The mining industry has renewed its commitment to eliminating injuries and fatalities at all operations even as the number of deaths continues to decline.
Representatives of Minerals Council SA, CEOs of mining companies, mine managers, trade unions and the department of mineral resources & energy met at the MineSafe conference on Thursday to discuss health and safety and to commit to the “zero-harm” objective.
Inspector of mines David Msiza said fatalities had declined from 90 in 2017, 81 in 2018, 51 in 2019, 60 in 2020 and 58 at November 15. There were 2,664 injuries in 2017, 2,447 in 2018, 2,406 in 2019, 1,747 in 2020 and 1,824 so far in 2021.
Msiza said that while fatalities were a downward trend, the department was concerned that the situation had reached a plateau. “We are also mindful that the mining industry last year was not working at 100% [because of Covid-19 lockdowns]. However we are deeply concerned that these accidents are happening.”
Mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe said government’s position was that the loss of life in the mining sector was unacceptable. “No stone must be left unturned towards ensuring the occupational health and safety of workers,” he said.
Ground collapses remain the largest accident category and the predominant cause of fatalities, followed by general and transportation accidents.
“The latest statistics and reports on occupational health matters at mines demonstrates that some employees are still exposed to occupational hazards which exceed the occupational exposure limit, and this should remain a concern to all of us,” Mantashe said.
“Pulmonary tuberculosis and noise-induced hearing loss remain a great concern, particularly in the gold, platinum, and coal sectors. Silicosis is still of concern in the gold sector where crystalline silica is most prevalent,” he added.
“Non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes further exacerbate the disease burden we already have in our industry.”
Mantashe said continued complaints by workers of intimidation or victimisation when seeking to withdraw from or refuse to work under dangerous environments were disturbing.
Minerals Council SA president Nolitha Fakude said the industry’s culture of health and safety must be strengthened. “Mine and mining company leadership needs to become yet more visible and committed to safety at the workplace,” he said
New research and technical work on falls of ground and transport safety needed to be implemented as soon as possible, Fakude added.
Fakude said that as the industry focused on the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, other work had deteriorated, as evidenced by the decline in HIV counselling and testing, and reduced levels of TB screening.
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