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South Africa hosts workshop to explain new driven machinery regulations

28 August 2015

A workshop to launch the new Driven Machinery Regulations (DMR) was held by the Department of Labour's Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Directorate yesterday in Pretoria.

According to the department, there have been significant changes to procedure in that the National Code of Practice for training providers of lifting machinery operators has been formally incorporated into the new Driven Machinery Regulations. The DMR was published in the Government Gazette in June.

Goods' hoists will, in future, no longer be regulated by Driven Machinery but will be administered by the Lifting, Escalators and Passenger Conveyor Regulations. A total of 11 national standards have been incorporated into the new DMR, which will ensure that inspection and testing of various lifting machinery is standardised.

Approval of entities responsible for the inspection and testing of lifting machinery has been formalised into the new DMR. The workshop targeted employers or owners as well as entities tasked with inspection and testing of driven machinery at various workplaces.

Key stakeholders in the occupational health and safety environment and engineering sector, as well as from the lifting equipment industry; parastatals such as Transnet and Eskom; as well as other regulators such as the Railway Safety Regulators and other associations involved in the industry attended the workshop.

Managers responsible for occupational health and safety in various companies were also invited.

Source: SAnews.gov