Emergency Service and Rescue Official (Mines Rescue Services Worker)

The purpose of this qualification is to prepare a learner to minimise loss of life and assets by performing rescue and recovery services and managing fires underground. A qualified learner will be able to: • Manage or extinguish underground fires in hostile environments. • Locate and extricate persons from unsafe areas underground.

In terms of 16.5.1 of the Mine Health and Safety Act, Act 29 of 1996, employers are required to provide and maintain mine rescue teams. Rescue teams are made up of volunteers who are employed in a range of underground mining occupations. To become a member of such a mine rescue team, volunteers are required, in terms of Chapter 22 of the Mine Health and Safety Act, to be assessed and found competent against a qualification recognised for the purpose by the Mining Qualifications Authority. To date it has proved difficult to register a national qualification for such rescue workers. This qualification addresses that need. The qualification was developed with the assistance of experienced senior rescue officials as well as the organisation Mines Rescue Services that licences such rescue workers to operate. Mines Rescue Services is also active in the co-ordination and leadership of rescue and fire fighting activities. All learners are employed in underground mining occupations. They volunteer for training and to serve in the proto teams which underground mines have a legal obligation to establish and maintain. As members of such proto teams, qualified Mines Rescue Service Workers rescue mining personnel including illegal miners, recover bodies in the case of fatalities and make safe mines or sections of mines after incidents such as accidents, fires, explosions and fall of ground. Qualified mines rescue services workers provide vital services relating to a range of emergencies in underground mines which contribute to the safety of mining personnel and minimise the loss of life and assets.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL): RPL for access to the integrated assessment: Accredited providers and approved workplaces must apply the internal assessment criteria specified in the related curriculum document to establish and conform prior learning. Prior learning must be acknowledged by a statement of results. RPL for access to the qualification: Accredited providers and approved workplaces may recognise prior learning against the relevant access requirements. Entry Requirements: • NQF Level 3.

• Complete the Workload Test as prescribed by the Mine Health and Safety Act.
• Perform hazard identification and risk assessment for a fire or rescue related activity or procedure in an underground mine.
• Apply mines rescue principles and practices to real or simulated fire management and rescue, recovery and emergency activities in hostile environments underground.