Two years and counting. That’s how long South Africa’s proposed overhaul of the Hazardous Chemical Agents Regulations has sat in draft form since public comment closed — longer than the Draft Construction Regulations we covered earlier in this series have been waiting, and with no finalisation date in sight. If you manufacture, import, supply, or use hazardous chemicals in a South African workplace, you’re currently operating under a 2021 framework while a more stringent replacement sits unresolved in the background.

This post traces the arc from the 1995 regulations, through the 2021 overhaul that replaced them, to what the stalled 2024 draft would change if it’s ever finalised.

1. The 1995 Model

The Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations, 1995 (Government Notice R.1179, 25 August 1995) were the framework South African workplaces operated under for over 25 years. They predate the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) becoming the international standard, which meant South African chemical labelling and safety data sheet practice had drifted out of step with how the rest of the world classified and communicated chemical hazards by the time a replacement was finally gazetted.

2. The 2021 Regulations: A GHS-Aligned Overhaul

The Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2021 (Government Notice R.280, Government Gazette No. 44348, 29 March 2021) repealed the 1995 regulations and rebuilt the framework around GHS classification. Worth flagging directly: the regulations’ own repeal clause, as published in the 2024 draft text, cites the 2021 regulations under a different notice number (GN R.11263 of 29 April 2021) than the original promulgation notice cited by independent legal commentary (GN R.280, GG 44348, 29 March 2021). This kind of cross-referencing inconsistency has shown up before in this series — see our General Safety Regulations post — and it’s worth confirming against the primary gazette text directly if the exact citation matters for your records.

Key features of the 2021 framework:

• GHS-based classification — employers, manufacturers, and importers must determine whether a chemical agent is a hazardous chemical agent (HCA) using GHS cut-off values, then carry out a GHS classification
• A 16-heading Safety Data Sheet requirement, prepared by the manufacturer or importer before or immediately after manufacture, and kept current whenever new hazard data emerges
• Scope extends beyond employers — for the first time under this specific framework, manufacturers, importers, suppliers, and retailers all carry direct duties, not just the workplace using the chemical
• Medical surveillance provisions carried over largely unchanged from 1995, with named HCAs (including acetone, benzene, fluorides, lead, mercury, and uranium) listed in the regulations’ own annexure tables

An April 2022 amendment added Regulations 14A (Safety Data Sheets) and 14B (Labelling), aligning both with GHS Revision 8 — these became compulsory from 30 September 2023, roughly 18 months after the amendment. That phased effective date, separate from the regulations’ main promulgation, is a pattern worth watching for in the draft below too.

3. The Draft 2024 Regulations: Where Things Currently Stand

The Department of Employment and Labour published the Draft Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents (Notice No. R.4598, Government Gazette No. 50431) on 5 April 2024. Public comment closed 5 July 2024. As of this writing — more than two years later — the draft has not been finalised or promulgated. Unlike the Construction Regulations draft, which at least has an active, ongoing public conversation around it, this one has gone notably quiet.

What the draft would change, based on the published text and industry commentary at the time:

• Adopts GHS Revision 10 (2023), up from Revision 8 — a further classification update, not a one-off
• Adds new hazard classes: Explosives and Desensitised Explosives are added to the Physical Hazards table, categories not covered under the current framework
• Revises Occupational Exposure Limits, Restricted Exposure Limits, and Biological Exposure Indices across the board, and adds a dedicated table of prohibited chemical agents — a new category of substances essentially banned from workplace use rather than merely regulated
• Introduces an annual crystalline silica exposure reporting requirement — a genuinely new administrative obligation, not present in the current 2021 framework, requiring a dedicated report to be submitted annually rather than simply monitored internally
• Would repeal three separate instruments at once on the standard 18-month post-promulgation timeline: the 2021 Regulations, their 2022 amendment, and the older Occupational Exposure for Silica notice (independent sources give this as Government Notice 32930 of 5 February 2010; the draft’s own repeal text as extracted from the gazette shows “5 February 2012” — another citation discrepancy worth confirming against the primary source rather than treating either date as certain)

4. What This Means in Practice

For anyone in silica-exposed industries specifically — mining, construction, foundries, stone and concrete work: the annual reporting requirement is the single most concrete new obligation in this draft, and it’s worth building the reporting capability now rather than scrambling once (or if) the draft is promulgated. Given South Africa has separately tightened silica exposure limits under the Mine Health and Safety Regulations in March 2025, the direction of regulatory travel on silica specifically is unambiguous even while this particular draft remains stalled.

