The prevalence of alcohol-related impairment in South Africa’s mining sector remains a persistent concern, prompting companies to adopt stricter testing regimes and invest in more sophisticated monitoring systems. As the year-end period approaches – a time historically associated with higher rates of alcohol misuse – the industry’s focus on safety compliance and behavioural change is, once again, under scrutiny, highlights breathalyser specialist ALCO-Safe MD Rhys Evans.

Alcohol abuse remains disproportionately high in mining environments, where socioeconomic factors, workforce demographics and the physical nature of the work all serve to compound the risks.

“South Africa consistently ranks among the top five countries globally for alcohol abuse, and mining, being a predominantly male and labour-intensive industry, naturally reflects that trend.

“During the festive season, the number of employees testing positive for alcohol can increase sharply, and mines respond by ramping up daily compulsory testing to mitigate the risk,” adds Evans.

The physiological and behavioural effects of alcohol, such as diminished judgment, poor coordination and reduced ability to concentrate, significantly increase the risk of accidents in an already hazardous environment.

Even low levels of alcohol in the bloodstream of a mineworker can quadruple the likelihood of an accident, states Evans.

Beyond that, he highlights that chronic alcohol abuse can lead to absenteeism, a compromised immune system and reduced productivity, consequently eroding a mine’s operational efficiency.

Oversight, Technological Impact

The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR), and organised labour, should continue to play a central role in ensuring that substance control remains an entrenched safety practice.

While disciplinary measures can be contentious, unions should remain firm advocates of safe working conditions, adds Evans.

“Mining is one of the few sectors where daily testing is non-negotiable. The DMPR’s compliance audits and the unions’ safety mandates ensure that testing is a cornerstone of every major mining operation.”

However, he also notes new testing technologies are helping mines ensure and tighten compliance, as well as improve accountability. ALCO-Safe’s integrated digital systems now link test results to individual employee profiles, automating record-keeping and reducing the potential for error or tampering.

Linking a test result to a specific employee’s access record has been transformative, as it ensures that no one enters a site without clearance, and it gives management immediate visibility into workforce compliance, says Evans.

Consistency and visibility remain the most powerful deterrents to showing up to work intoxicated – when employees know they will be tested every day, their behaviour changes.

In this regard, Evans points out that, at several mining operations, ALCO-Safe has implemented fixed-point testing systems. These systems have yielded positive results (in terms of alcohol limit breaches) dropping from dozens a month to fewer than five a month.

Further, he adds that these behavioural shifts have extended beyond the workplace, as some mines are starting to report a noticeable decline in community-level alcohol abuse, suggesting that daily testing programmes are influencing broader social patterns.

Going Further

While alcohol testing has become standard across most mine sites, Evans believes that drug testing should receive the same attention, noting that drug screening is often limited to cases of suspicion or post-incident investigation.

However, he says a proactive, randomised approach, supported by technology, would further strengthen deterrence and boost accountability.

As automation and digitalisation continue to shape the mining landscape, ALCO-Safe foresees testing systems becoming fully integrated into mine management frameworks.

“Intelligent, tamper-proof testing linked to centralised analytics is the future. The cost of one serious incident far outweighs the price of prevention, and investing in reliable alcohol and drug testing systems is not only a safety imperative – it’s sound business practice,” concludes Evans.