News
Identity cards expire soon!
Remember, all cards expire 29 February 2012. Invoices have already been sent out to all registered companies. Please contact Rosemary Cowan if you have any questions.
Road Shows for the SAQCC Fire
SAQCC Fire recently held Road Shows in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban (4, 5 and 12 November respectively). The idea was to inform and update all the SAQCC Fire registered technicians and trainees on the what, where and why’s of SAQCC Fire!
Held at independent venues with catering provided, the shows were deliberately targeted for a Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to encourage participation by the technicians and trainees - making it unneccesary for them to take time off work in order to attend.
Senior members of the main Gauteng based committee flew to the various venues to make the presentations and thus the technicians and trainees who attended, saw Jeremy Kellett in Cape Town, Tom Dreyer in Port Elizabeth and Brett Jones, the Chairman in Durban.
Rosemary Cowan, our Administrator, was also in attendance at each Road Show as she is the person most likely to have dealt personally with each registered person.
The Department of Labour, the South African Bureau of Standards and the local fire departments were all included and each event culminated in a panel discussion which proved extremely successful with many questions being fielded on all aspects of the fire servicing industry.
These Road Shows will be rolled out to the other provinces early next year and it is hoped they will become an annual event.
SAQCC Fire is the officially appointed body and recognised by the Department of Labour to register and regulate all technical personnel actively involved in the reconditioning of fire fighting equipment in terms of SANS 1475.
Stored Pressure Fire Extinguisher Valve Failure
Safequip received a product non conformance on October 31, 2011 relating to the malfunction and under performance of 9.0kg DCP fire extinguishers.
Managing Director, Mr J Fritz, writes: "We proceeded in investigating this and determined that around 2000 extinguishers assembled during June 2011 may not discharge to their maximum potential due to the internal plunger spring being compressed past the operating limits of the valve, restricting the contents of the extinguisher
from being effectively expelled.
"In view of this finding, we would like to request that the SAQCC publish a general bulletin to Service Technicians informing them that Safequip has initiated a fire extinguisher retrofit program for these units."
Safequip will, as a precautionary measure, extend the retrofit program to also include extinguishers manufactured in July and August 2011 of sizes 2.5kg, 4.5kg & 9.0kg. Retrofit kits are available free of charge by contacting the local Safequip branch. Customers will be compensated for the fitting of the retrofit kit.
Any enquiries may be directed to Johan Pretorius, National Technical Manager at johanp@safequip.co.za.
12th Annual General Meeting
Our AGM took place on 2 June at the Auditorium, Fire Protection Association in Springbok Road, Bartlett.
Brett Jones was again elected Chairman, although he advised that this would be his final year in this position and Kobus Breedt continues as Treasurer. Three new committee members were elected: Lucas Barnard, Lizl Davel and Wayne Hardie.
Please click here to download the full minutes of the meeting.
Click here to read the Chairman's Report.
Illegal activities – who will take action?
 The SAQCC still receives queries and complaints that little action is taken against illegal operators in the industry. However, with several different authorities in the fire industry that can take action, it's important to understand the jurisdiction of each of these - and therefore which to approach when laying a complaint, as well as to follow the correct procedures.
The Department of Labour (DOL) is the government department responsible for our industry and the Occupational Health Safety Act, which prescribes SANS 1475, furthermore tasks the Minister of Labour and his department to ensure that the OSH Act is implemented. The Pressure Equipment Regulations, which forms part of the OSH Act, states that:
- "No user shall use, require or permit the use of a fire extinguisher unless designed, constructed, filled, recharged, reconditioned, modified, repaired, inspected or tested in accordance with the relevant safety standard incorporated into these Regulations under section 44 of the Act.”
This, together with the Building Regulations Act, places the onus on the owner of buildings to ensure that fire extinguishers fulfil the legal requirements. Such an owner can be prosecuted by the local authority or the Department of Labour should he/she contravene this law.(see below)
- "No person shall fill, recharge, recondition, modify, repair, inspect or test any fire extinguisher unless such person is an authorised person employed by a permit holder: Provided that a permit is issued by an organisation approved by the chief inspector.”
This organisation is currently the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS). The “authorised person” is currently a person who is registered by the South African Qualification and Certification Committee (Fire) (SAQCC).
- "Applications for approval shall include proof of accreditation as prescribed in subregulation and shall include full contact details and address information."
- "The chief inspector's approval shall be subject to a valid accreditation certificate issued by the accreditation authority: Provided that the chief inspector may set additional requirements before granting approval."
Offences and penalties
- Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of regulations 19(1) and 19(2) (the above) shall be guilty of an offence and liable upon conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months and, in the case of a continuous offence, to an additional fine of R200,00 for each day on which the offence continues or additional imprisonment of one day for each day on which the offence continues: Provided that the period of such additional imprisonment shall not exceed 90 days.
