The number of fatalities in mining declined to 42 last year from 55 in 2023 and although the industry remains a high risk employer, safety standards and accident rates are comparable with other countries such as Canada and Australia, the Minerals Council said Tuesday.
Japie Fullard, the chairman of the Minerals Council CEO Zero Harm Forum, said at the Investing in African Mining Indaba on Tuesday that the 42 fatalities, although lower than 55 in 2023, were too high and “at the end of the day it is critical that this number becomes zero.”
He said that last year the number of injuries in mining was also lower than the year before, which was a good indicator for the future, because if the number of injuries are cut, the number of fatalities tend to also decrease.
He said the CEO of the mining groups that are members of the Mineral Council meet on a platform every Monday morning for at least an hour to discuss the safety mines and share knowledge about incidents. “There is not a single CEO among our members that does not believe in achieving zero harm at their operations,” said Fullard.
Dr Thutula Balfour, the head of Health and Safety at the Minerals Council, said significant strides had been made in reducing the incidence of diseases on the mines, and for instance, since 2015, the number of cases of tuberculosis had reduced by 78% and the number of silicosis cases had reduced by 80%.
However, she said the rising number of noise induced hearing loss cases, which had reduced by only 55% since 2015 and would soon likely surpass the number of tuberculosis cases on the mines, was “cause for concern…its become a key focus for us.“
She said tuberculosis used to be the biggest disease problem on South Africa’s mines but the incidence rate on the mines was currently only 220 per 100 000 population, which was about half the national rate in South Africa.
The number of cases of tuberculosis were still particularly prevalent in the gold mines. This sector of the mining industry and platinum mines, were also responsible for the highest number of fatalities, The main causes of the fatalities were “fall of ground” and trackless mobile vehicles.
The use of netting in mines had helped reduce fatalities, while the Minerals Council was also working on initiatives to improve visibility inside the mines - improving visibility in the mines had been shown to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities. Fullard said it should be borne in mind that the number of safety incidents tends to increase in a declining mining environment.
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