Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993)Code of PracticeNational Code of Practice for Electrical Machinery in Hazardous LocationsRegulatory requirements for explosion-protected apparatus4. Regulatory requirements for explosion-protected equipment |
| 4.1 | Product conformity for explosion-protected equipment is established through testing and certification by means of |
| (a) | type testing in accordance with 4.2 (compulsory for all equipment), and either |
| (b) | batch testing the production units in accordance with 4.2, or |
| (c) | producing production units under an approved product certification scheme. |
NOTE The following terms are also used to describe aspects of certification:
| (a) | unit verification, for batch testing; and |
| (b) | production quality assurance, for control of the production process under a product certification scheme. |
| 4.2 | The minimum requirements for type testing or batch testing are as follows: |
| (a) | An approved standard shall be used. |
| (b) | Testing or assessment (or both) shall be carried out by an ATL (accreditation recognized by ILAC, for example, accreditation by a government-endorsed accreditation body (see foreword), in accordance with SANS 17025, will normally be approved). |
When a laboratory subcontracts work, either because of unforeseen circumstances (for example, workload, need for further expertise or temporary incapacity), or on a continuing basis (for example, through permanent subcontracting, agency or another accredited test laboratory), SANS 17025 requires that this work shall be placed with a competent subcontractor. A competent subcontractor is one that, for example, complies with the requirements of SANS 17025, for the work in question.
| (c) | A type test (IA) certificate for type-tested apparatus shall be issued. |
| (d) | A batch test report shall be issued for batch-tested apparatus, and shall include |
| (1) | the serial numbers of the batch items, and |
| (2) | the number of the IA certificate. |
Batch testing shall be carried out by a test officer accredited for the relevant standard(s). The testing or assessment shall be carried out against the original test report and against a checklist approved by the test officer. Any routine test specified in the standard(s) shall be carried out.
Testing shall be non-destructive. The sampling concept given in SANS 96 may be applied. If the batch testing is done by an ATL other than the ATL that originally certified the product, the ATL carrying out the batch testing will issue a new IA certificate.
| 4.3 | For batch-tested apparatus,any units listed in the batch test report that are not sold by the expiry date of the covering IA certificate shall not be deemed to be covered by the IA certificate unless submitted to the following procedure: |
| (a) | Sample quantities, in accordance with SANS 96, shall be selected by the ATL from the full batch (i.e. shall not be selected by the supplier). |
| (b) | A supplement to the IA certificate (or a new certificate with supplement if the ATL is not the same) shall be issued and shall include the relevant serial numbers. |
| 4.4 | A product certification scheme shall be operated by an approved certification body and shall be of an acceptable type. |
NOTE Normally, a certification body with accreditation recognized by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), for example, accreditation by a government-endorsed accreditation body (see foreword), in accordance with ISO/IEC 17065,will be approved.
| 4.5 | All new, converted, re-designed or repaired apparatus for use in hazardous locations in all surface industries shall, in accordance with annex A, have an IA certificate number displayed on such apparatus before being entered into service. |
The IA certificate shall be in accordance with the requirements of 4.1 to 4.3, but additional requirements may apply as determined by the Chief Inspector from time to time.
| 4.6 | All types of explosion-protected apparatus (EPA) shall be independently tested and certified by an ATL. Self-certification shall not be allowed. |
NOTE In certain countries and regions, a degree of self-certification is allowed. For example, the ATEX Directive (Directive 94/9/EC) on explosion-protected apparatus traded in the European Union allows self-certification of equipment. Such test results will not be accepted for the issue of an IA certificate.
| 4.7 | All types of explosion-protected apparatus shall comply with the relevant approved standard(s) given in annex B. |
NOTE In certain countries and regions, certification based on other requirements is allowed. For example, the ATEX Directive (Directive 94/9/EC) on explosion-protected apparatus traded in the European Union allows certification in accordance with the so-called essential health and safety requirements. Compliance with these requirements only will not be accepted for the issue of an IA certificate.
| 4.8 | Intrinsically safe systems (loops) shall be type approved to SANS 60079-25 by an ATL. Typical loops may be installed under cover of the original type approval without recertification by an ATL. FISCO systems complying with SANS 60079-11 (see Annex E) and SANS 60079-25 also require ATL approval |
| 4.9 | IA certificates and test reports are not transferrable. They remain the property of the issuer (ATL). The recipient has the right to make copies and issue them to those who may require a copy of the documents. |