technical education educom communication · truly a world class photograph that reached the top-ten...

Recognised Voluntary Association in terms of Section 36(1) of the Engineering Professions Act . Educom fulfills a requirement for Continued Professional Development as specified in the Act No.46 of 2000

INDEX

Industry News - Lift Service Quality Standards

Lift Industry Pensioners - Where Are They Now!

SABS Standards vs Department of Labour

Lift Industry Products : Latest Dumbwaiters & Wheelchair lifts

From Willem du Toit’s Desk : - Allowance for Future Lift Installations - Sale of Certain Articles Prohibited

Lift Industry Ladies with exceptional service

TUT Lift Regulations Course - November 2017 Non-Compliant Lift Installations UK Accident Reports

XYZ - vacant

LIASA Meetings 2017 (nominations required Sep) LIASA - Website LIASA Contact Details Educom Communication Details ...

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ESTABLISHED JANUARY 2003

September 2017 Journal No.121

TECHNICAL EDUCATION COMMUNICATION NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: Chairman: Ronnie Branders; Dep/Chair: Robert Mpai;

Treasurer: David Kleinhans; Secretary: Ms Bonnie Peden; Exco: Willem du Toit; Peter Murray; Bruno Isler; Eugene

Ferreira; Clifford Kleinhans; Mickey Martin

DOYENS OF THE LIFT INDUSTRY: Buddie Ceroni (2004)†; Schalk v/d Merwe (2005)†; Dr Theo Kleinhans (2006 &

2011); Willem du Toit (2008 & 2015); Bruno Isler (2009 & 2016); Alfie da Silva ((2010); Manny Perreira (2010);

Peter Murray (2012); Sanjeev Singh (2013); Rodney Coetzee (Posthumous 2014)†; Billy Clifton (2014)

PAST & CURRENT CHAIRMEN: Steve le Roux (1995-7)†; Dr Theo Kleinhans (1997-2003); Ben Peyper (2003-6)†;

Sanjeev Singh (2006-15); Ronnie Branders

Educom

LI FT I NSPECTO RS ASSOCI ATIO N OF SOUTH AFRI C A - ES ABLI SHED 1996

PAIA - PROMOTION of ACCESS to INFORMATION ACT of 2000.

Did you know that in terms of the Promotion of Access to Infor-mation Act of 2000, all businesses need to have a PAIA Manual, as also have submitted a copy to the South African Human Rights Com-mission (SAHRC) website.

During the course of 2000, the Promotion of Access to Information Act (known as the PAIA Act) was passed into South African law, so as to allow members of the public to know who they are dealing with in any business or private body.

To be compliant with the Act, all public and private bodies must have a PAIA Manual (also known as a Section 51 Manual). Extensions for some businesses were granted until December 2016 to submit their manuals to the SAHRC. This means that all businesses need to have one. The problem is that with the apparent low-key publication, not all businesses knew of this requirement.

Does this mean that anyone may now have access to my records?

The answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT! It only means that according to government, a person who has the right to request access to records of your business … is a person who wishes to exercise or protect a right to which they are entitled. The Manual only gives them the ability to make the application! The information is then supplied by PAIA … or not!

The government claims to have made it very easy for businesses to create their manual and submit it to the SAHRC. Apparently it's quick, simple and it is completely tax deductible. PAIA does all the hard work … (sic).

It apparently takes only a few minutes to complete this process on PAIA’s website. The applicant will be e-mailed a copy of the PAIA Manual, after which PAIA will submit a copy of it to the SAHRC on the applicant’s behalf, with proof that it was submitted sent to the appli-cant. A look at PAIA’s website shows the penalties that businesses may face if they do not comply with this Act (again sic).

The website will help to create the requisite PAIA manual within 3 minutes. For any queries, look at the FAQ section on the website, or simply e-mail PAIA, who will help you.

www.paiacompliance.co.za

Mount Etna Eruption

Truly a world class photograph that reached the Top-Ten competition in Europe last year. The rating moti-vation voiced the superb technical quality, absolute clarity, and the interaction of the plethora of colours that make up the photo - A once in a lifetime photo!

http://www.paiacompliance.co.za


This photo by Philip Glaus, illustrates an age-old problem of pit ladders that are supplied too short. With the top of the pit-steps level with the landing sill - what must the inspector hold on to step down safely into the pit … as also the serviceman who is expected to enter the pit at least quarterly to clean it and check and service the pit equipment?

