S&V Protect Magazine Vol18 No2 Second Quarter 2024
The only SA magazine aimed exclusively at the PPE end user.
This Magazine is sponsored by SAFLIA
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IN THIS ISSUE:
03 Upfront
- Online from China: Noncompliant footwear, respiratory protection products slip in undetected.
05 OHS in Focus
- Be mentally prepared for emergencies, advises Leighton Bennett, Benrisk Consulting, Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA. At home, at work, take time to practise your reaction to potential dangers.
07 Safety in Construction
- The long overdue overhaul of South African construction health and safety, by Professor John Smallwood, Professor of Construction Management, Department of Construction Management, Nelson Mandela University.
13 Housekeeping
- Pristine spaces promote wellbeing, writes Francois van Zyl, GM of Broll Specialised Services.
14 Standards
- ASTM International shows how standards underpin sustainability efforts, and devises a standard for ‘deadly’ beach umbrellas.
15 Competition
- Master Builders Association North Regional Safety Competition.
17 Water
- South Africa’s water crisis – a call to action for climate-resilient solutions, by Robert Erasmus of Sanitech.
18 Workwear
- Pioneering protection: The evolution of Da Gama’s D59 workwear fabrics, by Janice Roberts, Technical Projects Manager, Da Gama Textiles.
19 Innovation
- Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft: Helmet with vibration sensor for excavator drivers.
- Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft: Sensor measures oxygen content of breath.
- Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft: Web platform and app aim to improve quality of life for people with Parkinson’s disease.
23 Buyers' Guide
- What's on offer.
Advertisers in this Issue
Kaliber (02), Palm Footwear/Terrapod (OFC), Rainbow Group (06), Rebel SafetyGear (04), S&V Calendar (this page), S&V Directory (12), SAFLEC (03).
The next issue
Will be out on 14 August 2024.
- Being mentally prepared for emergencies: At home, at work, take time to practise your reaction to potential dangers
In the light of the tragic George building collapse being fresh in our minds, would you know what to do if an emergency occurred while you were on the job or at home?Do you know what actions to take if a co-worker was seriously injured, a fire ignited, a vehicle accident or a structure collapsed? Are you prepared to react?Emergencies and ...morePristine spaces promote wellbeing
A clean, peaceful, and safe workplace fosters confidence in both employees and visitors, while poorly maintained environments have the opposite effect. Francois van Zyl, the General Manager of Broll Specialised Services, emphasizes the significant impact of a well-kept workspace on employee morale and the impression it creates for visitors or clients. ...moreNew ASTM international standard covers beach umbrella safety
W. Conshohocken, Pa., U.S.A. (11 April 2024) – ASTM International’s consumer products committee (F15) has developed a standard specification for beach umbrellas and anchor devices.The new standard (F3681) is overseen by ASTM’s market umbrellas subcommittee (F15.79). According to the subcommittee’s chair, Bill Scher ...moreMBA North emphasises benefits of safety as regional safety competition closes
Entries for this year’s Master Builders Association North Regional Safety Competition closed in February, and the adjudication or auditing phase has begun. Gerhard Roets, Construction Health and Safety Manager at MBA North, says that the annual competition highlights the importance of safety in an intrinsically dangerous industry li ...moreSouth Africa's water crisis - a call to action for climate-resilient solutions
Durban, KZN, SA (09 April 2024) – South Africa faces a water crisis of immense proportions, a dire situation fuelled by a confluence of challenges. Unevenly distributed water resources, exacerbated by unpredictable rainfall patterns due to climate change collide with the burden of outdated and deteriorating infrastructure, threateni ...moreHelmet with vibration sensor for excavator drivers
Darmstadt, Germany (02 April 2024) – Fraunhofer researchers have developed a helmet with an integrated acceleration sensor for drivers of construction vehicles. The helmet sensor measures harmful vibrations that affect the body. A software analyzes the sensor signals and shows the stress on the affected person. This allows corr ...moreSensor measures oxygen content of breath