For manufacturers and importers: GHS classification isn’t a one-time exercise under either the current or draft framework — Revision 8 to Revision 10 is a real, substantive jump, and SDS and labelling content tied to an outdated GHS revision becomes a compliance gap the moment a newer draft is finalised, not gradually.

For everyone relying on the current 2021 framework: don’t wait for the draft. Given how long it’s already sat unresolved, treat the current regulations — not the draft — as the operative compliance standard for planning purposes, while building enough flexibility into your documentation and reporting systems that adopting GHS Revision 10 and the new prohibited-agents list won’t require a ground-up rebuild whenever finalisation eventually happens.

For everyone tracking this series: this is now the second regulation we’ve covered with a public draft sitting unresolved for an extended period — the Construction Regulations and now this one. That’s a pattern worth naming: South Africa’s OHS regulatory pipeline currently has more in motion, unfinished, than most compliance calendars account for.

The Bottom Line

The 2021 overhaul did the hard work of bringing South African hazardous chemical regulation into GHS alignment. The 2024 draft would push that further — tighter exposure limits, a genuine new reporting obligation for silica, and a jump to a newer GHS revision — but “would” is doing a lot of work in that sentence two years after public comment closed with no resolution. If your systems are still built around the 1995-era assumptions the 2021 regulations were meant to replace, that’s the gap to close first. The draft is worth watching, not waiting for.

This is the fifth post in AOAL Consulting Services’ regulatory series on South African HSE legislation. See also our posts on the Physical Agents Regulations, 2024, becoming a Competent Person under the Physical Agents Regulations, the Noise Exposure Regulations, 2024, the Draft Construction Regulations 2025, and the General Safety Regulations, 2025 amendments.

Not sure whether your current SDS and labelling practices actually match GHS Revision 8 — let alone what Revision 10 would require if the draft is finalised? Most companies don’t know where to start. AOAL Consulting Services is offering a free virtual gap analysis of your legal register. No cost, no obligation.

This article is for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Given the citation discrepancies noted above, AOAL recommends confirming exact gazette notice numbers and dates against the primary source text before relying on them for formal compliance documentation.

Join our subscribers

Stay in the loop with everything you need to know regarding Quality, Health, Safety, and Environmental (QHSE) and legal compliance consulting services in South Africa.

Subscribe

References

Department of Labour (1995) Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations, Government Notice R.1179, 25 August 1995. Pretoria: Government Printer.

Department of Employment and Labour (2021) Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2021, Government Notice R.280, Government Gazette No. 44348, 29 March 2021. Pretoria: Government Printer.

Department of Employment and Labour (2024) Draft Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, Notice No. R.4598, Government Gazette No. 50431, 5 April 2024. Pretoria: Government Printer. Available at: https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202404/50431rg11687gon4598.pdf (Accessed: 4 September 2026).

Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993. Pretoria: Government Printer.

UL Solutions (2024) South Africa Publishes Draft of HCA Regulation. Available at: https://www.ul.com/news/south-africa-publishes-draft-hca-regulation (Accessed: 4 September 2026).

Shangoni (2021) Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2021 Published. Available at: https://shangoni.co.za/regulations-for-hazardous-chemical-agents-2021-published/ (Accessed: 4 September 2026).

Apex Environmental (2025) What Are the Hazardous Chemical Agents Regulations?. Available at: https://apexenviro.co.za/what-are-the-hazardous-chemical-agents-regulations/ (Accessed: 4 September 2026).

African Mining Market (2025) Implementing South Africa’s New Occupational Exposure Limit for Silica Dust. Available at: https://africanminingmarket.com/implementing-south-africa-new-occupational-exposure-limit-for-silica-dust/24020/ (Accessed: 4 September 2026).