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SA’s first pipeline gas association finds its feet

Our vision is to be the foremost pipeline-gas association in Africa,” states South African Pipeline Gas Association (Sapga) committee leader Roy Lubbe in an exclusive interview with Engineering News.

By definition fuel gas entails any hydrocarbon gas fuel transported by pipeline, and that is what this association will be dealing with.

The main aim of Sapga is to promote the safe use of gas within this industry.

According to Lubbe, Sapga should be on its feet by June this year and will endeavour to:


·	build an effective and credible partnership with major role players;

·	promote a climate conducive to safety and free of incidents;

·	develop standards, skills, competency and ensure knowledge sharing;

·	ensure training capabilities; and

·	register all qualified and credible gas installers.

“We want every person who works on pipelines and gas installations to be registered with the association,” Lubbe says.

“Sapga will register installers after successful completion of prerequisite training programmes and maintain a database of registered installers which will be accessible to the members and the general public.” Sapga will have a database so that when someone requires a gas installation, the association will be able to show them a list of register-ed members, and assure them that all the companies on the list are accredited and will get the job done properly.

Lubbe, who is a strategic-process systems developer, was appointed by Sasol Gas to facilitate the development of the association, being supported by industry members.

It is his job to facilitate the working group to develop the association, with the ultimate goal of handing the functional association over to its members who, in turn, will manage the activities of the association going forward. The pipeline gas industry is showing rapid growth and Sasol Gas has extensive plans to grow this business even further.

Previously, Sasol sold only hydrogen-rich gas. However, in the last quarter of 2003, the company started with its conversion to natural gas brought in from Mozambique.

In the absence of an industry representative body, such as Sapga, Sasol Gas undertook comprehensive safety surveys of all its existing customers to determine the safety status of all its customers, and found that the safety standards were low and needed to be raised.

Customers that did not comply with the prescribed safety regulations were not converted until the required safety standards had been met, Sasol Gas technical services manager Riaan van der Walt reports.

In addition to Sasol’s safety audits, he states that Sapga will in future do its own independent incident investigations.

“If, for example, there is a gas explosion, Sapga will investigate it thoroughly and circulate lessons learned to its members to ensure a safer environment,” Van der Walt explains.

Sapga is also busy assisting with the drafting of technical standards for the fuel-gas industry, customising them on the European standards.

All customers need to comply with existing and amended technical standards applicable to the respective industry member, which will ensure a uniform and safe environment. Sapga also needs to define competency and skills levels for its members.

The association is in the process of developing industry unit standards, which will ultimately establish a realistic and functional framework of qualifications and competencies relating to National Qualifications Framework levels. The qualifications and unit standards will be formally recognised by the respective Sector Education and Training Authority, and finally approved by the South African Qualifications Authority (Saqa).

Establishing relevant training material within the Saqa structure will become so much easier, and will ensure a formal streamlined and interrelated framework within which to operate, which will be of great value to association members. Eventually this will enunciate the formal registration and recognition of qualified installers.

A few challenging activities are in progress, such as:


·	developing a membership value structure;

·	interacting with the government and other statutory bodies;

·	improving technical specifications (new or revised standards);

·	establishing a safety testing and certification inspectorate;

·	establishing a site on the Internet; and

·	formalising the association’s business processes and systems into a business manual.

To make sure that safety standards are met, Sapga will educate its members in safety and standards, encouraging the industry to comply with awareness safety audits, by ensuring a climate conducive to safe and economic use in an industry of customers, consumers and suppliers. Lubbe says that although the association is starting small, it can make a positive impact and become a major roleplayer this year.

It will be compulsory for any artisan or engineer working on the pipeline to be a member of the new fuel-gas association, and the end users are also expected to be members. A customer can approach Sapga with the request to perform a safety audit.

According to Lubbe, the initial training of the association’s members will be outsourced, but only after Sapga has registered the unit standards with Sapga. Sapga would also like to extend expertise to the recently-formed gas regulator to assist with the establishment of the right laws and regulations in the natural gas industry.

Lubbe stresses that it is important that the industry maintains a healthy dialogue with the gas regulator, and Sapga will communicate with them on behalf of its members.