A worker died in a locomotive accident at Impala Platinum’s (Implats’) Impala Rustenburg 1 Shaft this week.
Implats on Thursday said that, as far as it was aware, Nelso Thipe’s locomotive was travelling from the underground shaft tipping area towards the workings to collect another load of ore when another fully loaded locomotive en route to the tipping area seemingly failed to stop – against standard safety protocol – at the demarcated place, before entering the tipping area.
This locomotive then collided with the rail carriage on which Thipe was sitting, fatally injuring him in the collision, the company said.
An independent third-party investigation under the supervision of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy is currently under way to better understand the cause of the incident and to recommend appropriate remedial action, Implats stated.
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) noted in a separate statement that four people have now lost their lives at Implats’ operations this year.
AMCU said it understood that this had been the third locomotive accident in as many months at this shaft.
In this regard, Implats pointed out that, while there had been a regression in safety performance recently at the operation, the regression followed an extended period of an unprecedented improvement in safety performance.
“Safety remains our foremost priority and we remain committed to working with all stakeholders to arrest the recent regression and to, once again, take our place as a leader in the industry,” the company said.