Standards · Webber Wentzel briefing
Webber Wentzel briefing · PAR enforcement
Legal briefing on the enforcement of the Physical Agents Regulations under the OHS Act — penalties, director liability, and how recent amendments compare to the 1987 baseline.
Penalty regime
Under the original 1987 OHS Act, fines were nominal — typically a few thousand rand even for serious non-compliance. Post-2024 amendments indexed these to National Treasury rates and added criminal liability for directors who knew or ought to have known about the non-compliance.
Director liability
If a workplace incident occurs and the inspectorate finds emergency-lighting non-compliance contributed, the directors of the company can face individual prosecution. This is the lever that makes PAR a board-level concern, not just a facilities-management concern.
Insurance exposure
Most commercial property insurance policies require compliance with applicable statutory requirements. Non-compliance with PAR may void cover for fire or evacuation-related claims — your broker will confirm. The legal opinion: assume non-compliance voids cover unless you can prove otherwise.
Where this is referenced
We paraphrase the legal opinion as "recent legal analysis" in customer-facing materials while citation rights are confirmed. The original Webber Wentzel briefing is held on file and available on request to qualifying specifiers and property owners.
For specifiers
How to use this
When a client asks "why now?" the answer is the combination of (1) PAR effective date 5 September 2026, (2) updated OHS Act penalty regime, (3) director liability, and (4) insurance exposure. Lead with the human and commercial consequence, not the regulation.