These requirements and all documents referred to in the OSH Act, form the basis in accordance with which the different authorities can act against illegal operators. The Department of Labour and the local authorities have the power to prosecute any operators who contravenes any of the above regulations. Complainants can approach
these authorities directly.
The SABS can act legally against any company which presents itself fraudulently as holding a legal 1475 permit when it is not approved as per the permit conditions. The SABS has reported numerous cases where such complaints have been forwarded and action has been taken. The SABS issued a media release earlier this year which has been forwarded to the SAQCC wherein companies were named for illegally using the SABS name, logo and/or certification mark.
Should anyone come across a company displaying a SANS 1475 permit and it is not listed on the SABS website as having a permit, a complaint should be forwarded to the SABS in writing with accompanying evidence.
The SAQCC can act against any registered technician who follows illegal servicing procedures. Such complaints should be forwarded in writing with accompanying evidence. The SAQCC has a disciplinary code in accordance with which disciplinary action is then taken against any technician contravening the requirements of SANS 1475.
The SAQCC has minuted at its September meeting the responsibility of the owner of SANS 1475 permit companies as well to ensure that safe and legal work procedures were followed by their employees as required by the OSH
Act. Should owners neglect to ensure safe working procedures or cause their employees to follow illegal and unsafe procedures, such employers could be prosecuted as per the OSH Act.
It is important that technicians assist in regulating the industry as they are the eyes and the ears of the portable fire equipment servicing industry. Should technicians come across any actions which they deem to be illegal, they should forward their complaint and evidence to the specific authority as listed above so that action can be taken accordingly.
SAQCC representation to Western Cape Insurance industry well attended
In September 2010, Mr Zach du Plessis of the SAQCC made a presentation to the Western Cape Insurance Forum. More than 100 representatives of companies such as Sanlam, Cape Claims and different underwriters and assessors attended the meeting.
In his presentation, Mr Du Plessis covered the requirements of SANS standards for the fire industry such as the need for service companies to be 1475-approved and for technicians to be registered by the SAQCC. The insurance representatives were urged to contact the SABS or the SAQCC should they need to verify permits and
registrations and also to report fraudulent actions.
Mr Du Plessis said the representatives’ response was keen and they expressed eagerness to assist in enforcing legal requirements at their customers’ premises.
SAQCC Fire Detection and Gas Extinguishing Systems (FD & GES) sub-committee passes registration level requirements to SAQCC
 A task group appointed by the FD&GES sub-committee has completed its work and passed proposals for the various levels of voluntary registration and requirements for voluntary registration for comment to the sub-committee
which met at the end of November.
Chairman of the FD&GES sub-committee, Mr Tom Dreyer, confirmed that the registration matrix which includes 6 levels of registration for both fire detection technicians and gas extinguishing technicians was accepted and would now be forwarded to the main SAQCC committee for further action.
Voluntary registration with the SAQCC (Fire) will be open to all who participate in these market segments.
 Safety advice on condemning extinguishers
It has been brought to the SAQCC Committee’s attention that a number of SAQCC registered persons are servicing fire extinguishers that have been already condemned by another SAQCC registered person.
In view of this, it must be pointed out that there are very specific reasons or circumstances under which an extinguisher cylinder must be condemned. The following extract from the SAQCC (Fire) Operations Manual should
provide clarity regarding the reasons for condemning fire extinguisher cylinders:
“In terms of SANS 1475-1, in addition to any extinguisher cylinders that are condemned for failing the pressure test, condemn any extinguisher that:
- has been repaired by soldering, brazing, welding or patching;
- has damaged screw threads;
- has been burnt in a fire;
- exhibits excessive corrosion, damage or mechanical markings other than those authorized markings applied in terms of the applicable manufacturing standard;
- is of stainless steel and has been in use with a calcium chloride extinguishing medium;
- is constructed of copper or brass joined by soft solder or by riveting or is manufactured from a non-metallic material;
- is unable to be maintained in compliance with the requirements of the original manufacturer.
NOTE In terms of SANS 1475-1, all internal cartridge-operated extinguishers shall be replaced with an acceptable type of extinguisher.
NOTE In terms of SANS 1475-1, all soda-acid extinguishers are obsolete and shall be replaced with an acceptable type of extinguisher.
NOTE In terms of SANS 1475-1, unless exempted from pressure testing by the Department of Labour, all halon extinguishers shall be replaced with an acceptable type of extinguisher.”
Jeremy Kellett
SAQCC (Fire) Technical Chairman
For further information, contact SAQCC-Fire on tel.
011 455-3157.
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