In an effort to bolster safety when moving hazardous materials, the Chemical and Allied Industries’ Association (CAIA) will be providing training to more than 20 auditors in August.

Transporting dangerous goods, including hazardous chemicals, has the potential to cause harm to people, animals, property and the environment in the event of an accident. It is therefore essential for hauliers and logistics service providers to have management systems in place to properly identify and control the risks arising from the transportation of dangerous chemicals.

Deidré Penfold, executive director of the CAIA said the training of the auditors will be used as a way to evaluate the quality, safety and environmental performance of hauliers and logistics service providers and chemical distributors. This will be done by means of standardised assessments and carried out by independent CAIA approved third-party auditors every two years.

SQAS was originated by the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC), with CAIA setting up SQAS-SA, a similar system, which was modified to suit local needs.

“Representatives from CEFIC, in collaboration with CAIA, will conduct the training of local auditors at CAIA, who will then expand their audit territories to the rest of Africa,” Penfold said.

“SQAS-SA audits provide a mechanism to evaluate performance and promote continuous improvement within organisations,” she added. “The audits are carried out by professional auditors who have been trained and accredited by CAIA for each type of assessment module. Their performance is closely monitored by CAIA to ensure high and uniform quality of SQAS-Southern Africa assessments across Africa.”

Current auditors will be trained 14 and 15 August 2017 and all potential auditors will be trained from 16 to 17 August 2017 at CAIA’s offices in Rosebank, Johannesburg. A site visit for all participants will take place on 18 August 2017.