The Mine Occupational Health and Safety Tripartite Summit provides a platform to engage and find solutions for improvement of occupational health and safety performance, said Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe during his address at the event last month.

The summit – held in Midrand – was aimed at identifying and resolving bottlenecks and hosted by industry body Mine Health and Safety Council together with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE).

He expressed the need for employers and labour to be explicit about their respective roles and programmes for the provision and maintenance of a safe working environment that is risk-free.

“Government’s premise is that fatalities in the workplace are unacceptable and must be stopped. The industry must quantify its success through investment in the number of workers who retire in good health and look forward to sharing the remainder of their lives with their loved ones. In turn, through their service in the mining industry, sustainable livelihoods and a positive human development would be realised,” said Mantashe.

The Minister acknowledged that mining was a critical pillar of the economy and contributed significantly to South Africa’s export earnings, was a source of foreign direct investment, and a direct employer of many people.

He added that as highlighted in the Budget Vote this year, government expected the mining industry to grow and contribute significantly to the economy, moving from the current share of about 8% of gross domestic product to over 12%.

“This is possible when we work together, starting with exploration where we set a medium-term target of attracting at least 5% of the total global exploration budget, currently estimated at over $18-billion.”

However, he noted that the target should be evaluated against prevailing global challenges that impact the industrialised world and pose significant threats to global recovery, particularly in developing economies.

He explained that, given the uncertain economic and post-Covid-19 global environment, “we should foreground our advance on the partnership we developed at the height of the pandemic”.

Mantashe said stakeholders needed to continue to collaborate in accelerating economy recovery by implementing identified reforms, creating sustainable jobs and ensuring inclusive growth.

Health, Safety Statistics

Mantashe expressed concern over the latest health and safety statistics and reported on occupational health and safety statistics which showed that employees were exposed to hazards that exceeded the occupational exposure limit.

He noted progress in reported occupational diseases, with a drop from 2 013 in 2020 to 1 924 cases in 2021 as well as a decrease in silicosis, pulmonary tuberculosis, coal workers pneumoconiosis and other diseases.

However, he highlighted that the gold sector regressed, showing an overall increase in the total number of occupational diseases reported.

“We should make concerted effort in the prevention and management of health matters because they impact the average work life expectancy of the workforce.”

He pointed out the minimal progress in reducing accidents and fatalities, with total fatal accidents dropping from 38 in 2021 to 30 in 2022, while actual fatalities decreased from 38 in 2021 to 37 in 2022.

“As we always emphasise, one death is one too many. Ours is a zero-harm target.”

He explained that the most significant progress made thus far had been in the reduction of deaths from fall-of-ground accidents which dropped from 15 in 2021 to three in 2022.

“We wish to also recognise the 67% reduction in machinery-related fatalities.
We must, however, pay considerable attention to transportation as it shows to be an emerging source of occupational fatalities,” he added.

Further, actual injuries thus far reported have decreased by at least 12%, and show a 32% reduction in the gold sector.

Tailings Dam Safety

The Minister also addressed the risk associated with exploitation of mine pillars and residue deposits – or tailings dams.

“The burst of the tailings dam in Jaggersfontein is a reminder of the dangers posed to the lives of mining communities by operations that fall outside the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate. It is a painful lesson on the harm of mine legacy projects, which we must be alert and sensitive to always.”

He warned employers that they could exploit loopholes in the regulations by winning cases against the department to avoid accountability, however, “in the court of public opinion, inside the affected communities”, employers are guilty.

He pointed out it was necessary for the industry – particularly leadership – to work tirelessly to gain trust of the communities. He explained that social licence is earned through acts of care and caring for the people “who convert your investment into wealth”, and that health and safety efforts were about gaining trust and a social licence to operate.

Further, it was critical to maintain and strengthen relationships at the mine level to ensure that the vision among stakeholder representatives was closely aligned. He encouraged employers to work with organised labour to improve knowledge and skills of workers to allow workers to exercise their rights to withdraw or refuse to work under dangerous conditions.

He also expressed the need for more platforms to share good experiences and develop programmes for the benefit of the mining industry.

“We must also continue to explore and to develop mechanisms to deal with those aspects that affect our industry negatively, like illegal mining, cable theft, and damage to infrastructure, among others,”

He explained that all stakeholders had a vested interest in the success of the industry. Therefore, stakeholders should cooperate with, and alert law enforcement and security agencies with available information, and to do so with caution, to avoid unnecessary harm.

Mantashe concluded by extending the DMRE’s condolences to the families of workers who lost their lives and wished a speedy recovery to injured mineworkers.