Sparks Electrical News January 2015

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sparks
ELECTRICAL NEWS january 2015
6 contractors’ corner
To your good health!
Getting to grips with SANS 10142–1 by Hannes Baard
FIRST, I wish all Sparks readers a very happy 2015!
Let’s begin the year on a healthy note andwith
a positive attitude towards the people who are
elected tomaintain workers’health and safety.
There are some employees who believe that
wearing a reflective vest makes them invincible.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) does not
stop a truck, it won’t miraculously become a para-
chute if you step off a 10metre high scaffold and
it won’t stop a crane from crushing you – hard hat
or no hard hat.
And now on to Section 19 of the Occupational
Health and Safety Act (Act 85 1993) that deals
with health and safety committees…
19. Healthand safety committees
(1) An employer shall in respect of eachworkplace
where two ormore health and safety representa-
tives have beendesignated, establish one ormore
health and safety committees and, at everymeeting
of such a committee as contemplated in subsec-
tion (4), consult with the committeewith a view to
initiating, developing, promoting, maintaining and
reviewingmeasures to ensure the health and safety
of his employees at work.
The above subsection follows on fromSection
18 in the Act and it must be understood that this
kind of structure will only be found in fairly large
and diversifiedworkplaces.
Doing themaths, two employees in a company
employing 20 people would constitute a good
20%, which is a bit much inmy humble opinion;
I believe that the legislator envisaged a larger
organisation when it comes to committees.
(2) Ahealthand safety committee shall consist of
suchnumber ofmembers as the employermay from
time to time determine: Provided that
(a) If one healthand safety committee has been
established in respect of aworkplace, all the health
and safety representatives for that workplace shall
bemembers of the committee.
This should pose no problem…three safety
representatives make up one safety committee.
(b) If two ormore health and safety committees
have been established in respect of aworkplace,
eachhealthand safety representative for that
workplace shall be amember of at least one of those
committees; and…
This should pose no problemeither as two
safety committees with three safety representa-
tives means that two representatives could serve
on one committee and the other in the second
committee. Pardonme if I sound blasé but I am
only trying to illustrate what I believe that the
legislator hoped to communicate.
(c) The number of persons nominated by an employ-
er onany healthand safety committee established in
terms of this section shall not exceed the number of
healthand safety representatives on that committee.
It would be rather silly for an employer to nomi-
nate seven safety representatives if there are only
three safety committees, don’t you think? But then
again, in the current situation where lots of people
are pushed into positions purely for a company to
be‘politically correct’, it is understandable that em-
ployers can easily be put in a position where they
may have to ask their employees if they washed
their hands or brushed their teeth.
(3) The persons nominated by an employer ona
healthand safety committee shall be designated
inwriting by the employer for suchperiod asmay
be determined by him, while the healthand safety
representatives shall bemembers of the committee
for theperiodof their designation in terms of Section
17 (1).
It might sound trivial that someone has to be
appointed in writing, but believeme, it’s not such
a bad thing although it may be a tedious process.
(4) Ahealthand safety committee shall holdmeet-
ings as oftenasmay be necessary, but at least once
every threemonths, at a time and place determined
by the committee:
Provided that an inspectormay by notice inwriting
direct themembers of ahealthand safety committee
tohold ameeting at a time and place determined by
him: Provided further that, ifmore than 10%of the
employees at a specificworkplace have handed a
written request to an inspector, the inspectormay by
writtennotice direct that suchameeting be held.
It stands to reason that the safety committees
meet regularly and, if there aremore than one,
information and learnings can be exchanged. But
in the total absence of suchmeetings, an inspector
(of the Department of Labour) can give written
notice that suchmeeting be convened.
(5) The procedure atmeetings of ahealthand safety
committee shall be determined by the committee.
This should be a simple process.
(6) (a) Ahealth and safety committeemay
co-opt one ormore persons by reasonof his or
their particular knowledge of healthor safety
matters as anadvisorymember or as advisory
members of the committee.
