FEATURE
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Proper training and trade test for
ammonia artisans
By Andrew Perks
The trade tests currently available for ammonia artisans are Refrigeration Mechanic
(Commercial) and Refrigeration Mechanic (Industrial). Neither of these tests have
ammonia-related tasks. The fact is that no ammonia trade test exists.
E
veryone knows I have a particular
preference for ammonia as a
refrigerant. Now don’t get me wrong:
I understand and have used the ‘freons’
extensively in my career, using refrigerants
that are best suited to a particular area
of application. Let us look at a freezer
trawler: that’s industrial cooling — but not
many of them have ammonia on board.
I have never actually visited a
South African trade testing centre for
refrigeration artisans before, but I had the
opportunity to remedy this when I visited
ACRA’s new facility in Chloorkop during
June. I was very impressed. I was struck by
the fact that to be an ammonia artisan,
the learner must do a freon trade test.
Trade test centres are given strict
guidelines by the National Artisan
Moderating Body (NAMB) as to the
content of the test — there is no ammonia
trade test.
So, I asked the question, how do you
assess the competency of ammonia
artisans when you are asking them to
perform procedures that really do not
relate to their trade? I must say, I received
a thought-provoking answer, but I will not
go into that — it was a long discussion.
So the question remains, with all of the
There needs to be seperate trade test for
working with ammonia.
ammonia cooling facilities in South Africa,
do we or don’t we need an ammonia
trade test centre? The answer is, of course
we do. The training of South African
Qualification and Certification Committee
for Gas (SAQCC Gas) for Safe Handling
of Ammonia is continuing at a pace
and what is evident is the lack of core
knowledge of the refrigerant.
People, we are dealing with a group 2
refrigerant that is both toxic and hazardous
and it needs special attention. The core
training of some 60% of a refrigeration
artisan remains constant when it comes
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