INDUSTRY NEWS - SERVICE QUALITY AUDITS

WORDS of WISDOM

The fool speaks; the wise man listens …

In the moment of crisis the wise man builds brid-ges, the foolish build dams …

In the end it’s not the years in our life that counts, but the life in our years …

Abraham Lincoln.

ACCESS-ONLY GOODS LIFTS (HOISTS)

Rob Duke sent us this photo of a unit that he audited re-

cently in Mpumalanga. He queries the shutter-gate

‘lock’ (seen in the photo ... a standard swimming pool

latch). He inquires if electrical interlocks do not have to be

supplied any more, that a pool-latch can suffice?

You be the judge of a proposed reply!

Philip Glaus sent us these photos of newly erected lifts, where the service provider has effectively issued the An-nex ‘A’ commissioning report. These Heath Robinson electrical connections were considered acceptable by the erector, remembering that this lift is expected to run trouble-free for at least the next 20 to 30 years!


TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION

Believe it or not … the requested photo and short descriptions requested from a whole handful of Golden Oldies has regretfully not materialized - Certainly not in time for publishing. The general excuse … they are too busy!

The second most prolific excuse, especially from the ladies that are still employed, is the fact that they are waiting for permis-sion from their executive management to have their service of several decades featured in the Educom. If only these companies were as bureaucratic with their service contracts, but then other values naturally step in. The psychologist pundits call this ‘multi-faceted management style’. However just proves to us that the respective executives do not hold their ladies in high enough esteem to allow them to be recognised in the Lift Industry for their loyal, valuable and unselfish contributions.

We however feature our own Golden Oldies. Do you still recall these ‘oldies’ of yesteryear? Sent in by Eddie Cooke following a recent ‘Golden Oldies Motor Parade’ in PE …

Thank you Eddie for sharing these Oldies with us.

Surfing the internet and other old records can also produce a host of Golden Oldies that most assuredly bring back memo-ries of yore …

Identical to my first company vehicle as construction field engineer

back in 1965 - Except that it was ‘Schindler Blue’

Identical to brother Johan’s Renault that he visited us with in Rhodesia circa 1969-70. Still claims it to be the most sportiest

vehicle that he ever owned. Clifford wasn’t born yet?

We have in Past Educoms featured ‘Trams’ used in Gauteng during and after the war years. Visiting the transport archives, this Cape Town transport Golden Oldie stands out. Just a pity that it doesn’t

picture the ‘Clippy’ who used to stand on the back load platform to signal the driver to move, but also to take your ticket for clipping.

These were indeed Golden Years … Years when one still sailed overseas by Castle-line as com-

mercial aeroplanes were too expensive or simply not available for your point of destination!

LIFT INDUSTRY PENSIONERS : WHERE ARE THEY NOW?


In our August Educom we advised of the fait accompli, that SANS were handing over their formatting and regulation for lift and escalator standards’ responsibility to DoL, anticipat-ed to be achieved by December 2017.

Educom is most perturbed that the current industry national compliance of lifts and escalators is already highly question-able. Not having spoken to Chief Inspector Mr Tibor Szana, we can in no way pass a verdict on the proposed scenario.

But what is happening to the approximately 10 000 lifts and escalators that we consider are running without valid Annex ‘B’ comprehensive reports?

What is happening to installations that are already in-stalled as non-compliant without valid exemptions?

What is happening to the thousands of installations where Annex ‘B’ inspections have been carried out; logging a myriad of non-compliances which the lift service providers by and large appear to ignore within the Government-stipulated 60-Day corrective period?

We already question DoL’s current policing ability to main-tain the industry lift installations at an acceptable valid oper-ational level. Who will now carry the additional load of transcripting … the SANS standards to Dol standards?

