A Bill to amend the National Veld and Forest Fire Act has been published and will come into power on a date to be determined by the President.

Some of the key issues addressed in the Bill include:

1.       Allowance for Municipalities and traditional leaders to facilitate the formation of Fire Protection Associations (“FPA’s”),

2.       Places a duty on State Organs, State Owned Enterprises etc. to become members of FPA’s,

3.       Duty placed on the Minister to consult with FPA’s before issuing exemptions from the Act,

4.       Appeals process is further defined,

5.       Change of name from the National Veld and Forest Fire Act to the National Veldfire Act.

The Chief Inspector has published a Guideline for the compilation of a Mandatory Code of Practice in terms of Section 9 of the Mine Health and Safety Act.

Amongst other issues, the MCOP deals with:

1.       Stated goal of reducing the significant risks associated with mine fires, both surface and underground,

2.       Defines significant concepts, such as Flame Retardant,

3.       Links to other MCOP’s, including those related to Coal Dust Explosions and Gas Explosions,

4.       Requires the setting up of a Fire Risk Management Program,

5.       Deals with the identification of each possible fire hazard and the classification thereof,

6.       Complication of fire hazard register,

7.       Identifies the minimization of fire risks at the design stage,

8.       States that the MCOP should deal with purchasing procedures as a control for fire risk,

9.       Etc.

The MCOP Guideline is detailed in terms of its requirements. The date for the submission of the MCOP to the DMR has been identified as the 28^th of February 2017.

The Guideline for Risk Based Emergency Care was originally published on 15 July 2016. It was initially scheduled to come into effect on 31 October 2016.

There had been rumours (unsubstantiated) that the original guideline was gazetted in error. Various e-mails have been forwarded by the DMR indicating that the MCOP has been withdrawn pending amendment. No formal Gazetted notice has been published.

We do not yet have any indication of which components/portions of the MCOP will be affected. We will give further feedback as soon as further information is made available.

The Minister of Health has published his intent to declare certain substances or mixtures of such substances Class II Hazardous Substances in terms of the Hazardous Substances Act.

Any substance listed as part of Annexure C to SANS 0228 will, in terms of the Notice, be deemed to be Class II Hazardous Substances.

Comments may be delivered to the Department of Health before 14 January 2017.

1.       Schedule 1: New Standards

Some of the more important new standards include:

·         SANS 61511 -3:2016 – Functional safety – Safety instrumented systems for the process industry sector

2. Schedule 2: Amendment of existing standards

Some of the more important amended standards include:

·         SANS 10284:2016 – Conveyor belts – Electrical conductivity – Specification and test method

·         SANS 60079-5:2016 – Explosive atmospheres – Part 5: Equipment protection by powder filling “q”

3. Schedule 3: Cancellation of standards

The following standards have been cancelled

·         N/A

4. Schedule 4: Contact details

This has remained unchanged.

The Chief Inspector of the Department of Labour, Mr. Tibor Szana, has published a notice in terms of Section 27(2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In terms of the Notice, all parties wishing to provide the first aid training in terms of Regulation 3(4)(d) of the General Safety Regulations, and approach the Chief Inspector for approval as a training service provider, must submit a valid certificate of accreditation issued by the Health and Welfare SETA.

Current service providers approved by the Chief Inspector will have 12 months form the date of Notice to furnish such proof.

The Railway Safety Regulator has published Railway Safety Standards in terms of the Regulations. The Regulations are:

1.       Part 2-3-1: Requirements for systemic engineering and operational safety standards, Rolling stock: wheels axles and bearings

2.       Part 4-1: Human factors management: Fatigue management

3.       Part 3: Occurrence management

4.       Part 2-7: Requirements for systemic engineering and operational safety standards: Railway stations.

The Minister of Labour has published draft Explosives Regulations for comment. The new Regulations aim to replace the Explosives Regulations 2002. Some of the key issues and differences to the previous Regulations include:

1.       New definition for Blasting,

2.       Blaster definition added (person authorised by the chief inspector of explosives)

3.       Amended definitions for certificated person and chief inspector of explosives

4.       New definition for explosive,

5.       Provision added for the Chief Inspector of Health and Safety to exempt any person from the Regulations (conditions may be stipulated.)

6.       Stipulates period after which CI has to acknowledge receipt of a request for workplace license to be issued,

7.       United Nations Manual of Tests and Criteria series 8 Tests referenced for ammonium nitrate,

8.       Explosives Manager’s certificate to be issued by the CI as a minimum requirement for appointment as an Explosives Manager,

9.       Duty not to disturb accident scenes added,

10.   CI to approve training and competence requirements.

Any comments on the proposed amendments are to be communicated to the DoL within 30 days of the publishing of the draft Regulations.

FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION, COMMENTS OR QUERIES, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT THE WRITER OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.LEGALCS.CO.ZA

Regards,

Jaco Swartz

Managing Director

Legislative Compliance Specialists (Pty.) Ltd.

011 704 4814

082 898 9463

jacos@legalcs.co.za

www.legalcs.co.za