Meet a CSIR mechanical engineer who specialises in strength and safety testing

Riaan Bergh is the business manager of three mechanical testing laboratories at the CSIR. These labs provide specialised strength and safety testing services that allow mining, manufacturing, transport and construction companies, and heavy industry to test products to comply with safety requirements. In the rope testing lab, for example, steel rope used in mines is subjected to destructive tensile testing to determine the force it can withstand and how much it stretches before it snaps. In the self-contained self-rescuer lab, Bergh and his engineering team test devices that a miner trapped underground can use to produce oxygen by means of a chemical reaction. The third lab is the mechanical testing lab, which ensures the safety of equipment involved in lifting and support structures in mines and other industries.