Freiburg, Germany (02 May 2024) – Oxygen saturation in the blood that is either too low or too high can cause lasting physical harm or even death. This is why patients’ oxygen concentrations are monitored continuously in both intensive care and trauma units. However, the pulse oximeters typically clipped onto a patient&rs ...moreOnline from China: Noncompliant footwear, respiratory protection products slip in undetectedChinese online retailers Temu and Shein, which deliver parcels to individual consumers directly from China, have opened a loophole for noncompliant safety footwear and respiratory protection equipment to enter SA.The safety footwear styles offered by both do not have National Regulator for Compulsory Standards (NRCS) approval numbers, and ...moreThe long overdue overhaul of South African construction health and safety (H&S)IntroductionNotable events in the South African construction industry over decades indicate a need to overhaul South African construction health and safety (H&S), and for that matter, quality management, which requires a range of interventions.‘Chapter 1 The need for construction health and safety’ in the title Applied Con ...moreReport addresses how standards activities in innovative industries underpin sustainability effortsW. Conshohocken, Pa., U.S.A. (02 May 2024) – A major new report from ASTM International highlights the impactful role that standards play in supporting global innovation trends. The Standardization Impact Report (SIR) serves to showcase the direct links between these emerging technologies and the work of several key ASTM commit ...moreWeb platform and app aim to improve quality of life for people with Parkinson’s diseaseSankt Augustin, Germany (02 May 2024) – Parkinson’s disease is one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative conditions worldwide. It causes motor impairments such as tremors, slow movement, muscle stiffness, and balance problems. Memory can also worsen as the disease progresses. The individual course of the disease cannot be pr ...moreFootwear Industry Articles
- An industry with distinctive material riches, unable to sufficiently convert them into finished goods in a world class way“The project’s purpose,” said Courtney Grant, “is to be a robust, evidence-based strategy to address the leather and general goods sector’s challenges and unlock its growth potential.”The main headings of her presentation were:Creating the groundwork for a National Leather and General Goods Strategy:Fro ...moreHow FootJoy’s superbly crafted shoes influenced my life
An Informative & Nostalgic Letter written in April 2025 to two executives at Acushnet (USA) – A leading golf corporation which includes FootJoy Shoes.RE: FootJoy & II recall the very first pair of FootJoy golf shoes my late father bought for me in July 1976. This wasn’t my first interaction with the brand that I had al ...morePalm Footwear: ‘One family’Palm Footwear was founded in July 1966 by Kasie Pattundeen, with 18 staff, making slippers.60 years later, with over 800 staff, it is among the biggest employers in the SA footwear industry and among the biggest manufacturers by volume.It remains a family business, headed by Rajeev and Kiran Pattundeen, with their children, Srishti and Rt ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- Mobilising Africa’s natural livestock resource to reinvigorate the regional leather value chain
Africa possesses one of the world’s largest livestock populations, yet the continent captures only a fraction of the value generated from leather and leather-based products. From cattle in the East and South Africa, to goats and sheep across North Africa, the continent’s abundant livestock resource represents not only a source ...moreAfrican leather businesses holding LWG and SLF ratingsAs African leather manufacturers strive to grow their exports, the number which have qualified for ratings by the Leather Working Group (LWG) and the Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF) is growing.By country, LWG lists the following:Algeria: Sarl Tannerie Ain FakrounBurkina Faso: Mona Industry SARL.Egypt: El Montaza Tannery, Piel Color C ...moreMONEY FROM WASTE
Europe has borne the difficulties and the costs of converting to a bioeconomy – the lessons are there, free, for African businesses to learn and profit from. ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- The PPE Conference – PPE isn’t optional, it’s essential: A review
Leighton Bennett, the Safety First Association chairperson and a SHE and risk management consultantThe hosts of this first PPE Conference held in South Africa, were the Safety First Association and SAPEMA, on the 10 and 11 March 2026, at the Emperor’s Palace, in Kempton Park.This conference objectives were to provide a unique opport ...moreUnderstanding local and international PPE standards: Clarity in a complex landscape
Appearances and claims to the contrary, South Africa’s PPE industry “is largely unregulated, and a high percentage of PPE on the market is not compliant with official standards”, uvex Safety SA MD Christo Nel said, “and that’s a problem at many levels, and for the entire value chain”.He said the fundame ...moreNew OHS regulations coming into force later this year mean PPE needs to be reviewed, too
In March 2025, the Physical Agents Regulations (and their guidelines) and the Noise Exposure Regulations (and their guidelines) of the OHSAct were published, with an 18-month time-period promulgation date to September 2026, allowing employers time to upgrade their Health & Safety requirements to comply with the new published regulatio ...more
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