Continuing the journey to ‘Zero harm’ in mining

THE health and safety of mineworkers, particularly the number of fatalities, continues to be of great concern.

Fatalities are mainly caused by collapses, accidents involving vehicles and fires.

The Mine Health and Safety Council, is tasked with advising the Minister of Mineral Resources on health and safety matters affecting mineworkers.

It also develops and implements programmes for the sector.

Between January and the end of September this year there have been 66 fatalities compared to 67 in the same period last year, which is a marginal improvement of 1% regression. Fatalities occured in gold (35), other (16), platinum (8) and coal (7) mines. The number of fatalities have been exacerbated by three accidents which occurred at Sibanye Gold and Palaborwa mines.

On the other hand, there has been a decrease in occupational diseases, where 4632 cases were reported in 2016, compared to 4483 cases last year.

Stakeholders recognise that one death is one too many. This calls for urgency from stakeholders to ensure that we prevent anymore deaths.

This task is one we do not take lightly because we are aware that the death of a mineworker will affect a family, especially when the deceased was the sole breadwinner.

It is also important to consider that the long-term sustainability of mining is dependant not only on its growth, competitiveness and transformation, but also on how well its workforce is cared for.

In light of the above, Minister Gwede Mantashe, who will deliver the keynote address at the 2018 Tripartite Summit, has asked for it to be brought forward from its November date for all stakeholders to collectively assess progress made in attaining our objective of “Zero harm”, and to chart a way forward.

The minister has also asked stakeholders to appreciate that mining is not only about the minerals but is about human beings. The summit will review the progress in achieving the milestones which were agreed to at the 2014 summit.

The principal stakeholders will recommit to the achievement of “Zero Harm” in the industry and strive to ensure that every mineworker returns from work unharmed every day.