ConCourt ruling may open disease claims door, South Africa only four points above Zimbabwe, mine liquidation practice needs urgent reform

A Constitutional Court ruling has opened the door to disease claims claims against the South African mining industry;the latest Fraser Institute survey puts South Africa in one of the world's lowest rungs of investment destination hell; and South...

Constitutional Court ruling could open the door for claims against mines

A Constitutional Court ruling last week in favour of a former AngloGold Ashanti worker in an occupational disease case has opened the door to a litany of legal claims against the mining industry.

Silicosis-stricken ex-miners blame Anglo for their condition, take mining giant to court

South Africa’s gold-mining industry has employed up to half-a-million workers at any time over the past hundred-plus years of mining, and claims have been doing the rounds that thousands of mineworkers have contracted lung diseases because...

Prioritise safety wear, local company urges mining houses

While South Africa embraces a stringent safety and health legislation in the mining industry, uniform specialist company, the Kit Group’s mining division operating officer Richard Christophers says that safety wear needs to play a stronger role...

Research into health effects of platinum-mining

The South African National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH) is currently undertaking research on the potential health effects of platinum refining on mineworkers in the platinum industry, reports NIOH Pathology Division research project...

Court rules in favour of AngloGold in R2,7m silicosis case

The Johannesburg High Court on Thursday ruled in favour of gold-miner AngloGold Ashanti in terms of a R2,7-million occupational health disease claim lodged by a former employee, Thembekile Mankayi. The ruling had also settled a dispute on whether...

Mining industry says 95% of dust measurements will be below global limit by December

Silicosis continues to be a major health challenge for South Africa's mining industry, despite the funds that have already been expended on trying to research the incurable occupational lung disease. The mining industry has declared that, by...

95% of dust measurements will be below global limit by December, mining industry declares

Silicosis continues to be a major health challenge for South Africa’s mining industry, despite the funds that have already been expended on trying to research the incurable occupational lung disease.

Judgement in landmark occupational health case expected within a month

The second day of the High Court hearing, which could open the floodgates to claims from mine workers to sue their employers, came to an end on Tuesday afternoon. Judge Meyer Joffe reserved judgement in the case between an ex-mineworker who...

Miners must invest more money in mine safety – NUM

South African mines have demonstrated a slight safety improvement, taking into account the history of this industry prior to 1994, says National Secretary for Health and Safety for the National Union of Mineworkers, Eric Gcilitshana.

UN agency to endorse new coal-mining safety code

The United Nations labour agency is set to endorse a new code of practice to improve the safety and health of miners. A recent spate of accidents in China and the United States has shown that underground coal mining poses one of the highest...

SA compares well with world-best standards

The Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) complies with the International Labour Organisation Convention on Safety and Mines (1995) and contains standards which are comparable to the best in the world,” states Brink Cohen Le Roux director,...