Frequently Asked Questions

SafetyQuest is a cloud-based tool that helps South African construction subcontractors put together a complete, print-ready Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) safety file in minutes instead of days. You enter your project and company details, and SafetyQuest generates method statements, risk assessments, legal appointments, a health & safety plan, an emergency procedure and a full set of compliance registers. It then compiles everything into a single PDF you can submit on site.

SafetyQuest is built for subcontractors working under a principal contractor on a construction site: electrical, plumbing, plastering, painting, scaffolding, general building and similar crews. The documents are written from a subcontractor's point of view and defer to the principal contractor's site arrangements where those apply, so they fit how you actually work.

No. SafetyQuest is made for business owners and site supervisors, not safety consultants. It guides you step by step, asks plain-language questions about your work, and handles the technical drafting for you. If you can describe the tasks your team performs on site, you can build a safety file.

Most users produce a baseline safety file in under 15 minutes once they have their project and company details ready. The AI generates your method statements and risk assessments in the background while you fill in the rest.

Yes. SafetyQuest content is built around the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, the Construction Regulations 2014, and the relevant SANS standards. The documents use the correct South African terminology, legal appointment roles and register formats that principal contractors and OHS auditors expect to see.

SafetyQuest cuts the time and cost of producing your paperwork, and for many smaller subcontractors it covers everything they need. It is a documentation tool, not a person. You remain responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide and for implementing the controls on site. Many users still run the finished file past their safety officer for a final sign-off.

Because you're a subcontractor, things like site assembly points, evacuation routes, the alarm system and the emergency drill schedule are the principal contractor's responsibility under Construction Regulation 29, and are communicated to you at site induction. SafetyQuest deliberately defers to the principal contractor's site plan for these items rather than inventing details you have no authority to set. The platform only asserts what you genuinely own: your own personnel, appointments, first-aiders, method statements and risk assessments.

We maintain and update the underlying templates and legal references so your documents reflect current South African OHS requirements. Because your files live in the cloud, you always work from the latest version.

A complete safety file, including:

• Method statements (one per task, with ordered work steps)
• Risk assessments and a colour-coded risk matrix
• Baseline hazard identification
• Legal appointments (the standard SA OHS roles)
• A Health & Safety Plan
• A Fall Protection Plan where applicable
• An Emergency Procedure
• Toolbox talks
• A full set of attendance, incident, training, PPE and equipment registers

You choose which sections to include and the order they appear in.

Yes. SafetyQuest gives you a starting point, and every document is editable. Add your company logo and details, adjust the wording, add or remove tasks, and reorder sections to suit each project.

When you describe your project tasks, SafetyQuest uses AI to draft method statements and matching risk assessments tailored to that work. You review and refine the output, and you can regenerate or add statements for new tasks at any time. You stay in control of the final content.

Yes. SafetyQuest includes a personnel module where you store staff details, training certificates, work experience and PPE issuances. It also flags missing signatures before you compile your file.

Yes. SafetyQuest includes a remote e-signing workflow. Send a secure link to your personnel to sign appointments and acknowledge policies, and the platform produces signed PDFs with an audit trail. No printing, scanning or chasing paper.

You can see current plans and pricing on our pricing page. Plans are priced for small and growing subcontractors.

Yes. Create an account to get started, then build your first file to see how it works.

Yes. SafetyQuest lets you manage multiple companies under a single login and switch between them, which is ideal if you operate more than one entity or manage files on behalf of others.

Your data is stored securely and is used only to generate and manage your safety files. We take privacy seriously and comply with POPIA. See our Privacy Policy for full details on how we handle your information.

Yes. SafetyQuest works in your browser on any device, so you can review files, update personnel and manage signatures from the office or the site.

Your safety files remain yours. Before cancelling you can download and keep the print-ready PDFs of everything you've created.

Visit our contact page to reach the team and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.