Health and safety of miners in spotlight
The mining industry’s safety record regressed in 2023 with the death of 13 mineworkers at Impala Platinum’s Rustenburg 11 shaft in November.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Investing in African Mining Indaba on Tuesday, chair of the Minerals Council SA’s CEO Zero Harm Forum, Japie Fullard, said fatalities in the industry should be zero given its aim of ensuring employees return home safely daily.
“We are not happy with these figures. It should be zero. That is why we call it zero harm. That is why we are striving towards that,” he said.
Fullard said fatality trends have decreased, with lower incidents of seismicity and fall of ground, given technological advancement and industry efforts.
Impala Platinum CEO Nico Muller in November described the accident at its Rustenburg 11 shaft as the company’s “darkest day” after a conveyance hoisting 86 employees to the surface at the end of their shift unexpectedly started descending rapidly before plunging to the ground.
There was a record low number of mine deaths in 2022 at 49, down from 74 a year before. Mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe is scheduled to release safety and health statistics for 2023 later this year.
Thuthula Balfour, head of health at the council, said safety incidents are decreasing but the council is concerned about the increasing incidents of noiseinduced hearing loss.
With TB and silicosis, it formed the major health challenges in the industry.
As many employees are exposed to noise levels of more than 85 decibels, the council’s interventions are focused on enhancing efforts to ensure workplaces implement “quiet” initiatives, she said.
“The other diseases have gone down markedly, whereas noise-induced hearing loss has not gone down as much … It has displaced TB, which used to be the thing we were talking about,” said Balfour.
“It is about eliminating noise at the source. A company should not purchase machinery that is emitting excessive noise. We don’t want that our interventions are dependent on the employees using only earmuffs because there are many other factors that make it not possible for employees to use the muffs efficiently, for example when it is very hot and humid.”
In addition to fatalities, the mining industry is grappling with a rise in underground sitins after employees led the actions at the Blyvoor Gold Mine, Gold One, Impala Platinum and Wesizwe’s Bakubung Platinum Mine
Minerals Council SA CEO Mzila Mthenjane said the biggest concern is the safety of employees during underground sit-ins.
“Employees find themselves in situations where they do not have food [and] water, and suffer dehydration. They [the sit-ins] last for up to three days. That presents very unsafe conditions,” Mthenjane said, adding there has so far been no fatalities or serious injuries due to underground sit-ins.
“We do need to engage unions and the government and come to an agreement to eliminate the sit-ins, but we first need to understand the root causes.”