It is with great excitement that we are tackling 2022 while at the same time sad saying “Until we meet again” to a dear friend and trusted colleague who passed away in January this year, Steven Meyer.
This soft-spoken engineer and editor of SA Instrumentation and Control played a huge part in our industry and the SAIMC where he served on previous councils and later as one of the initiators getting CPD questionnaires published in SAIMC’s official publication.
Steven will be sorely missed. Our sincerest condolences to his friends, colleagues and family.
Johan Maartens.
This year also marks the beginning of a new era, one in which people identified in the ‘Identification of Engineering Work’ gazetted last year have to start their registration process with the Engineering Council of South Africa.
This brings me to the elephant in the room: ECSA and the company’s responsibility.
People doing engineering work at technician, technologist and engineer level must register with ECSA or work under the supervision of a registered person. If caught, these individuals face a criminal record.
To remain registered, individuals need to complete CPD courses, most of which have a price tag attached and as things are returning to normal, they will need to take time off from work to attend courses which mainly fall in Category 1.
Companies will now have to choose whether they will be paying their staff’s registration fees and allow their staff to take time off from work to attend CPD-accredited courses and other events or whether they will expect their staff to pay for it out of their own pockets and take leave to attend the events.
If companies consider their staff as their ‘most important asset’, it would be wise for them to understand the enormity of the legal problems faced by their ‘most important assets’ in this case.
This is hoping that we will see things change before individuals are faced with legal action for doing work that their companies demand of them. Most of all our hope is that employers will attempt to gain insight into the Identification of Engineering Work gazetted last year or at least that their quality managers will pick up on the legal requirements placed on their company and staff.
For more information, please feel free to visit our website www.saimc.co.za/ecsa or visit ECSA’s website directly.
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