General Machinery Regulations 2025: What's Changing and How to Prepare

The draft General Machinery Regulations 2025 (GMR 2025) have put South African employers on notice. If your operation uses machinery governed by the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the proposed changes will affect who you appoint as a competent person, what equipment you must register, and how you maintain and safeguard it. The draft was published for comment and, although the final regulations may differ once promulgated, understanding the direction of travel now gives you time to prepare. This article summarises the current framework, what the General Machinery Regulations 2025 draft proposes, the implications for operations, the expected timeline, and how to get ready — including how a CMMS supports machinery registers, competent-person oversight, and audit-ready records.

Background: The Current GMR Under the OHS Act

The General Machinery Regulations (GNR 354 of 1988, as amended) are made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993. They apply to employers and persons in control of premises where machinery is used. The regulations require that machinery be suitable for its purpose, properly installed and maintained, and that dangerous parts be safeguarded. Employers must designate a competent person in writing for each premises where machinery is used. That person is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act and the regulations: machinery must be maintained in a safe condition, safety devices must be kept in working order, and records of examinations and maintenance may be required. The current definition of a competent person has historically been interpreted to include persons with specific qualifications or experience, and the regulations list certain machinery (e.g. boilers, pressure vessels, lifts, escalators) that attract additional inspection and certification requirements. Many South African operations already align their maintenance and record-keeping with these duties; for a fuller picture of employer obligations under the OHS Act, see our guide on OHS Act maintenance requirements in South Africa.

What the 2025 Draft Changes

The draft General Machinery Regulations 2025 propose several material changes that affect who may be appointed as a competent person, how many such persons are required, which machinery is in scope, and how safeguarding is defined. Because this is draft legislation, the following reflects the draft as published for comment; the final GMR 2025 may differ after consideration of submissions and promulgation.

New Competent-Person Definition: Learnerships In, Graduate-Engineer Route Out

The draft revises the definition of a competent person. Under the proposed wording, persons who have completed a relevant learnership (or equivalent structured learning programme) and have the practical experience specified in the regulations would qualify as competent persons for the purposes of the GMR. By contrast, the draft removes or narrows the route that allowed graduate engineers (or similar academic qualifications alone) to be designated as competent persons without the prescribed practical training or experience. The intent appears to be to tie competency more clearly to both formal learning and hands-on experience, and to recognise learnerships as a valid path into the role. For employers, this means reviewing how your current designated persons were appointed and planning for future appointments: learnership graduates with the right experience may become a key pipeline, while relying solely on a graduate engineer without the prescribed practical component may no longer be sufficient.

Full-Time Competent Person Required per Premises

The draft proposes that a competent person be appointed full-time for each premises where machinery falling under the regulations is used. Shared or part-time appointments across multiple sites may no longer satisfy the requirement. Operations with several plants or branches would need a dedicated competent person at each premises (or at least one per premises as defined in the draft). This has direct resourcing implications: hiring or training enough competent persons to cover each location, and ensuring they are on site full-time rather than splitting time across sites.

Extended Machinery Scope: More Equipment Types Covered

The draft expands the scope of machinery and equipment subject to the regulations. Additional equipment types and categories are included, so that assets which might previously have been treated as outside the strict GMR regime could fall inside it. That means more items may need to be on your machinery register, subject to the same inspection, maintenance, and safeguarding standards, and linked to the designated competent person’s oversight. Operations will need to audit their current asset list against the new scope and update their machinery register so that nothing regulated is missed. The exact list will depend on the final promulgated text, but the direction is clear: expect to register and maintain more equipment than under the current regime.

Updated Safeguarding Requirements

The draft updates requirements for guarding and safeguarding of dangerous parts of machinery. Standards and specifications for guards, interlocks, and other safety measures may be clarified or tightened. Employers will need to ensure that existing machinery is reviewed against these requirements and that any gaps are addressed through physical safeguards, procedures, or both. Maintenance of safeguards — ensuring guards are in place and functioning after repair or modification — remains central and should be reflected in procedures and work orders.

Implications for Operations

The combined effect of these changes is significant for anyone in control of premises with machinery.

Hiring and training competent persons. If the full-time-per-premises and new competency definition are adopted, you will need enough people who meet the revised definition and can be appointed full-time at each site. Investing in learnerships and structured practical training, and retaining staff who qualify, becomes more important. Succession planning for the competent-person role should allow for the lead time required to complete learnerships and gain the required experience.

Updating the machinery register. The extended scope means your register must be reviewed and updated so that every item of machinery that falls under the new scope is listed, with location, responsible person, and inspection and maintenance schedules. Gaps in the register create compliance and safety risk.

