Concern has again been expressed about incidents, particularly in underground coal mining situations, where trailing cables and couplers are reportedly failing during use.
The representatives of associations aware of the problem point out that there is a lack of enforcement by regulators within the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy in the case of underground mines and the Department of Labour in the case of surface operations. It is said that some of the cables that do not comply with South African National Standards have branding on them that gives the impression that they are compliant.
There are fears that faulty connections could be life threatening and that genuine compliance needs to be enforced by those responsible for South Africa’s equipment safety standards.