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Concern raised about mine health and safety backsliding, targets under threat

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Des van Rooyen signs mining industry pledge renewal on achieving health and safety milestones agreed in 2014

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Des van Rooyen signs mining industry pledge renewal on achieving health and safety milestones agreed in 2014

17th November 2016

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The milestones that were agreed upon by all industry stakeholders at the 2014 Mine Occupational Health & Safety Summit are in danger of not being achieved in accordance with their timeline, warns Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) acting mines chief inspector Xolile Mbonambi.

He was addressing mining industry stakeholders at the 2016 Mine Occupational Health & Safety Summit, in Johannesburg, on Thursday.

The milestones include the elimination of all mining fatalities by December 2020 and a 20% reduction in serious injuries (an injury which either incapacitates the employee from performing his or her normal or similar occupation for a period totalling 14 days or more or which causes the employee to suffer the loss of a joint, or part of a joint, or sustain a permanent disability) by December 2016. 

As from January 2017, the goal is to achieve a 20% yearly reduction in lost-time injuries, which is defined as an injury that incapacitates the employee’s normal or similar occupation into the next calendar day.

However, Mbonambi pointed out that, in the year to November 14, there had been 73 fatalities recorded in the mining sector with gold (31) and platinum (26) having recorded the most fatalities. During the same period in 2015, there were 69 fatalities.

He revealed which mining companies had recorded the most fatalities to date in 2016 with Sibanye Gold having the worst record with 13 fatalities, followed by Impala Platinum (11), Harmony Gold (8), Anglo American Platinum (7), AngloGold Ashanti (6), Lonmin (4), Kumba Iron Ore (3), Petra Diamonds (2) and South32 (2).

He said the fatalities recorded so far this year were a “major setback” for the industry, which had consistently recorded improved health and safety records over the past 20 years, and which had achieved its lowest-ever fatality number (77) in 2015.

Mbonambi stressed that miners had to pay more attention to preventing fall-of-ground incidents, transport-related accidents and the spread of respiratory diseases which all continued to be major causes of loss of life at mines.

Further, he highlighted that since 2004, significant improvements had been recorded in the fight against the spread of occupational diseases at mines. Nonetheless, the numbers remained “stubbornly high” at several thousand new cases reported each year.

Media personality and event programme director Iman Rappetti introduced Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Des van Rooyen to the conference attendees as the acting Mineral Resources Minister.

Van Rooyen informed delegates that Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane and Deputy Minister Godfrey Oliphant were unable to attend the conference as they were attending "official pressing commitments abroad” which was why he was giving the keynote address in their place.

Zwane is leading a South African delegation to the plenary meeting of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), in Dubai. The plenary session is the highest decision-making body of the KPCS and meets once a year.

“Today, I am just a messenger and I will do my best to behave and not to bring up other things, and only say what I have been instructed to say,” Van Rooyen quipped.

He lamented that the DMR was “extremely concerned” about the high number of fatalities recorded so far in 2016, particularly that so many had occurred at major South African mining companies, saying this was a major concern for government.

“It cannot be business as usual. Something has to radically change as our workers are still exposed to hazardous levels of dust and noise.”

RECOMMITTING TO GOALS
Moreover, Chamber of Mines (CoM) CEO Roger Baxter, also speaking at the summit, said the chamber was in full agreement with the DMR that the increase in fatalities at South Africa’s mines was “extremely disappointing”.

He remarked that this was particularly so given the industry’s serious commitment towards achieving zero harm and the continued improvement of overall safety trends over the past two decades as a direct result of the various tripartite health and safety initiatives adopted by the industry. “It is the first reversal in nine years,” Baxter pointed out.

He revealed that, prior to the summit, there was a tripartite leadership workshop to reflect on this performance, which was convened in Johannesburg by the Mine Health and Safety Council on October 12. The workshop was attended by stakeholder principals of employers, organised labour and the State under the stewardship of the DMR.

During the workshop the DMR proposed that the mining industry should be “bold” and agree that zero harm was achievable and pledge to have no more fatalities until the end of financial year. Baxter stated that at the end of the workshop, there was consensus among all the partners that, things had to be done differently, if the sector wanted to achieve the milestone targets and ultimate goal of zero harm.

The outcome was that a declaration of actions to be taken collectively was urgently needed and five key priorities and related actions were agreed upon, namely that tripartite visible, felt leadership be shown and relationship building be undertaken; issues of trust deficits be addressed among all stakeholders; that communication be improved across all levels to ensure that the message of zero harm reached all mine employees and contractors; that empowerment of supervisors and employees take place and that annual company health and safety days should be established.

The pledge was signed by all sector stakeholders including trade unions Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, the National Union of Mineworkers, UASA and Solidarity during the course of the summit on Thursday.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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