Chamber of Mines president Roger Baxter
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – While there have been significant changes in health and safety in the mining industry since the 1986 Kinross mine tragedy, in Secunda, there is still much to be done, Chamber of Mines (CoM) president Roger Baxter said on Friday.
One-hundred and seventy-seven mineworkers were killed and 235 injured at the gold mine when an acetylene tank sparked flames that swept through the mining tunnel, igniting plastic covering on the wiring.
The flames also set fire to polyurethane foam that is used to keep walls in the mine dry. The burning plastic combined with polyurethane and churned toxic fumes that filled the shafts, choked miners to death.
Addressing survivors of the disaster and family members of the deceased, along with mining industry stakeholders at the 30-year commemoration of the tragedy, Baxter said the safety of underground employees was “absolutely paramount”.
He called for greater collaboration between mining companies, employees, trade unions, the Department of Mineral Resources and the CoM to achieve zero harm, adding that a CEO Zero Harm leadership group had been formed to assist.
Baxter noted that lessons learnt following the disaster has saved many lives, citing the example of an underground fire at Harmony Gold’s Kusasalethu mine, in 2012, where through the successful implementation of refuge bays, self-rescuers and the operation undertaken by mine rescue teams, the fire was contained.
Further, he highlighted that the CoM was concerned about the number of fatalities that had occurred this year and pledged “to do everything possible” to continue to improve the country’s safety record.