We were personally shocked when DoL without warning, decided to withdraw SANS 10360 … standard for the maintenance and repair of electric and hydraulic pow-ered lifts, escalators and passenger conveyors. Regretta-bly replacement SANS 53015 is simply not the same.

SANS 10360 : Edition 1 was introduced as long ago as 2001 (SABS 0360). It defined in a no-nonsense way how lifts were to be serviced and repaired by the service indus-try. We were originally part of that Group. The standard was drawn up from scratch without reference to any other stand-ard. The LEA (Lift Engineering Association) with their rep-resentatives soon realized the future difficulty in complying with this service and repair standard. But positively … out of this effort developed future ‘Client Performance-Based Contracts’ through which the mostly major portfolio holders could take their subcontracting lift service providers to task for non-compliance.

We heard on withdrawal, that the blame for withdrawal was laid at the feet of copyright issues. Our considered opinion is that this was rather at the lobbying and behest of the LEA. Exactly as Willem states in his (Page 6) article …

The purchasing of components;

The programming of personnel who service and repair these lifts;

The initial registration of these lifts;

The compliant supply of these lifts;

Even the response-times on call backs, especially occu-pied call-backs should not exceed 60 minutes

Documentation was defined as to WHAT and HOW it was to be kept

Maintenance was defined right down to nitty-gritty component service, repair and replacement

In our considered opinion, this former standard rather uplifted the standard of service and repair in South Africa as opposed to letting it deteriorate to the current unacceptable level.

SANS 53015 is now a softer version of the former and most certainly not as comprehensive. If the Owners will accept this, is another matter for consideration. Remember that the ACT now more than ever, holds the Owners legally responsible for their units, whereas the service providers get away succinctly with their continued escalating non-compliance.

Actio quantum minoris is becoming more common as Owners sue their contracted Service Providers for allowing the asset value of their lift installations to reduce because of the failure of the service provider to carry out comprehensive preventa-tive maintenance as defined under the Act. Most servicemen nowadays simply tick a box or log ‘Basic’ maintenance, al-though the Act clearly requires a ‘true reflection’ of what was done to be recorded.

An absolute bonus for lift portfolio owners in SANS 10360, was the Section 5 requirement for ‘Personnel Training’.

Clause 5.1. Defines that … “A documented programme shall be available for the training of maintenance per-sonnel”

Clause 5.2. … “Maintenance personnel shall attend upgrading courses to qualify them to work on specific tasks”

Clause 5.3. … “Maintenance personnel shall attend upgrading and refresher courses”

Clause 5.4. … “The interval between training, upgrad-ing and refresher courses shall not exceed three (3) years”.

Possibly the most important maintenance requirements under SANS 10360 was defined in Section 8 - Maintenance Opera-tions, where …

Clause 8.2. … “The contractor shall examine the in-stallation in accordance with the manufacturer’s main-tenance instructions … The contractor shall perform the necessary adjustments, component replacements, cleaning and luvrication in accordance with the origi-nal manufacturer’s requirements …”

The new SANS 53015 was approved by the SABS Technical Committee TC1082 (Lifts & Escalators) and published in March 2010. It was accordingly actioned by the OHSAct amendments of September 2010

SABS STANDARDS vs DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR

PURCHASING SANS STANDARDS

Sales of any SANS standard , licenses that standard exclu-sively to the purchaser. It can no longer be copied or net-work stored …

Tel: +27 (0) 12 428 6883 Fax: +27 (0) 12 428 6928 E-mail: [email protected]

SA National Standards are also available on-line from the SABS website … http://www.sabs.co.za


A major developer recently inquired as to why ‘dumbwaiters’ are no longer specified or discussed in the Educom. The answer is probably that there is so little call for them nowadays. There must be several hundred still running and spread across the country. In fact, searching major supplier brochures, dumbwait-ers are specified with the latest tech-nological developments. The layout seen right, advertises dumbwaiters in CKD (complete knock down) kits for easy local in-stallation. Technically …

Capacity: 100 / 200 / 300kg option Rated speed: 0.4m/s VVVF drive Smart space, harmony carriage

Easy installation - occupies small space and no need for strong construction loading.

