With South Africa having a considerable number of electrical products that are noncompliant with regulations and are potentially unsafe, the situation has prompted a formation of a nonprofit entity SAFEHouse Association by a group of organisations in the electrical industry with the aim of tackling the issue in a way that is different from other initiatives and likely to be more effective.
The association plans to tackle these issues by making the market aware of regulation and the potential transgressions; exposing non-compliant and unsafe products and services; as well as engaging the distribution channels as members, so as to inhibit availability of substandard products and services.
SAFEHouse membership is suppliers’ assurance to customers of responsible behaviour and of customers’ safety as a priority in product design and manufacture. SAFEHouse is primarily a communications organisation that aims to regulate itself and to inform customers of safety requirements and occurrences of noncompliance with such requirements.
SAFEHouse members have signed a code of conduct, which is users’ assurance of commitment to offer only safe electrical products and services, of responsible behaviour and of customers’ safety as a priority.
Furthermore, there is a good deal of confusion and misunderstanding about which regulations are applicable to which electrical products and services, and the roles of authorities such as the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, the South African Bureau of Standards and the Department of Labour.
A series of free-to-download guides has been produced by the association to help specifiers, suppliers and users determine the standards and regulatory requirements applicable to electrical products and services, covered by legislation.