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 apparatusAnnexesAnnex G (normative) : Validity of IA certificates |
ANNEX G:
(normative)
Validity of IA certificates
| G1 | All electrical equipment used as Explosion Protected Equipment (EPA) must have an Inspection Authority (IA) certificate. |
| G2 | The IA certificate for a piece of equipment or a machine or assembly must list the IA certificate numbers and details of the individual EPA components or equipment installed on that equipment, machine or assembly. |
| G3 | All IA certificates have a validity period which is reflected on the IA certificate. |
| G4 | All GME certificates previously numbered V or VM have expired in October 2010 and therefore no new equipment may have any of these numbers displayed on them. |
| G5 | For equipment that is still in use and has not been refurbished, overhauled or repaired, the original IA certification is still valid. |
| G6 | Refurbished includes that the EPA that has been stripped and installed is the original IA certified components / equipment. |
| G7 | Overhauled/repaired means that the EPA has been stripped and reworked (e.g. Resoldering on intrinsic safety boards, skimming of flameproof enclosure surfaces, tapping or threading of entries in EPA enclosures, changing of internal components in EPA equipment, etc.). |
| G8 | Overhaul or repair of EPA Equipment or machines must be carried out by an approved mark holder or recertified by an Accredited Test Laboratory (See SANS 10086-3 "The installation. Inspection and maintenance of equipment used in explosive atmospheres"). |
| G9 | If equipment that has been overhauled or repaired is labelled with the V or VM number, this piece of equipment must be recertified by an accredited test laboratory and labelled with an IA certificate number. |
| G10 | When equipment is sold by a mine to another mine the mine that is selling the equipment takes the responsibility of Section 21 of the MHSA. According to Section 21, that means that the seller (as the supplier) must ensure that the equipment is safe to use if used as prescribed and that all the EPA equipment has valid certification. |
| G11 | Equipment may be inspected by competent personnel, but IA certificates may only be issued by an ATL. |
| G12 | An ATL can only carry out batch testing of equipment for a specific standard / Ex technique if that ATL has been SANAS accredited to test and certify to that standard. The batch testing can only be carried out against a valid IA certificate. |
| G13 | If an ATL is carrying out conversion certification i.e. The conversion of overseas certification to a national IA certificate, the ATL must be SANAS accredited for that Ex technique. |