Lighting essential to mining health, safety

South African luminaire and lighting products manufacturer BEKA Schréder, through its continual supplying of solutions to African mining operations, industrial clients, infrastructure providers and business organisations, has commissioned solar-powered lighting for a gold and copper mine in Zambia.

The company’s lighting products and services are used in an array of applications, ensuring a safe and healthy environment for workers, with its broad portfolio of multisectoral industry clients benefiting from lighting solutions for their respective operational facilities.

“One needs to stress the importance of lighting because it gets overlooked often. It is one of the crucial elements across most industrial applications; therefore, it is important to get it right the first time . . . To neglect such a seemingly insignificant portion of the operation is a costly mistake to make,” says BEKA Schréder export manager Paulo Mamede.

For Mamede, there is no such thing as a “cheap, quality product” – therefore, it is necessary to educate clients about good-quality products and the associated cost and the change to renewable-energy powered lighting solutions. Such products ensure optimal productivity, efficiency, energy- and cost-saving measures for an operation, in addition to ensuring the health and safety of workers at, for example, a mining operation or industrial facility.

Case in Point

BEKA Schréder’s product and service offerings benefit mining clients because they can improve security, and promote health and safety.

The company’s solutions can provide efficient and sufficient lighting in hazardous environments – where operations usually continue throughout the night – thus ensuring that there are fewer injuries or fatalities as a result of inappropriate lighting.

Further, BEKA Schréder’s lighting product offerings can typically result in an energy saving of between 60% and 80% owing to the high-quality products and the latest LED lighting technology and controls used.

The company’s luminaire products are robust, enabling mining companies, businesses and industrial-sector players to adapt to challenging working conditions.

“These luminaires have been designed for longevity in these harsh environments, therefore reducing maintenance, [thus] making it possible to use valuable resources [people] elsewhere in your operation,” he adds.

The company offers clients a lighting solution service, which can include a full lighting audit of a mining site, identifying cost- and energy-saving areas, supplying lighting products to site, allocating qualified and trusted installer companies, and assisting with product maintenance services.

Since starting operations in Namibia in 1978, BEKA Schréder has maintained a footprint by exporting its products to Zambia and other African countries, as well as Australia, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, South America and South-East Asia.