‘Mine Health and Safety Act must be interpreted in the context of similar laws’
The Mine Health and Safety Act of 1996 (MHSA) does not have a provision which deals specifically with the Act’s scope of application, according to law firm ENSafrica mine and occupational health and safety joint head Willem le Roux
Speaking at a mine health and safety seminar held in Johannesburg, Gauteng, earlier this month, he highlighted that the Act’s scope of application must be determined by referring to the provisions of the MHSA and the Occupational Health and Safety Act No 8 of 1993 (OHASA).
“Any law must be interpreted against the background and in the context of similar laws and, therefore, cognisance must be taken of the wording of Section 103 (b) of the OHASA, against the background of the MHSA, and Section 103 of the MHSA,” he noted.
Section 103 of the MHSA prescribes indirectly the scope of its application. It also states that the OHASA does not apply to any matter in respect of any provision where the MHSA applies.
Le Roux noted that Section 103 referred to the application of the OHASA and Section 103 did not include the regulations that were binding under the OHASA. It was, therefore, clear that these regulations, could not apply to any matter that was not prescribed by the MHSA and its binding regulations, he added.
“The question can, however, be asked whether Section 103 does not imply that the OHASA is applicable in matters which are not provided for in the MHSA. In other words, it can be argued that the OHASA applies to a particular matter, if the MHSA and the regulations which are binding thereunder, do apply,” he stated.
He added that the MHSA applied to employers and employees and, as a result, the obligations of the employer towards employees were more extensive and onerous.
Health and safety matters dealt with in the OHASA were provided for under the MHSA in a more comprehensive manner, Le Roux added.
“It appears that the only issues that are not provided for in the MHSA, but are in the OHASA, are the provisions of Section 37, which create vicarious liability on the part of the employer and user for the conduct of an employee,” he cited.
Le Roux noted that the OHASA dealt primarily with health and safety matters and that the MHSA dealt with regulatory matters concerning prospecting, mining and certain health and safety matters.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation