DBEL

SAFEX International: Overview and Legal Disclaimers

SAFEX International operates independently and is not classified as a Trade Association. The organization primarily focuses on critical issues pertaining to safety, health, environmental protection, and security in relation to explosives and their precursor chemicals throughout the entire product life cycle.

To support these objectives, SAFEX International has developed a series of documents and guidelines known as the Basis of Safety (BoS). These materials have been collaboratively created by various member companies on an international scale, with the aim of enhancing safety standards in the operations, transportation, storage, and disposal of explosive products and hazardous chemicals.

It is important to note that the BoS documents are intended solely as training materials and guidelines for users. While SAFEX International strives to provide comprehensive and accurate resources, the organization expressly disclaims any legal liability arising from the application or execution of actions undertaken by individual users based on the content provided. Users are encouraged to exercise their own judgment and seek professional advice as necessary when implementing safety practices and protocols related to explosives and hazardous materials.

By utilizing the BoS documents and guidelines, users acknowledge and accept that SAFEX International cannot be held responsible for any consequences resulting from their actions or decisions.

SAFEX Newsletter

The SAFEX Newsletter was initiated for all members and other interested parties:

To inform the SAFEX Community of what is happening in SAFEX.

To provide a forum for readers to learn from the published articles and opinions expressed.

To encourage networking among members of the SAFEX Community.

To ensure SHE practices stay current and is shared.

Incident Notification

Members can now notify SAFEX of incidents online by completing the Notification of Incident form after accessing the restricted pages (Intranet) with their access codes.

If your Company is a SAFEX Member and you don't have your individual access codes, please request them using the Member Nomination Form. Please do NOT use anyone else's access codes

CSIR DETONICS, BALLISTICS AND EXPLOSIVES LABORATORY

By Tshepo Setlai

The CSIR’s Detonics, Ballistics and Explosives Laboratory is a uniquely equipped, multi-million-rand facility that is used in the development of protective technologies for people and infrastructure, and to support astute procurement of defence and security operational requirements. In addition, the facility provides services and technical consulting for industry and mining partners, and our research facilities are used to offer world-class explosives training for a variety of government and private groups.
The facility is situated near Pretoria in South Africa’s Gauteng province. Testing types range from small arms testing, small scale tests up to 200g and explosive events up to 50 kg nett explosive content. A number of protection and observation shelters ensure the safety of operators in compliance with health and safety regulations.

CSIR researchers make use of specialised equipment and techniques extensively to do experiments, measure the outcome of the experiment and correlate findings with the theoretical base in the research field. Many of these techniques were developed by the CSIR at DBEL and refined over many years.
DBEL Facility is the only national test facility for the validation of vehicle protection against landmines and IEDs. Through this facility, the CSIR has developed and contributed to both international and local protection standards.

To support acquisition decision-making, the DBEL facility is used to develop specifications – and check delivered goods against specifications. This avoids the intake of inferior, inefficient, dangerous, or defective products and prevents loss of lives and millions of invested moneys.
The facility is used by various teams within the CSIR’s defence research capability to inform the design, engineering and development of suitable and effective personnel, vehicle, and infrastructure safety solutions. The facilities major clientele includes South African commercial explosives manufactures like AECI Mining, Solar Mining and BME.
The DBEL facility as laboratory, we remain uniquely placed to offer detailed guidance to companies that are faced with the complexities of explosives testing and evaluations.