Mining Weekly

Bidvest Commercial Products division Kelmeg Lifting Services (KLS) has expanded its service offering with the aim of improving productivity and safety, particularly with regard to working at height, where lifting, rigging and lashing required.

Innovation is a pivotal focal point and the company invests considerably in research and development every year, says KLS GM Rodney Young. He adds that KLS strives to develop products that are applicable to all industrial sectors. Consequently, the company has developed ancillary and value-add products – including products for working at height – over the past 18 months, all of which were showcased at Electra Mining Africa.

The gas cylinder lifting slings, developed to lift cylinders when working at height, are especially useful for construction sites. Young adds that the slings could be used to lift cylinders used by artisans working at height in a variety of mining and industrial applications. He notes that KLS is able to manufacture custom slings for specific applications, such as larger-volume cylinders.

KLS’s lifting bags have the capacity to carry up to 20 kg of tools and equipment. The bags, made of 550 gsm double-layer rip-stop canvas, as are to the slings, are invaluable on sites where working at height is required.

KLS also developed tool bags and the Kelmeg tool spiders, a safety lanyard attaching tools to the tradesman’s belt or tool bag. The tool spider can carry a load of up to 5 kg,

Young comments that another example of KLS’s commitment to providing solutions that are convenient, cost-effective and beneficial to the client is its mobile lifting machinery inspection (LMI) unit.

“We have expanded our offering to include this unit, which will be accompanied by a registered lifting machine inspector who is fully equipped to perform lifting machine inspections, load tests, certain repairs and machine maintenance on site,” Young states.

The LMI unit enables the inspector to issue load test certificates on site, in line with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Mine Health and Safety Act, which require that all lifting tackle must be inspected by a competent person at intervals not exceeding three months.

Additionally, lifting machinery must be subjected to a thorough examination by a lifting machine inspector from a lifting machine entity to determine serviceability, at intervals not exceeding a year.

Young notes that KLS’s aim is to provide its customers with consistent product innovation, through which KLS can more efficiently meet customers’ legal compliance and safety-related requirements.