JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Ensuring colleagues return home safely and unharmed at the end of every day should be the industry’s uppermost priority, said the Chamber of Mines (CoM) in response to the picket at its offices, on Thursday, by a small group of Congress of South African Trade Unions and National Union of Mineworkers members.

Since the dawn of democracy, the industry and its tripartite partners, namely labour unions and the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), have illustrated that by working together the industry’s safety performance can improve, noted the CoM.

Great strides have been made towards achieving the collective goal of Zero Harm. Between 1993 and 2016, the number of fatalities across the industry declined by around 88% while fatalities as a result of fall-of-ground incidents declined by 92% over the same period. Other safety indicators improved at similar rates.

Addressing fall-of-ground incidents, particularly at deep-level mines, is an area that joint industry efforts have focused on most intensively over the past several years.

Through the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC), significant resources have been invested and far-reaching research has been done to address this.

More than R150-million has been invested in fall-of-ground research and more than R250-million has been spent on research into the seismicity associated with deep-level mines.

A further R40-million has led to new mine designs methods.

As a result, the number of fatalities associated with seismicity decreased from 48 in 2003 to 14 in 2017, said the CoM.

Since 2017, the industry has, however, noted an increase in the number of accidents related to seismically-induced falls of ground.

To better understand and address this phenomenon, the Mining Industry Occupational Safety and Health Fall of Ground task team has been established. Leading practices are being developed and the findings will be shared across the industry.

Through the CEO Zero Harm Forum and the MHSC, the CoM continues to engage with all its tripartite partners on various platforms to identify and address safety challenges.

As employers, the industry fully accepts its role and responsibilities in achieving the goal of Zero Harm. Ensuring the safety and health of all mining employees requires active collaboration between management, employees and regulators.

In conclusion, the CoM calls on all stakeholders to reaffirm their commitment to and to remain focused on achieving Zero Harm.