SA delegates to attend explosion-prevention meeting in Denmark

The South African Flameproofing Association (Safa) sent three dele- gates to attend the International Electrotechnical Commission’s (IEC’s) annual general meeting (AGM) this month, as new international explosion-prevention standards are being promulgated.

South Africa will attend this meeting for the first time since 2005, when it was held in Cape Town. The country currently participates under observer status, which requires less manpower and costs, says Safa.

“Explosion-prevention (Ex) standards for mechanical equipment are currently being drawn up by the IEC, whereas, in the past, standards were only written for electrical equipment.

“It is expected that these standards will be accepted by the national regulators. This means that the South African industry must follow the developments closely,” says Safa explosion-protection steering committee member Dr Johannes Auret.

He notes that these new standards will affect product manufacturers, distributors and users, which include the petrochemicals, chemicals, metallurgical, mining, grain production and processing, as well as vehicle industries.

The regulators are in the process of upgrading old certificates for explosion- protected equipment, hoping that test laboratories, such as Explolabs, will issue the new comprehensive certificates and reports in line with international trends after 2013.

“Operational equipment will also be covered by this upgrade and this is driven by the new edition of the ARP 0108 standard, which is scheduled for completion by the end of this year,” adds Auret.

At the AGM, which was held from October 1 to 5, in Oslo, Norway, Safa representatives attended the IEC technical committee (TC) 31 meeting, as well as meetings of some of its subcommittees.

“The TC 31 deals with explosion prevention, the technology for protecting industries handling flammable or combustible gases, as well as vapours and dusts and which is covered in South African legislation,” says Auret.

Numerous TC 31 subcommittees have been established and disbanded, owing to the changes in working procedures and priorities during the past 60 years of the IEC’s existence.

The most recent subcommittee, SC 31M, was established in 2007. This subcommittee is shared by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the IEC and is able to publish joint ISO/IEC standards that cover the nonelectrical field. This represents a significant expansion in the scope of the TC 31 and an expected corresponding increase in the number of standards.

Other subcommittees include the SC 31G, which prepares and maintains international standards relating to intrinsically safe electrical apparatus and systems to be used where there is a hazard, owing to the possible presence of explosive atmospheres created by gases, vapours, mists or combustible dusts.

The SC 31J prepares and maintains inter- national standards relating to the use of equip- ment, including area classification, the selection and installation of equipment, as well as the inspection, maintenance, repair, overhaul and reclamation of equipment in the event of a hazard.

Auret says Safa’s involvement in the IEC is based on building relationships and an understanding of the working and decision-making system employed by the IEC, the TC, its subcommittees and working groups.

Many South African explosion-prevention standards are now based on, and are equal to, IEC standards and there is an increase each year in the total number of IEC standards adopted, he adds.