'Our relationship with industry is good', says NRCS
Published: 19th May 2021
Mirriam Moswaane, head of communications and marketing at the NRCS, responded to our questions
How does the NRCS view its relationship with the safety footwear industry in terms of compliance and co-operation? The relationship is good.
How does the NRCS react to criticisms such as:
Why do approvals take a long time? This is due to the limited capacity to process the applications, Inspectors are working across industry sectors and the assessment of footwear is too extensive and involved. Most applicants struggle to get the detail correct as well.
Are some footwear suppliers unfairly treated? Not from approvals, at least not intentionally. Some feel they are when corrections of their files is requested as per requirements of the compulsory specification and from Inspections side – the NRCS uses internal procedures and policies to regulate.
Compliant footwear suppliers believe that the NRCS is not doing anywhere near enough to regulate non-compliant safety footwear. How does the NRCS respond to that? Surveillance inspectors are able to cover all provinces despite capacity challenges. We are present at major ports of entries. NRCS also works very closely with the SARS Customs and Border Police to augment its capacity. The NRCS has also employed additional resources to improve on its service delivery.
At a meeting of PPE suppliers in Durban, it was stated that the NRCS would like to regulate all PPE. Is that true, and have any steps been taken towards doing that? Yes – we have to follow internal processes.
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