Human-oriented design: Flexi-ble operation and easy mainte-nance.

16-bit microprocessor control, making for stable and quiet op-eration.

More choices of types available: Window type, ground type and cart type available as standard.

Approach your preferred local supplier for further detail.

With the latest requirements in building regulations, gov-ernment buildings especially, require to cater for the physi-cally disabled. A multitude of the above wheelchair lifts that are built into existing staircases as seen above, have been fitted in universities and law courts, etc. When not in use, the floor of the unit folds up, taking up minimal space on the stairway. These units are likewise supplied in CKD kits from ocverseas, and can generally be installed and commissioned in three days or less. Their electrical power requirement is minimal, with minimal connection require-ments.

Depending on use, service can be stretched to quarterly per annum - Absolutely ideal for country installations, away from the main suppliers.

Approach your preferred local supplier for further detail.

PRODUCTS - DUMBWAITER WHEELCHAIR LIFTS

Be not afraid of growing slowly … rather be afraid of only standing still, for although the world is full of suffer-

ing, it is also full of the overcoming of it.


ALLOWANCE for FUTURE LIFTS IN EXISTING BUILDINGS

Most of us see strange things during our inspections, but we seldom take the time and make the effort to share these with our colleagues. We for example, all know how many build-ings were over-designed with dummy shafts and extra motor room space for ‘future’ lifts, which never got installed. That space and cost to erect were thus wasted for the lifespan of that building.

In Pretoria is one such building, where they erected a second lift shaft with the intention to have a duplex pair sometime in the future. Although this building is only three storey’s, a separate shaft, complete with swing doors and buttons on every landing and identical to the existing lift, was installed.

Along the line somebody realised that a second lift would never be installed, so they installed false floors in the lift shaft on every landing and used the space as store rooms for the cleaners. Surprisingly, the ‘old lift’ was replaced later with a more modern design with sliding doors.

SALE of CERTAIN ARTICLES PROHIBITED

Chapter 22 of the OHS Act ... ‘Sale of certain Articles Prohibited’, is one of the shortest chapters in the Act, but also one of the most abused.

The chapter clearly states: “If any requirement in respect of any article, substance, plant, machinery or health and safety equipment or for the use or application thereof has been prescribed, NO PERSON shall sell or market in any manner whatsoever such article, substance, plant, ma-chinery or health and safety equipment unless it COM-PLIES WITH THAT REQUIREMENT”.

From the definitions, prescribed means ‘prescribed by reg-ulation’.

In our industry there are specified ‘requirements’ in the Lift, Escalator and Passenger Conveyor Regulations (LER), but more important, the Regulations then incorporate Standards, which means that these Standards are then ‘prescribed’.

In short and clearly understandable ... ‘NO PERSON can sell or market any Lift, Escalator or passenger con-veyor that does not comply with the South African National Standards (SANS), which are incorporated in the schedule to the LER’.

Our SANS documents are based on the European Norm (EN). If equipment is imported from Europe, the chances are good that it complies, but from Asian countries we must be careful, because they work to other standards.

We must also look at the definition of sell which states that: “Sell includes ... a) Offer or display or import into the Republic of South Afri-

ca; or b) Exchange, donate, lease or offer or display for leasing.

Chapter 10 of the OHS Act states under the duties of manu-facturers that:

a) Any person who designs, manufactures, imports, sells or supplies shall ensure that it complies with the prescribed requirements.

b) Any person who erects or installs lifts, shall also comply with the prescribed requirements.

With the above standard very clear, we still find non-compliant installations with regards to:

The required intercoms,

The labelling of equipment in Chinese,

220 & 380 Volt installations not complying with SANS 10142,

Guarding of nip points,

Ropes under 8 mm diameter,

Lux levels of lighting

FROM WILLEM du TOIT’S DESK - Reporting on Future Lifts ?


