Mining industry boasts improved safety record
SOUTH African mining conglomerates have reported lower fatalities in the year to December 2019 compared to 2018.
Sibanye-stillwater, the JSE listed precious metal giant, said it recorded six fatalities at all its South African platinum group metals (PGM) businesses during the period from 24 in 2018.
Chief executive, Neal Froneman said the group had an industryleading safety performance in the gold sector after adopting new and radical thinking to address fatalities.
“Since August 2018, our deep level mines have been fatality-free, that has never been achieved in the South African gold mining industry,” said Froneman, adding the South Africa gold operations achieved 10 million fatality-free shifts since August 2018.
“The implementation of longer-term safety and cultural interventions is a strategic priority, and we will strive to promote meaningful engagement with all our stakeholders as part of the safety improvement journey,” said Froneman.
Sibanye was blasted for its poor safety record in 2018.
The group roped in experts and funded an independent study by Wits University into its operations.
Kumba Iron Ore, the iron ore subsidiary of Anglo American plc, said that it was living up to its commitment to make safety a top priority at the opencast Kolomela and Sishen, one of the world’s biggest open mines in the Northern Cape.
The group has not recorded fatalities since May 2016.
Last year Kumba launched the “I-care” buddy campaign, which encourages employee accountability for their personal safety and that of their colleagues.
Chief executive Themba Mkhwanazi said this collaborative approach had driven the company’s response to Section 23 safety stoppages for unsafe work practices and working conditions.
Section 23 of the Mine Health and Safety Act sets out procedures for the effective exercise of the right to withdraw from serious danger and stop unsafe work. “This year, 402 Section 23 and 172 internal safety stoppages took place, reflecting that safety is our first priority,” Mkhwanazi said.
Mkhwanazi said the stoppages did not have an impact on operational challenges in the year ended December 2019.
“When you look at the reasons for production challenges, none of that is attributed to the stoppages,” he said.
Mkhwanazi said that the Sishen Mine had a challenging year in
2019 and experienced unscheduled maintenance at both the mine and the plant, while the dense media separation plant at Kolomela was closed for an infrastructure upgrade.
Fear of victimisation or losing their jobs previously stopped employees from reporting unsafe work environments.
However, there has been a change in culture since Mkhwanazi launched the “sacred covenant code” in 2016, declaring that not a single person would lose their life by accident or mine-related illness while working at the mine.
The mining industry, as a whole, reduced fatalities to 51 in 2019 from 81 in 2018. Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) this week said it also recorded a fatality-free year in managed operations for the first time in the company’s history for the year ended December 2019. The company said it, however, needed to eliminate injuries and extend its focus to nonmanaged joint venture operations after an employee died at Modikwa mine.