CSIR Self Contained Self Rescuer Testing Laboratory

After the Kinross tragedy of September 1986, during which 177 employees lost their lives in the aftermath of an underground fire, belt-worn Self-Contained Self-Rescuers (SCSRs) were deployed into the South African mining industry.

SCSRs protect mine workers during a fire or explosion underground. They are being used to enable mine workers to escape from an irrespirable atmosphere. In 2010 a total number of more than 185000 SCSRs were deployed in the South African mining industry.

To ensure that the SCSRs deployed underground are in good working order, the need for a programme to monitor SCSRs, in order to detect any unacceptable deterioration in their functional performance, was recognized.

The CSIR Consulting and Analytical Services is the only Accredited Testing Authority in South Africa to perform this monitoring programme and is recognized as an international bench mark.

The monitoring programme in its present format was established in 1996 at the direction of the Chief Inspector of Mines and is controlled by a tripartite technical committee (TTC) consisting of representatives of government, unions and the mining industry. At present more than 180 mines/shafts are taking part in this monitoring programme and in excess of 1900 SCSRs are being tested annually.

The main objectives of the SCSR monitoring programme are:

• to detect adverse performance trends in SCSRs in daily underground deployment which could ultimately jeopardise a successful escape in the event of an emergency,
• to assist mine management in achieving legal compliance with Regulation 16.4 of the Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996, i.e. employer to ensure that no defective self-contained self-rescuer is issued,
• to detect any trend indicative of premature deterioration in terms of negotiated agreements including periods of guarantee; mines are therefore advantageously placed to minimise (or circumvent) replacement or refurbishment costs,
• to identify units which remain functional within established norms subsequent to the expiry of negotiated periods of guarantee; mines will therefore benefit in that premature replacement or refurbishment of fully functional units would have been averted,
• to provide sound technical advice on site to the mines, and
• provide feedback, through formal reports, on all makes of SCSRs, thereby enabling comparative evaluations on an ongoing basis.

The monitoring programme has shown that different units even when deployed under similar conditions, react and show different degrees of functional performance deterioration. In some types of SCSRs this deterioration is more serious than in others. In the last few years signs of normal wear and tear, as well as deterioration of functional performance, were not identified as the only faults. Material failures, structural faults and design weaknesses, which are not related to normal wear and tear, were also identified. Subsequently, pro-active remedial actions could be initiated to rectify these problems timeously. If the ongoing performance monitoring programme had not been in place, any of these problems may only have emerged when the units were used during an emergency, with possibly fatal consequences. During 2010, as in the past, a substantial number of SCSRs were activated and in all of these incidents not a single SCSR malfunctioned. Training, as well as SCSR maintenance and care, is essential in this respect but, fundamentally, the SCSR monitoring programme provides the level of support required to achieve such outcomes.