Solidarity calls on mines to refocus on Zero Harm
Solidarity today expressed its concern regarding mining related fatalities and injuries reported in 2019, urging mines to refocus their efforts to ensure health and safety for workers.
This after the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy today released the occupational health and safety statistics for 2019.
“The mining industry strives towards Zero Harm therefore, although we welcome the improvement in numbers of fatalities and injuries, we must not forget that we are talking about 51 people who have lost their lives in mines. This downward trend in fatalities and injuries is welcomed, but we call on all mines, mine management and all workers to let these improvements renew their energy, focus and dedication towards achieving Zero Harm,” said Paul Mardon, Deputy General Secretary of Strategy and Sustainability at Solidarity.
At the end of 2018, there were 79 fatalities whilst 2019 closed off with an all-time low of 51 fatalities – an improvement of 37%. This is also an improvement of 36% on the previous lowest record year, 2016, where the year closed off with 72 fatalities. Another encouraging aspect is that there were no mining disasters during 2019.
“There has also been a 2% decrease in the number of injuries, from 2 447 in 2018 to 2 406 in 2019. We are thankful for the decrease, but are concerned that it is only 2%. The number of injuries is usually seen as an indicator of the health of safety management systems and should be much higher, even much higher than the percentage decrease in fatalities. This could mean that the decrease in fatalities could be ascribed to pure luck,” Mardon said.