In December 2013, project delivery and consulting services provider WorleyParsons RSA hosted the fourth ISO technical committee meeting focusing on the mining sector (ISO/TC82). It is the first time that the ISO/TC82 meeting has been held in South Africa, with representatives from over 15 countries, including government bodies, mining and engineering companies, and suppliers to the mining industry in attendance.

The International Organization for Standardization is the world’s largest developer of voluntary international standards, providing state-of-the-art specifications for products, services and good practice, helping industry to be more efficient, effective and safe. ISO standards are developed by a panel of international experts who meet to discuss, negotiate and draft a standard at technical committee meetings that are held across the world, in countries where there are key role players in the specific industries.

“This is a ground breaking event for South Africa, and affirms the country’s significance in the global mining sector,” says Manager of Engineering, WorleyParsons RSA, Mushir Khan.
“Despite our relatively short participation in the global market since the emergence of democracy in South Africa, we have become internationally recognised as a world leader in mining, influencing global industry, technology and standards.

“Our mining history spans more than a century, and local standards are continuously improving with regard to production, safety and our people.
“The world recognises the level of expertise here and maturity of the market, and the great strides that have been made in technological innovations in the last 20-30 years – a relatively short period if one considers that most innovations in this arena can take at least two generations to develop. While the majority of international standards originated in Europe and the United States, South Africa now has the opportunity to influence the rest of the world through benchmarks that are being set by the South African industry, particularly in underground mining,” says Khan.

With the South African business operating as WorleyParsons’ global centre of mining excellence, WorleyParsons RSA welcomes the recognition the local industry is receiving from the ISO. “WorleyParsons is actively engaged in raising the bar of standards worldwide, and facilitating such meetings reflects our ethos of continuously improving practices and standards to internationally recognised levels. As a company with global operations, it is in our as well as our stakeholders’ best interests to adopt international standards to encourage consistency and best practice,” says Khan.

Locally, the development of standards for the mining industry is conducted through the SABS (South African Bureau of Standards), which is modelled on ISO. The SABS and its South African National Standards are recognised as leading global standards and most major players in the South African mining industry, including WorleyParsons RSA, work in compliance with these standards and have applied them in designing shafts in numerous countries worldwide.

WorleyParsons RSA is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified and much of the company’s methodology is based on ISO guidelines.
“There has been significant progress made in developing mining equipment standards in South Africa, particularly in the use of underground earth-moving machinery,” says Dr Geoff Krige, a structural engineer by profession and chair of the South African Mining Equipment Standards Committee.
“ISO has not been involved in these and other developments in South Africa, and was at risk of allowing itself to become irrelevant,” says Dr Krige, who has been campaigning for some time to revive the ISO/TC82 activities, which had become dormant prior to 2013, with only two meetings having been held, in 1959 and 1961. The third meeting was held in April 2013 in Germany. Among other agenda items, this third meeting approved a new work item to re-draft the South African mining structures standards (SABS 10208) into a set of ISO standards.

Dr Krige succeeded in his quest to bring the next meetings to South Africa and in December the fourth ISO/TC 82 meetings, held at WorleyParsons RSA’s Melrose Arch offices, focused on the progress of the international standards for mining equipment and the development of a new standard on mine reclamation, continuing the discussions from the April 2013 meeting. In addition, two working groups met to discuss the development of international standards regarding the safety and reliability of rock drill rigs and the safety of earth-moving equipment specifically for underground use.
Following these meetings, local standards are now well on their way to becoming adopted by the ISO, with added support by Australia and Canada who have joined as participating members.

“Through active participation in the development of ISO standards, countries and companies can ensure that the resulting standards are in line with their own best interests, by ensuring that mining equipment is supplied and used according to the highest safety and technical standards, to which they aspire globally,” notes Dr Krige.

“At a local level, WorleyParsons RSA is proud to continue Nelson Mandela’s legacy of a progressive, relevant and internationally respected South Africa through ongoing innovation,” Khan concludes.
ends