The story so far. In March 2007 an important piece of South African legislation, ARP 0108, was published that affects all manufacturers, importers, users and repairers of explosion protected apparatus (EPA). The provisions of this 'Recommended Practice' became effective in September 2007. One year later many organisations remain blissfully unaware of their obligations in terms of this legislation – and many of those in the know are near revolt.
In Part 1 we looked at the background and the controversial requirement for annual re-certification of EPA where local certification by an ATL is based on original overseas certification. We also touched on the groundswell of dissatisfaction with the ATLs.
In Part 2 we touch on other controversial aspects of the legislation and issue a call to action.
Health warning and disclaimer
Compliance with ARP 0108 is a legal requirement.
This article is based on the author’s interpretation of the document. Readers should ensure that they are aware of the contents of this and all other relevant and associated legislation.
The controversy – Part 2
The second controversial issue is whether ATLs are working in accordance with the ARP. Dissenters are calling into question the re-certification processes and procedures being applied by ATLs.
As mentioned in Part 1 the ARP states that, “…No local testing will be required on equipment certified in terms of column 3 as long as the ATL is provided with adequate evidence of recognised prior testing which demonstrates compliance with the applicable approved sectional standard”.
Importers view this as implying that the intent of this is that the re-certification of an overseas certificate from an accepted source is largely a rubber stamping paperwork exercise and are frustrated that some ATLs are choosing to not accept overseas certificates issued in terms of column 3.
ATLs have a different interpretation – for example, Explolabs sent SA Instrumentation and Control a copy of a letter in which it notifies clients that, “If the standards that were used in the original certification are not based on the IEC standards, a local re-approval would be required due to the large cost of comparisons.”
An ATL spokesman told SA Instrumentation and Control that there have been cases where overseas Ex certifying bodies have not been properly assessed on an ongoing basis and standards have fallen or tests required by a particular standard have not been undertaken.
Local industry is asking, “Do the South African ATLs really have the expertise and capacity to credibly validate the results of tests that were performed under AS, UL and all the others in between?”
In investigating this article the author would answer that it seems unlikely. One of the IA certificates seen described the Type in such a generic way as to be meaningless – rather like a test lab certifying a BMW 3 series and describing the Type for certificate purposes as 'Car' as opposed to 'BMW 3 series family of vehicles'.
The controversy – Part 3
Perhaps of even more concern than the specifics of ARP 0108 is the whole concept of localisation vs. globalisation. Legislating the need for local testing, certification or re-certification is surely the wrong direction to be heading in the era of the global village.
If an assembly like an oil rig is manufactured in South Africa for export will this legislation add to the safety of the assembly, or competitive position of the exporter, and will overseas safety bodies accept the local IA certificate as being of more value than an IEC certificate? The answer is clearly in the negative.
Many countries have been struggling with the issue of EPA certification, the huge amount of duplication and the consequential costs of applying different standards, testing and certification around the world.
To address this problem the IEC introduced the IECEx (see below), which embodies rigorous requirements for ongoing assessment of Ex Certifying Bodies and the surveillance of EPA manufacturers.
IECEx offers a single global certification scheme covering Ex equipment.
At the March 2008 International Association of Labour Inspection (IALI) conference in Adelaide, Australia, director of TestSafe Australia, Peter Harley, spoke up for the adoption of IECEx, “The advent of the IECEx Scheme has now enabled products with IECEx Certificates of Conformity that are manufactured in a particular country to be readily sold and delivered to clients in another country. This can now be done without the costly and time-consuming requirement of re-testing and re-certification of the product.”
Call to action
The problems raised need to be addressed promptly, professionally and constructively.
The author contends that these are some of the steps that are required to improve the situation:
* A government strategy that recognises the importance and impact of accepting globalisation and ensuring that legislation reflects this.
* The equivalent of an 'Environmental Impact Assessment' for legislation to evaluate the impact of pending legislation on the competitiveness of South African industry.
* Consolidation of the control of EPA under a single governmental national department.
* Improved wording and definitions in ARP 0108.
* A well-targeted communications campaign by the DME and DoL to raise awareness and to inform stakeholders of their obligations under ARP 0108 1.01.
* A web resource with RSS feed to which users can subscribe in order to be kept up to date on industrial and mining legislation.
* A call centre at the DME to respond to questions concerning the ARP.
Blanket acceptance of selected international test certification.
* The removal of the requirement for local re-certification of certificates issued by accepted international test bodies.
* SANAS audit procedures, accreditation and website details must be properly maintained.
* SANAS website contact details improved.
Sources:
ARP 0108 – Standards South Africa
IECEx - IEC
About the IECEx Scheme
The objective of the IECEx Scheme is to facilitate international trade in equipment and services for use in explosive atmospheres, while maintaining the required level of safety. The benefits of such a scheme are:
* Reduced testing and certification costs to manufacturer.
* Reduced time to market.
* International confidence in the product assessment process.
* One international database listing.
* Maintaining international confidence in equipment and services covered by IECEx Certification.
Normative
In standards terminology, 'normative' means 'considered to be a prescriptive part of the standard'. It characterises that part of the standard which describes what ought to be done within the application of that standard. It is implicit that application of that standard will result in a valuable outcome. For example, many standards have an introduction, preface, or summary that is considered non-normative, as well as a main body that is considered normative. 'Compliance' is defined as 'complies with the normative sections of the standard'; an object that complies with the normative sections but not the non-normative sections of a standard is still considered to be in compliance.
Source Wikipedia
Abbreviations
ARP: Aanbevole/Recommended Practice
ATL: Approved Test Laboratory
DME: Department of Minerals and Energy
DoL: Department of Labour
EPA: Explosion Protected Apparatus
IECEx: IEC scheme for certification to standards relating to equipment for use in explosive atmospheres
SABS: South African Bureau of Standards
SANAS: South African National Accreditation System
Resources
IECEx: www.iecex.com/
IECEx: certificate of conformity online registration system www.iecex.iec.ch/iecex/iecexweb.nsf/ExCB%20Public?OpenView
SABS: www.sabs.co.za
SANAS: www.sanas.co.za/directory/test_default.php
In late-breaking news, word on the street is that between the Dol and the DME the rules are changing again (but only casually in conversation) so industry remains in the dark.
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