There can be no doubt that the ladies who served our

South African multi-national lift companies, made a

huge contribution to our overall success. They ran our

office admin, accounts and especially the secretarial

requirements whilst we were out in the field. With this

issue of Educom, we pay homage to some of these la-

dies, without whom the sweet success of our companies

would not have materialized.

Lynn Verhoog of Schindler - 31 Years & still going strong

Lynn writes ... “I started my career with Schindler in April 1986, coming from a retail background to a male dominated business under the leadership of Mr Bill Clifton Snr, the Cape Town Technical Manager. I was employed as the ‘Accounts Payable’ as well as running the stores to ensure a positive ma-terial supply line for Service.

I married a Durban Surfer and moved to Natal in January 1988, where I joined the Schindler KZN family with Charles Segal taking over from Mr Richardson as the regional manager. A very dynamic man with a huge personality. This time around, I took on the role of receptionist.

In 1995 I decided to move back to Cape Town, where Schind-ler were now taking a step into the world of Policies and Pro-cedures. Mr Chris Van Rooyen was the regional manager and Alex Gomes the field service manager. We quickly moved into the millennium, with Alex Gomes taking over as regional man-ager. He ran a very tight ship, resulting in us winning the ‘Best Branch Award’ year after year.

Times changed in 2002 with retrenchments, and again in 2008 as the company was re-engineered to meet the new market demands.

But here we are 2017 with Allen Gobey as our new regional

manager. It is hard to believe that 31 years have passed since I joined Schindler. I certainly experienced all the good, and also some bad - but most certainly lots of changes. But which-ever way one wants to look at it over 3 decades, it’s still a great company that I can continue to promote unreservedly. Kind regards. Lynn”.

Late Réne & Anne Hassler

We had several inquiries following our July issue of Educom, which addressed the long-serving ladies in our industry. The Schindler ladies inquired as to the availability of a photo of Anne, especially since Anne was held in such high esteem by the Schindler ladies. Here she is with Rene at his 70th birthday function at Fürigen in Switzerland on 28th November 1992, with Anne absolutely at her sparkling best … as indeed we remember her.

We are sure that this manly specimen needs no intro-duction to our ladies. Who still remembers these pictorials

LIFT INDUSTRY LADIES WITH EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE


ASPIRANT LIFT INSPECTORS Please take note the 2017 November course is cur-rently fully booked, you will be placed on a waiting list for the next course in 2018. We will notify you if there are any cancellations. Furthermore you can apply for 2018. No dates for 2018 have been issued. By sending me your application form, you will be registered for the first course in 2018. With regard to your enquiry, attached please find the fol-lowing documentation with regard to the next course “Short Learning Program (SLP): Lift Regulations – Preparation for Registration with ECSA”:

• Application form to be completed (remember to attach a copy of your ID document)

• Course information Please take note of the following: 1. Please inform us if you no longer want to receive any correspondence from us. 2. Each course will consist of only 20 candidates, meaning early response is necessary. 3. We will inform you as soon as the course are full. If you have any further enquiry with regard to the above course, you are welcome to contact us. Thank You Kind Regards Mariska Swartz Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics and In-dustrial Design (B3-329) Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment TSHWANE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (TUT) Private Bag X 680, Pretoria, 0001 Tel: +27 12 382-5164 Fax: +27 12 382-5602 E-mail: [email protected].

The photo above is a case in point - where a local inde-pendent service provider has installed a drum-drive lift under SANS 1545:1 in a four-floor block of flats, multi-tenanted on each floor. Worst still, he appears to have ap-plied to DoL to do so. What we do not understand is the fact that it is a coastal installation ... but the lift registration number on site is from Pretoria. Unfortunately neither the Annex 1 Registration Application nor Annex ‘A’ Commis-sioning Report documents were on site.

Why is it non-compliant? Inter alia … for starters :

The lift was presumably imported as a ‘Homelift’ or ‘Disabled Persons’ lift (SANS 1545:4)

The contract load is 150kg (2 persons & a wheelchair)

The drive-ropes are below 8mm diameter

The pit and shaft-head spaces are not to standard

The landing swing doors are not commercial quality and their landing locks not triangle-keyed ...

