Anglo–Wits partnership launches R15m occupational hygiene Chair
Anglo American executive director Khanyisile Kweyama; Wits Faculty of Health Science dean Professor Martin Veller; Wits School of Public Health head Professor Laetitia Rispel; Anglo American Chief Medical Officer Dr Brian Brink; Wits vice-chancellor and principal Professor Adam Habib; and Wits School of Public Health senior lecturer and Public Health Occupational Hygiene Coordinator Dr Andrew Swanepoel.
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Multinational mining company Anglo American has launched its new Anglo American Endowed Chair in Occupational Hygiene at the University of the Witwatersrand School of Public Health.
The Chair, in which Anglo American invested R15-million, was aimed at decreasing employee exposure to dust, noise and other health hazards in the mining and other industries. It would conduct research and engage in other scholarly activities in line with these challenges.
“We are very proud to have been granted the funds by Anglo American for this Chair and we are thankful that Anglo American is collaborating with us to strengthen our response to occupational hygiene, both in South Africa and Africa,” Wits vice-chancellor Professor Adam Habib said at the launch.
Wits School of Public Health occupational hygiene coordinator Dr Andrew Swanepoel explained that occupational hygiene was a discipline of anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control of health hazards in the workplace.
“As a result, technologically advanced equipment and systems, combined with high-level research and expert practitioners are needed to identify, monitor and control exposure to harmful dust and all other mining industry-related health hazards,” he added.
Anglo American executive director Khanyisile Kweyama agreed, highlighting that Anglo American’s occupational health strategy and management approach was governed by a series of standards, guidelines and assurance processes aimed at preventing harm in the workplace.
“We are proud of our partnership with Wits, which leverages the institution’s research and teaching expertise across a spectrum of disciplines within the area of occupational health and hygiene. The partnership will further see a strengthening of the existing link between Anglo American and the university’s mining engineering degree,” she indicated.
Acknowledging the importance of creating partnerships between the private and public sector, Habib described the initiative between Wits and Anglo American as pivotal, noting that it could serve as an example for other similar initiatives in the quest to alleviate poverty and economic marginalisation.
“The recent economic crisis in 2008 polarised our society in fundamental ways. Our society has always been driven by great economic inequality but 2008 made our challenges more acute, which made the response from various stakeholders further polarise our society. This is because there was a lack of partnerships to fight this challenge,” he highlighted.
Habib mentioned that, to break free from this situation, the country had to realise that the existing inequality would not eradicate itself. Secondly, he indicated that the country had to recognise the need for the formation of partnerships between public and private sectors to redeem the country’s economy.
“There is an urgent need for stakeholders to come together to fight this crisis in order to grow the economy, as this has become pivotal for rebuilding and healing our society,” he emphasised.
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