ignored or exceeded
- Support clear OHS communication in your work area
- Facilitate a short OHS awareness session for colleagues
Health and safety representatives under the OHS Act
The role this skills programme trains you for comes from the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993. Sections 17, 18 and 19 set out when an employer must have representatives, what a representative may do and when a health and safety committee is required. Here is a plain-language summary.
Section 17: who and how many
- An employer with more than 20 employees at a workplace must designate health and safety representatives in writing for a specified period
- Only full-time employees who know the conditions and activities of the workplace or section can be designated
- At least one representative for every 100 employees (or part thereof) in shops and offices, and one for every 50 in all other workplaces
- Representative activities, including training, take place during ordinary working hours
Section 18: what a representative does
- Review whether health and safety measures are effective
- Identify potential hazards and potential major incidents
- Examine the causes of incidents with the employer
- Investigate employee complaints about health or safety at work
- Make representations to the employer, the committee or, if those fail, an inspector
- Inspect the workplace at agreed intervals and accompany inspectors
Sections 18 and 19: support and committees
- The employer must provide the facilities, assistance and training a representative reasonably requires
- A representative is not civilly liable only because they failed to do something the Act allows or requires
- Where two or more representatives are designated, the employer must establish a health and safety committee
- The committee must meet as often as necessary, and at least once every three months
This is a summary for information, not legal advice. It reflects the text of the Act as originally published, so check the current consolidated Act and any amendments. Read the Occupational Health and Safety Act on gov.za.
Who this OHS representative course is for
You do not need a safety background. You need to work in a low-risk area and be willing to speak up for your colleagues.
Is the Essential programme right for you?
- You are elected, nominated or about to be appointed as a health and safety (SHE) representative
- You work in an office, school, retail store or healthcare facility, where hazards are lower
- You hold an NQF Level 2 qualification and have worked six months in your designated work area
- You are already a representative and want recognised, credit-bearing training
- You are an employer or HR manager who needs to train staff you have designated under the Act
By the end you will be able to
- Identify and report potential hazards in your designated low-risk work area
- Help review the effectiveness of OHS measures
- Explain how to take part in incident investigations
- Receive and investigate employee complaints about health and safety
- Make representations to the employer or OHS committee and escalate where needed
- Inspect the workplace for compliance and report non-compliance to the right authority
- Support clear, effective OHS communication in your work area
If your workplace is a construction site, mine, plant or other high-risk setting, see the Intermediate OHS Representative (High Risk Work Area) course instead.
How the course is delivered, assessed and certified
The programme is delivered in a blended format and assessed at two levels: the internal criteria for each module, then the QCTO's final integrated summative assessment.
Delivery
Blended learning combines contact sessions with online or distance study. The practical module is assessed in a simulated training environment with incident reports, inspection checklists and communication tools, where you role-play the representative and respond to workplace scenarios.
Internal assessment
The knowledge module has five internal assessment criteria, including scenario questions on spotting where a representative's rights are ignored or exceeded and where appointment or committee structures are wrong. The practical module has four criteria, covering inspections, complaints, incident investigation and training.
Final assessment and certificate
The provider confirms in a statement of results that you met all internal criteria. You then sit the final integrated summative assessment, and on success the QCTO issues a skills programme certificate. Learners with prior learning can ask about Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
Other providers advertise this programme at anything from two days to several months. Wheelset Academy has not published a duration yet, so confirm the schedule with admissions.
Training the representatives you have designated
Under section 18 of the Act the employer must provide the facilities, assistance and training a representative reasonably requires. A registered QCTO skills programme gives you a defined syllabus, assessed outcomes and a statement of results to keep on each representative's file, which supports your workplace compliance and skills development records. It does not, on its own, make a workplace compliant, because designating, resourcing and supporting representatives and committees remains the employer's responsibility.
Essential (Low Risk) vs Intermediate (High Risk) OHS Representative
Wheelset Academy offers two registered OHS representative skills programmes. Use this to choose between them and to compare them with a typical one-day course.
| Consideration | Essential OHS Representative (Low Risk) | Intermediate OHS Representative (High Risk) |
|---|---|---|
| NQF level and credits | NQF Level 2, 2 credits | NQF Level 4, 6 credits |
| Work setting | Low-risk areas such as offices, retail stores, schools and healthcare facilities | High-risk areas such as construction sites, mining, oil and gas and manufacturing plants |
| Entry | NQF Level 2 and six months' experience in the designated work area | NQF Level 3 and one year's experience in the designated work area |
| Knowledge focus | Regulated duties, appointment of representatives and the role of OHS committees | The same duties at deeper level, plus risk analysis and incident investigation fundamentals |
| Practical focus | Inspections, complaints, assisting incident investigations and training colleagues | Systematic high-risk inspections, safety meetings, full incident investigations and improvement follow-up |
| Typical one-day course | A one-day course on the OHS Act and the role of representatives is common, usually without credits or an NQF level | Advanced one- or two-day representative courses often add basic risk assessment |
If you're not sure which fits your situation, contact admissions before applying — see the contact details below.
Verify this programme yourself
Page information reviewed: 25 October 2026.
Skills Programme SP-250815
This is a QCTO skills programme, identified by its Skills Programme ID (SP-250815) and curriculum code (900399-000-00-00). Skills programmes are not given a SAQA qualification ID, so be cautious of any provider that quotes one, or a different credit value, for this programme. Confirm the programme details, Wheelset Academy's provider accreditation scope and the current intake directly with the QCTO and with admissions, rather than taking any provider's word for it — including this page.
The curriculum also sets out the conditions a provider must meet: facilitators and assessors hold a qualification at least one NQF level higher than the programme and have at least two years' work experience, with a ratio of 1 facilitator to 30 learners for face-to-face training and 1 to 50 for distance learning.
Check QCTO accreditation · SAQA · Wheelset Academy accreditations page
OHS representative career pathways
The OHS representative role applies to every occupation in the workplace, so there is no single job title attached to it. The programme is designed for employees who are elected, or about to be elected, to represent colleagues on health and safety, for example:
- Elected OHS Representative
- Health and Safety Committee Member
- Office Administrator
- Teacher or School Staff Member
- Retail Store Supervisor
- Healthcare Facility Staff Member
- Team Leader
- Receptionist
For further study, the related programme is Intermediate OHS Representative (High Risk Work Area) at NQF Level 4, and Wheelset Academy's Essential OHS Compliance Ensurer and Operational OHS Risk Assessor programmes build on the same legal foundations. Confirm progression options with admissions.
Job titles vary by employer and experience. A skills programme supports career preparation but does not guarantee a specific title, salary or appointment.
Essential OHS Representative (Low Risk Work Area) course FAQs
What is the Essential OHS Representative (Low Risk Work Area) course?
It is a QCTO skills programme (SP-250815) at NQF Level 2 with 2 credits. It prepares an elected OHS or SHE representative to represent colleagues on health and safety in a low-risk workplace, inspect the work area, deal with complaints and support incident investigations.
What does an OHS representative do?
An OHS representative identifies and reports hazards, helps review whether OHS measures work, takes part in incident investigations, receives and investigates employee complaints, inspects the workplace for compliance and raises OHS matters with the employer or OHS committee.
What counts as a low-risk work area?
The curriculum gives office environments, educational institutions, retail stores and healthcare facilities as examples. If you work in construction, mining, oil and gas or a manufacturing plant, the Intermediate (High Risk) programme is the better fit.
When must an employer appoint health and safety representatives?
Under section 17 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, an employer with more than 20 employees at a workplace must designate health and safety representatives in writing for a specified period. Confirm the current text of the Act and how it applies to your workplace.
How many representatives does a workplace need?
Section 17 sets at least one representative for every 100 employees (or part thereof) in shops and offices, and at least one for every 50 employees in all other workplaces. An inspector can direct an employer to designate more.
Who can be a health and safety representative?
Under section 17, only full-time employees who are acquainted with the conditions and activities at the workplace or section can be designated. This programme also asks for an NQF Level 2 qualification and six months' experience in your designated work area.
What are the entry requirements?
You need an NQF Level 2 qualification and six months of specific workplace experience within your designated work area. If you do not meet the formal entry requirements, ask admissions about Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
Does a representative need training?
Section 18 requires the employer to provide the facilities, assistance and training a representative reasonably requires. This registered skills programme is one way to get structured, assessed training.
Does appointing a representative make my company compliant?
No. The programme trains the representative, but designation, resources, committees and management support remain the employer's duties under the Act.
Is a representative personally liable if something goes wrong?
Section 18 says a representative is not civilly liable only because they failed to do something they may do or are required to do under the Act. That is a narrow protection, so read the section or take legal advice for your situation.
When is a health and safety committee required?
Section 19 requires an employer to establish a committee where two or more representatives have been designated. The committee must meet at least once every three months.
How many credits does the programme carry, and how long does it take?
2 credits in total: 1 knowledge and 1 practical, delivered in a blended format. Providers advertise anything from two days to several months, and Wheelset Academy has not published a fixed programme duration yet, so confirm the intake structure with admissions.
How is the course assessed, and what certificate do I get?
You are assessed against internal criteria for each module and the provider issues a statement of results. You then sit the QCTO's final integrated summative assessment, and on success the QCTO issues a skills programme certificate.
What practical skills will I practise?
You practise inspecting a workplace, receiving and investigating complaints, assisting with an incident investigation and facilitating a short OHS training session, all in a simulated environment with role-play.
Is this the same as a one-day health and safety representative course?
No. Many one-day courses cover the legal basics without credits or an NQF level. This is a registered QCTO skills programme with a knowledge module and an assessed practical module.
What is the difference between an OHS representative and an OHS officer?
A representative is an elected employee who represents colleagues on health and safety in a designated area. An OHS officer is a dedicated safety role with a broader, higher-level qualification. Wheelset Academy offers a separate Occupational Health and Safety Officer qualification.
Where can I go after this programme?
The related programme is Intermediate OHS Representative (High Risk Work Area) at NQF Level 4. Essential OHS Compliance Ensurer and Operational OHS Risk Assessor are related OHS programmes. Confirm progression options with admissions.
Who quality-assures this programme?
It is a QCTO skills programme, with the Health and Welfare SETA (HWSETA) as the quality partner. Confirm Wheelset Academy's accreditation scope with admissions or the QCTO before enrolling.
How do I apply?
Review the current fees and intake information, then submit your application through Wheelset Academy's online application page. Admissions can confirm the programme duration, check your documents and confirm accreditation scope before registration is finalised.
Ready to speak up for safety where you work?
Apply for the Essential OHS Representative course, or compare it with the High Risk programme first.
Programme information reviewed: 25 October 2026. The programme identifier, curriculum code, NQF level, credit values and entry requirement above reflect the QCTO curriculum document. The legal summary reflects sections 17 to 19 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 as originally published, so check the current consolidated Act. No SAQA ID is shown because skills programmes do not carry one. The duration is not yet confirmed. Fees, intakes, delivery mode and accreditation scope can change and should be confirmed with Wheelset Academy before enrolment.