(b) Anadvisorymember shall not be entitled to
vote onanymatter before the committee.
It’s such a pity that a lot of sections and
subsections in the Act are not worded as
simply as this last point above.
(7) If an inspector is of the opinion that the
number of healthand safety committees es-
tablished for any particular workplace is inad-
equate, hemay inwriting direct the employer
to establish for suchworkplace suchnumber of
healthand safety committees as the inspector
may determine.
Personally, I haven’t heard of any such
interventions but, quite clearly, the legislator
envisaged that some employers would try to
shrug off their responsibilities in this regard.
Stay safe and healthy in 2015.
Training and development by Nick du Plessis
How to: A ‘wireman’s licence’ for people
with degrees or diplomas
I FREQUENTLY receive requests that begin: “I
have a B Tech degree in Electrical Power Engineer-
ing and I have been in the electrical field for more
than 10 years. I am interested in acquiring awire-
man’s licence. Any assistance or directionwould be
highly appreciated.”
Before I begin clarifying the registration criteria,
it must be understood that the term‘wireman’s
licence’is an old term that was used in the electri-
cal industry many years ago for people who
inspected and tested electrical installations. The
termwas changed to‘accredited persons’and,
in the Electrical Installation Regulations, 2009,
‘accredited persons’became‘registered person’–
and this registration is done by the Department
of Labour.
Put simply, this means that anyone who wants
to acquire their‘wireman’s license’or become
an‘accredited person’has apply to the Depart-
ment of Labour in order to become a‘registered
person’. This column will provide guidance to
those persons who have not done a trade and
who wish to register with the Department of
Labour as a registered person. However, before
reviewing the registration criteria, as determined
by the Department of Labour, I will first provide
some clarity on the purpose and responsibility of
the registered person. When application is made
to the Department of Labour, the applicant is re-
quired to have a‘theoretical qualification’and be
able to demonstrate that he or she is competent
by being found competent in the unit standards
on inspection, testing and certification of three
phase industrial/commercial installations as
prescribed by the EWSETA.
Installation rules and unit standards
Competent means that the applicant is able to
practically carry out the verification and certifica-
tion of the construction, testing and inspection
of any electrical installation, excluding special-
ised electrical installations.
In addition, the applicant must be able to
apply the legislation and relevant health and
safety standards applicable to electrical installa-
tions and have passed the subject, ‘Installation
Rules’– which is usually written at a Further
Education and Training (EFT) college – as
administered by the Department of Higher
Education and Training.
Registration criteria
Applicants need to understand that the
registration criteria and responsibilities are listed
in the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993
and within the Electrical Installation Regulations,
2009, which define‘installation electrician’as ‘a
personwho has been registered as an installation
electrician in terms of Regulation 11 (2) for the
verification and certification of the construction,
testing and inspection of any electrical installation,
excluding specialised electrical installations’.
In this column, I will only explain Option 3 of
the registration criteria for installation electrician
registration, which can be found in the Depart-
ment of Labour Registration Criteria brochure:
OHS 3/1/5/7/9: Registration as a Registered
Person, Revised March 2014.
This document outlines the registration criteria
with which a personmust comply in order to be
registered by the Chief Inspector as an‘Electrical
Tester for Single Phase’,‘Installation Electrician’
and‘Master Installation Electrician’as defined
in the Electrical Installation Regulations, 2009
(promulgated by Government Notice R.242 of 6
March 2009).
Installation Electrician
Option 3
Theoretical Qualification
A candidatemust:
(a) Submit a diploma or degree in electrical
engineering:
• T3 Diploma (heavy current).
• S4 Diploma (power engineering).
• B Tech degree.
• B Sc or B degree.
• Government Certificate of Competency
(factories or mines).