Reviewing maintenance procedures. Safeguarding and maintenance procedures should be aligned with the updated requirements. Work orders and PM schedules should explicitly cover inspection and maintenance of guards and safety devices, and completion records should be kept so that the competent person and management can demonstrate ongoing compliance. Where machinery has been modified or relocated, procedures should be updated and re-approved by the competent person so that the register and the physical reality stay in step.

Timeline: Draft, Comment, and Expected Promulgation

The draft General Machinery Regulations 2025 were published for public comment. The comment period closed in November 2025. The Department of Employment and Labour (or the relevant minister) will consider submissions and may amend the draft before promulgation. There is no fixed date for the final GMR 2025 to be gazetted; once promulgated, the regulations may come into force immediately or on a date specified in the notice. Staying informed via the Government Gazette and industry bodies is advisable so that you can adjust your plans to the final wording and effective date. Employers who submit comments during the process may also receive feedback or notices when the final regulations are published; keeping contact details current with the department can help.

How to Prepare

Preparation should start before the final regulations are published, so that you are not caught short when they take effect.

Audit current compliance. Review how you currently meet the existing GMR: who is designated as competent person at each premises, on what basis (qualifications and experience), and whether they are full-time or shared. Identify any gap between current practice and the draft’s full-time, per-premises requirement and the new competency definition.

Review competent-person appointments. For each premises, confirm that the designated person meets the draft definition (including learnership and practical experience where applicable). Plan recruitment or training so that you can appoint or retain enough full-time competent persons when the law changes.

Update the machinery register. Cross-check all machinery on site against the draft’s extended scope. Add any equipment that will fall under the new regulations to your register, with clear identification, location, and inspection and maintenance schedules. A structured asset register in a CMMS makes it easier to maintain this list and link it to work orders and compliance tasks.

Ensure records systems are ready. The regulations will continue to require evidence of maintenance, examinations, and safeguarding. Ensure your systems can record and report by asset, by competent person, and by due date, so that you can produce audit-ready records when required. Manufacturers and other machinery-intensive sites often use a CMMS for manufacturing to centralise this; the same discipline applies to any operation with regulated machinery. If you currently rely on spreadsheets or paper, the lead time to implement or refine a CMMS before the regulations take effect is worth planning for now.

How a CMMS Helps With GMR 2025 Readiness

A computerised maintenance management system supports several of the steps above and ongoing compliance once the General Machinery Regulations 2025 are in force.

Machinery register. The CMMS asset register is the natural place to hold your list of regulated machinery. Each asset can store identity, location, criticality, and links to procedures or manuals. When the scope expands, you add or reclassify assets in one place and attach the relevant inspection and maintenance schedules. This avoids scattered spreadsheets and ensures the register stays aligned with what is on site.

Competent-person tracking. You can record which competent person is designated for which premises (or asset group) and link them to work orders and compliance tasks. When the law requires a full-time competent person per premises, having that assignment and their responsibilities visible in the CMMS helps management and auditors verify that the role is filled and that oversight is in place.

Inspection scheduling. Statutory and internal inspections can be defined as recurring tasks (time- or usage-based) and linked to each asset. The CMMS generates work orders when inspections are due and records completion, so that nothing slips and the competent person can see at a glance what is overdue or coming up. That supports both day-to-day compliance and preparation for inspector visits.

Audit-ready records. Completed work orders, inspection records, and any attached certificates or notes form a traceable history per asset. When an inspector or auditor asks what was maintained, when, and by whom, the CMMS can produce reports that show exactly that. Tamper-resistant, date-stamped records reduce the burden of proving due diligence and help you respond quickly to requests. For operations already subject to the OHS Act and the current GMR, extending your existing CMMS to cover the expanded machinery scope and competent-person responsibilities is often more efficient than building separate processes; the same system that supports your day-to-day maintenance can double as your compliance evidence for GMR 2025.

Conclusion

The draft General Machinery Regulations 2025 signal a stricter and more explicit regime for machinery under the OHS Act: a revised competent-person definition that recognises learnerships and tightens the graduate-engineer route, a full-time competent person per premises, an extended machinery scope, and updated safeguarding requirements. While the final text may change after the comment process, preparing now — by auditing compliance, reviewing competent-person appointments, updating your machinery register, and ensuring your records systems can support audit-ready evidence — will put your operation in a stronger position when the regulations are promulgated. A CMMS that maintains your machinery register, tracks competent-person responsibilities, schedules inspections, and stores completion records is a practical way to turn that preparation into sustained compliance. For more on aligning maintenance with South African law and best practice, see our guides on OHS Act maintenance requirements, CMMS for manufacturing, and building an asset register. If you would like to see how Lungisa can support your machinery register and GMR compliance, explore Lungisa or contact the Skynode team to discuss your setup.