About MySafetyFile
We saw what was broken. We built the tool we wished existed.
Business Made Safe Holdings (Pty) Ltd identified three specific problems with how South African contractors access safety files. MySafetyFile was built to solve all three.
The problem we saw
Three things that were consistently wrong
The Construction Regulations 2014 require a compliant safety file before any construction work begins. The obligation is clear. What's not clear is how a small contractor is supposed to meet it when the traditional route is expensive, slow, and often produces documents that don't hold up to scrutiny.
Cost
Traditional safety consultants charge between R3,500 and R15,000 or more per safety file, depending on the scope. For a small electrical contractor or a sole-proprietor builder, that's a significant chunk of the project margin — sometimes more than the margin itself. Many contractors either skip the file or produce something inadequate because they can't afford the alternative.
Delivery time
A consultant who takes five to ten working days to produce a file is not an edge case — it's the norm. Contractors lose site access, miss induction dates, or turn down jobs entirely while waiting. The Department of Labour does not accept "the consultant is still busy" as a reason to start without a file.
Template quality
The majority of safety files produced by consultants are built on generic templates. The risk assessments don't reflect the actual scope of work. The legal appointments name roles that don't exist on the site. Documents are included that have nothing to do with the project — and required ones are missing. A file that looks complete but isn't will fail a Department of Labour inspection just as surely as no file at all.
How we approached it
How MySafetyFile is different
The platform was designed from first principles — starting with what a compliant safety file actually requires under South African law, and working backwards to what the generation process needs to look like. Here is what that produced.
Scope-aware document generation
The system doesn't produce a fixed set of documents for every project. It matches documents to your actual scope of work — the activities, hazards, and regulatory obligations specific to your site. If you're not doing excavation, you don't get an excavation risk assessment padded out with placeholder text. The documents you get are the ones that apply.
Grounded in the actual legislation
Every document in the file is mapped to the OHS Act 85 of 1993 and the Construction Regulations 2014. Not a loose interpretation — the specific regulation that requires each document. That grounding is what makes the files pass inspections rather than just look like they should.
AI-assisted specification analysis
Upload your project scope or tender specification and the system reads it — identifying the construction activities, hazards, and compliance obligations relevant to your project. It then recommends exactly which of the 351 documents you need, and which you don't. Nothing more, nothing less.
Proper document rendering
Files are rendered via Gotenberg to produce clean, consistently formatted PDFs — not a Word document exported to PDF with broken formatting. Every document carries a unique identification code so it can be verified as genuine.
POPIA-compliant data handling
Safety files contain personal information — worker names, ID numbers, appointment letters. The platform is built to handle that data in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013. Uploads are scanned by ClamAV before processing. Your data is not shared with third parties.
Who we are
Business Made Safe Holdings (Pty) Ltd
MySafetyFile is a division of Business Made Safe Holdings (Pty) Ltd, based in Cape Town, South Africa. We build SaaS platforms for the South African SHEQ compliance market.
Our sister product, SHEQ24, handles broader SHEQ compliance management — incident reporting, legal registers, audits, and contractor management. Together the two platforms cover the full compliance lifecycle for South African businesses.
We are a SAIOSH Corporate Member — the South African Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. SAIOSH membership requires demonstrated competency in OHS practice and adherence to a professional code of conduct.
What MySafetyFile is not
MySafetyFile is a document management and generation tool. It automates the production of safety documentation required under the OHS Act 85 of 1993 and the Construction Regulations 2014. It does not constitute the appointment of a safety officer, a responsible person, or any other role prescribed under those regulations.
The contractor remains fully responsible for site safety, for the accuracy of the information entered into the platform, and for compliance with all applicable legislation. A generated safety file is a legal document — it is the contractor's responsibility to ensure it reflects the actual conditions and scope of work on their site, and to update it as those conditions change. MySafetyFile does not provide legal advice.
Find us
Based in Cape Town
Junction Corner of Stanley & Dock RdCape Town City Centre
Cape Town, 8001
South Africainfo@mysafetyfile.co.za