(b) Submit documentary proof of successfully com-
pleted unit standards on inspection, testing and
certification of three phase industrial/commer-
cial installations as prescribed by the EWSETA.
Knowledge of statutory requirements
Submit proof of knowledge on the legislation and
relevant health and safety standards applicable to
electrical installations by having passed the subject
‘Installation Rules’ as administered by the Depart-
ment of Higher Education and Training.
From this, it can be seen that it is possible for a
person who has not completed an apprentice-
ship as an electrician to register with the Depart-
ment of Labour as an Installation Electrician for
the purpose of issuing Certificates of Compliance
for electrical installations.
All registered persons must understand and
apply the Occupational Health and Safety Act,
1993, applicable regulations and codes, before
signing a Certificate of Compliance.
Please be sure you understand the criteria and
responsibilities before embarking on any training
intervention.
For more information please visit my web page
at
To find information about courses – a course
calendar and course content – click on‘courses’.
To find information about supporting docu-
ments, click‘supporting documents’in the menu
bar or go to
lio-items/supporting-documents/
Here you will have access to the Department of
Labour brochure as well as the exam instructions
outlying the installation rules content.
For more information, call (011) 827-4113/6 or
email
Michael Straton, president,
ECA(SA)'s:
2015 has started and I trust that
the shutdown period for most
has become a pleasant but dis-
tant memory. I predict that 2015
will be a year of greater success.
However, for success to be
realised it must be remembered
that, in the words of Vince Lom-
bardi,“The dictionary is the only
place that success comes before
work. Work is the key to success,
and hard work can help you ac-
complish anything.”
We are proud of the artisan
and Elconop training that was
undertaken during 2014 in all
the ECA’s regions and we intend
to increase the number of train-
ees in 2015.
Personally, I amproud that the
Eastern Cape Region – under
the capable leadership of Lucas
Bowles – took the award for Re-
gion of theYear at the Presiden-
tial Excellence Awards in 2014.
Mark Mfikoe’s appointment
as national director in May 2014
proved to be a masterstroke as
Mark has done much to unite the
association and improve service
delivery tomembers.
Highlights for 2015
The Strategic Conference in
NewYear’s messages from the
ECA(SA) and the ECB
the first quarter of 2015 will
set the ECA’s strategic path for
the next five years in order for
the ECA(SA) to become more
influential as an organisation
on the African continent and
internationally.
We acknowledge that the
bulk of ECAmembers comprise
of small andmedium enter-
prises and we will continue to
support all members to the
ultimate benefit of the industry
as a whole.
In 2015 the ECA will join
forces with Safehouse, the in-
dustry‘watchdog’that identifies
non-compliant products and
informs the industry and, in the
process, assists in safeguarding
our members and the South
African public.
We will continue strengthen-
ing the ECA’s valuable partner-
ships with industry suppliers
and continue to bring our
members together with these
valued stakeholders.
The ECA(SA) is proud to ac-
knowledge our valued partners,
members, staff and stakehold-
ers as together we continue to
usher in an era of prosperity
in this magnificent country of
ours.
Tony McDonald, chairman
of the ECB:
Thinking back over the last year I
realise that it has been a difficult
year for many. About a thousand
people attended the ECB’s semi-
nars this year and it was found
that there has been a general
perception amongst delegates
that work opportunities are
becoming fewer and competi-
tion fiercer. One usually thinks
of the employer having a tough
time, but it may be tougher for
employees, not knowing if they
will still be employed in the New
Year and realising that there is
little that they can do about it.
In 2014, we bid farewell to
James Baker who had served the
industry loyally for many years
and we will miss him.
I have learnt it pays to remain
positive as things are seldom
as bleak as they may seem and,
for the ECB, the new year has
started withmuch that is en-
couraging and I look forward to
announcing good news in 2015.
I wish to take this opportunity
on behalf of the ECB to thank
everyone for their support
during 2014 and wish all Sparks
Electrical News readers and their
families a prosperous NewYear.