This Otis L-type landing lock with separate ADS auxiliary switch, complies with SANS primary and secondary safety

circuit functions, but non-compliant triangle key-dislocking!

What remedy is now available for compliance … Only DoL can advise … as they registered the installation!

TUT LIFT REGULATIONS COURSE - November 2017

NON-COMPLIANT LIFT INSTALLATIONS

UK ACCIDENT REPORTS

‘An inquest will be held next week (W/C 24/7/17) into the death of an engineer who fell down a lift shaft in Warwick - James Merritt was working on the lift at the town’s Telent Technology Park on Haywood Road when he fell on October 12 last year. The inquest is set to be held at Leamington Town Hall on Monday’.

https://leamingtonobserver.co.uk/news/lift-fall-warwick-engineer-inquest-1254/.

mailto:[email protected]


LIASA CONTACT DETAILS

Bonnie Peden - National Executive Secretary

Office: (011) 907-0133 - Telefax: (011) 907-0131

E-Mail: [email protected]

Website Address: www.iliasa.org.za

PO Box 531, Alberton, 1450

LIASA in 1995, to qualify for ECSA (Engineering Council) recognition as a ‘Voluntary Association’ (VA - Article 21 Association), formal Arti-cles of Association were required, along with a formalized membership struc-ture. These were drawn up by founder members Dr Theo Kleinhans and Steve le Roux. Steve was elected as Chairman of the National Executive Commit-tee in Gauteng, with Theo as Executive Secretary-Treasurer; Mike Russell as Regional Chairman Western Cape and Graham Mould as Regional Chair-man Eastern Cape. Natal and the Free State were vacant at that time.

The LIASA membership has regrettably reduced to 145 paid-up mem-bers, possibly due to the curtailing forces of the SANAS accreditation.

New LIASA membership cards have again been issued to all payed up members. Please check with Bonnie if you have not received your latest card, making sure that you are indeed paid up. Remember that proof has to be retained in case you are called on to present them to ECSA. Membership of LIASA ensures an ECSA subscription rebate more than equal to the LIASA subscription, being a motivator to engender or retain LIASA membership. □

EDUCOM COMMUNICATIONS

Educom’s contact logistics, where you speak to …

The Editor - Bonnie Peden

Office: (011) 907-0133 Telefax: (011) 907-0131

E-mail: [email protected]

PO Box 531, Alberton, 1450

Please forward us your newsworthy articles and photos for dis-sémination to all our colleagues around the RSA.

Articles contributed to Educom are evaluated by ECSA as CPD, assisting you to achieve your minimum 5 points per year, avera-ged out over 5-year rolling periods. Remember that …

« Ignorance of FACT is NO excuse for any stated non-compliance »

« Liberty means responsibility - That is why most men dread it »

George Bernard Shaw

We are on the Web - go to … www.iliasa.org.za

The web is maintained by LIASA Chairman Sanjeev Singh for the members’ benefit

FROM INSPECTION SCHEDULES

An inspection trip the beginning of August to the Cape, included the Matjiesfontein Micro-Wave Tower. The GPS registered a difference of 1264m from the access gate on the N1, up to the crown level of the MWT. The temperatures likewise differed from a reasonable 8,5° below to -4,5° on top. Even the Klipspringer deer were skulking behind the rocky outcrops to escape the freez-ing wind … but still a pleasurable visit to experience.

LIASA MEETINGS 2017

The LIASA AGM will be held at the Jeppe Quondam Club, starting at 09:00 …

LIASA AGM - Wed 11th Oct.

Please remember that nominations for office for 2018 are to reach Secretary Bonnie Peden by latest 11th September.

Please include your nominations for awards … ‘Doyen of the Year’, most ‘Up-and-Coming’ young member and any ‘Special Award’.

“ExpEriEncE is thE child of thought, and thought is thE child of action ...”

“thErE is so much in thE world for us all - if we only have the eyes to see it; the heart to

love it; and the hand to gather it all to oursElvEs ...”

Benjamin Disraeli


http://www.iliasa.org.za/


technical education educom communication · truly a world class photograph that reached the top-ten...

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