JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - Official statistics related to the deaths of mineworkers in South Africa have not been released, but sources indicate that the death toll has breached the 140 mark, an average of 11 deaths a month in 2009. While there has been significant improvement in mine safety in the past decade, the consensus is that one death is one too many.

But the tide appears to be turning for the mining sector’s tarnished safety image, which is described as one of the world’s most unsafe working cultures.

Under the leadership of Minister Susan Shabangu, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) aims to rectify this image and is determined that 2010 will be the year that government tightens regulation to enhance its vision of a fatality-free industry and to wash away the image of an industry benefiting from blood money.

She previously said that government would be introducing much tougher obligations on industry and its stakeholders to cut the unacceptably high death rate, and on investors so that they value being part of a far greater focus on workplace occupational health and safety.

DMR chief inspector of mines Thabo Gazi tells Mining Weekly that a review process of the mine health and safety regulations in under way. The review is part of an ongoing process of improving mine health and safety standards.

“It is important that regulation sets minimum standard requirements. Clearer requirements remove ambiguity and assist all mine operators, employees and the regulator, in their efforts to implement the law,” he adds.

Tightening up regulations also includes amendments to the Mine Health and Safety Act, which holds individuals and companies liable for the injury or death of workers. Gazi tells Mining Weekly that the amendments will be finalised early this year.

“There is nothing outlandish or outrageous about these amendments as some have claimed. If you do not perform your duties in terms of health and safety, you will be held accountable. This is not unique to South Africa, hence, we do not understand the assertion that the amendment will scare investors – rather, it seeks to improve the system of accountability for health and safety at mines,” he asserts.

National Union of Mineworkers general secretary Frans Baleni also says this amendment is not going to scare away potential investors, given that such laws are enforced in other parts of the world. “In the case of negligence, measures which do not necessarily exclude a prison term are appropriate. It is not necessarily the CEO who will be arrested and prose-cuted, but it cuts across all employees who are found to have contributed to the death or the injury of a mine- worker,” he adds.

“We believe that prevention is better than cure and we have worked very closely with government and labour to ensure that there is a fine balance between preventive and punitive measures in the amendment to the legislation,” Chamber of Mines (CoM) president Sipho Nkosi tells Mining Weekly.

The DMR is working with a number of institutions to strengthen its health and safety monitoring and evaluation initiatives. The DMR is working on increasing the output of inspectors. It is also working through the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and other research councils on a programme of research to deal with some of the pressing challenges on safety and health. There is an ongoing programme of research on falls of ground, seismicity, noise reduction and workplace exposures, including exposure dust and silica.

Further, the DMR and the University of the Witwatersrand are developing modules for the training of inspectors. There is also a group of students, who have, for the past two years, been receiving training at the Gold Fields Academy aimed at providing exposure to the actual work environment.

Baleni also points to the urgent need to improve the country’s technology, particularly for gold mines, where current technology records seismic activity, as opposed to early detection to allow enough time to remove workers from a work station.

Fatality-Free Industry: Myth or Possibility?
Statistics on the DMR website indicate that from 1990 to 1999 there were about 4 991 fatalities in the mining industry. For the period 2000 to 2008, there were about 2 173 fatalities, which indicates an improvement of about 50%.

“Mining stakeholders in the MHSC have articulated a vision of zero harm and this vision has assisted us to set clear goals for the next few years. We are beginning to see the results in a number of areas. Over the last decade, we managed to reduce mine fatalities by over 50%. There are still many challenges, as levels of deaths and injuries in the industry are still undesirably high, and we will continue to work hard to build on the good work of the last few years,” says Gazi.

Baleni attributes the improvement in mine safety in the last decade to the tightening of regulations, but says that this is still not enough. He believes that a vision of a fatality- free industry is a dream that can become reality. “At this stage, it looks like a mirage, but [it can be realised] if we can change behaviour and have a clear commitment, not only at the most senior levels, but at all levels. There are other countries out there that have been [fatality free] for many years,” he adds.

Nkosi says that the target remains zero fatalities and injuries and that the CoM continues to work very closely with government and the unions to achieve this target. “Our vision of zero harm and fatalities has helped us set clear targets that require strong leadership in addressing occupational health and safety issues, as well as capacity and research. If we continue to pursue this, in line with our vision, it will turn into a reality,” asserts Gazi.

One of the Worst Safety Cultures Globally?
South Africa is considered to have one of the most unsafe working cultures in mining globally. Gazi says that one needs to care fully interrogate these assertions. "There are mines that are not doing well, but it will not be accurate to say that the South African mining industry is the worst in the world. At the same time, there are pockets of excellence in our country, where miners are running operations at zero harm. So, painting the entire industry with the same brush is problematic."

As a benchmark of the country's generalattitude to safety, Baleni points to behaviour on the roads, for example, where an absolute disrespect for the law results in many accidents. "That translated in itself, and [considering] certain practices in the workplace, in mines and other industries, mean that something must be altered in terms of our behaviour and processes."

But Nkosi points out that now is the time to deal with our safety challenges and achieve the aims set within the culture transformation framework.