What’s up with Dept of Labour first aid now?

An opinion on changes in DEL First Aid training.

I have received so many emails over the last two weeks (end March 2021). This is a repeat of previous years when the DEL (Department of Employment and Labour) first aid training was supposed to expire. The most common and pressing question is “will there be extensions again as there were in previous years”. I had a conversation with Chief inspector Szana about this, and his statement is “no, there will be no more extensions”. This is also stated in his publically published gazette on the matter.

Next question is “as a SDP, does this mean I can no longer train DEL first aid 1,2,3?” The answer is, “yes, that training is now discontinued”. Next question is “what do I do about it” The short answer is that you need to get SETA accredited. Speak with Lime Green about this. Scores of training businesses contacted Lime Green about this and almost all of them are already accredited, training, issuing certificates, and ready for the DEL changes. Others applied late but will soon join the ranks of the prepared.

Now there are two main categoies of SDP: Those accredited and prepared for SETA-aligned first aid training…and those who are not and will suffer massive losses of income. It is the response that follows that is the point of the discussion here. What is the solution, in general, to the first aid training debacle in South Africa? Solutions may be simple…

Solution 1, work with the system:

• SDP’s can comply and train the first aid courses with a competent SETA (i.e. a competent SETA, so therefore NOT HWSETA – this is KEY)
• SDP’s can and absolutely should make use of the principles of RPL to reduce training time for each learner where possible.
• SDP’s need to be guided in what unit standards actually say: For example, what does the unit standard say about refreshers? Does it say one needs to be done every 3 years? What kind of refreshment is needed (e.g. Level 3, unit standard 376480 says “…through re-assessment”). So this means you as an SDP can assess the learner, use evidence gathering and RPL, and only re-train where remedial is required (eg. if the learner came to you mostly competent, use lots of RPL).
• Note that a notional hour and an hour on a clock are not equal. Notional hours are a guideline as to what time span it takes to gain a competency through training. It does not mean that a learner needs to have their bum on a seat for a full 10 hours per credit.

This can be summarised as “know the system, be practical, and act as a provider who has the best interest of a potential casualty in mind”

Solution 2: Create new systems while working with the existing one.

Among the response to the changes in first aid training have been responses from SAIOSH. SAIOSH act in the best interest of their members and in the best interest of OHS. SAIOSH have formed a committee and have advocated for and achieved extensions to the deadline for DEL first aid 1,2,3 in the past. For this their members are understandably grateful and were able to train DEL first aid for longer.

It is my own personal (and possibly controversial) opinion that the DEL training should actually fall away – as has happened – and should have done so some time back. I’ll reserve expanding on that here, but many of those reasons echo DEL and the Chief inspector’s statements on the matter. As an aside I believe SAIOSH may be looking into replacing the SETA system with a different quality assurance system for first aid. This is a great idea, but one should bear in mind that accreditation is like currency. The NQF system is a ‘currency’ that is not perfect, but is established and recognised. To replace it with a different ‘currency’; that currency must be recognised to the same extent.

A significant amount of energy has been channelled by SAIOSH and SDP’s alike into delaying this DEL / SETA change, and pointing out (very real and very valid) issues with the unit standard aligned training. I wonder in my personal capacity if the sum total of energy spent on this could have rather been channelled into simply creating solutions that align with the DEL and SETA regulations.

Sure, this seems like an inappropriate thing to say by someone who appears to ‘have done nothing about it themselves’, but is that the case? Lime Green has not formed any committees but has met the problem at the point of contact with the client. Lime Green is involved in the writing and registration of new curriculums with QCTO where this is necessary. For first aid, it might not be necessary at all if the material and management of courses is streamlined and RPL is properly used. And if it is necessary to write a new curriculum for first aid, it can be written and regsitered.

Note that:

1. All clients who hired Lime Green and engaged in the process to achieve accreditation achieved it and are not negatively impacted by these long anticipated changes. They should lose zero income because of them. In fact they are now in a decidedly better market position.
2. All clients using Lime Green training material have very easy to use systems that allow them to comply quickly through streamlined document systems.  
3. All clients who hired Lime Green (of whom almost all are small and very small businesses) were assisted at very reasonable cost, and achieved only the unit standards they wanted, rather than taking on more unit standards ‘just because they are packaged that way by a SETA (a common error less savvy accreditation consultants make which drives up costs for applicants).

But most importantly, Lime Green has helped all it’s clients avoid the main stumbling block applicants have come up against: HWSETA.

The most common reason clients tell me they did not achieve accreditation with a SETA in time is because they started with HWSETA and tried to process the application themselves. HWSETA needs to stop misrepresenting themselves as a competent and functional organisation. If SDP’s knew beforehand that this organisation has for all intents and purposes become defunct of late, they’d start with a different SETA and a competent accreditation consultant and realise their goal of becoming accredited to train and issue certificates in first aid, fire, OHS, HIV, and more.  

Please feel free to discuss, disagree, or even argue any points mentioned here with me. I’d love to chat and if you are a SDP, I’d love to hear what your challenges are and offer assistance where I can.  

Regards

Reuben Jensen (accreditation consultant, Lime Green).

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