Industry organisation Minerals Council South Africa says it is fully committed to supporting the third iteration of health and safety milestones agreed by the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, organised labour and the Minerals Council as the industry strives to realise its ambition of zero harm.

The first milestones to improve mineworkers’ health and safety in South Africa were agreed by the tripartite Mine Health and Safety Council in 2003 to deliver step-change improvements in the working environment for all people working in the mining industry.

The second set of milestones were revised and agreed in 2014.  

The three stakeholders have now agreed on the next set of milestones to be achieved by December 2034, including mental health screening and interventions to improve the safety of women in mining by investing in personal protective equipment that is specifically designed for women, as well as reducing gender-based violence and femicide in the workplace.

Since 2014, incidents of occupational diseases in the South African mining industry have decreased by 72%. The number of fatalities related to safety incidents has also declined by 35% between 2014 and 2023, the Minerals Council points out.

It points out that the industry came close to meeting, and sometimes surpassed, the milestones set for this year.

These milestones included eliminating fatalities and serious injuries; reducing occupational lung diseases caused by the inhalation of silica, coal and platinum group metal dust; reducing noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL); reducing the tuberculosis incidence rate below the national average; and providing counselling, testing and treatment of mineworkers living with HIV.

“We commit ourselves to achieving the new milestones that we have collectively set to accelerate our quest for zero harm in our industry.

“We are unrelenting in our ambition to eliminate health and safety incidents across the mining industry, including beyond employment. The Minerals Council remains committed to the industry goal of Zero Harm in which every mineworker returns from work without harm every day,” says Minerals Council president Dr Nombasa Tsengwa.

Since 1994, the number of fatalities at mines in the country has decreased by 88% from 484 to 55 in 2023.

Injuries decreased by 75% from 8 347 to 2 080 between 1994 and 2023.

The Minerals Council highlights that the mining industry has made significant inroads into reducing cases of silicosis and NIHL, with reductions of 90% and 86%, respectively, between 2003 and 2022.

“We will review our initiatives and interventions as we strive to achieve our ambition of zero harm. We are working with all stakeholders on research, technology and innovation to modernise our industry and to make it safer and healthier. We look forward to our collaboration in reaching the milestones as tripartite partners in the coming years,” says Minerals Council CEO Zero Harm Forum chairperson Japie Fullard.

In 2011, the Minerals Council initiated CEO-level discussions on health and safety which are now institutionalised as the CEO Zero Harm Forum. This forum meets quarterly to review and advise on performance regarding health and safety.   

The Minerals Council board has also initiated a monthly Safety Hour of Learning where recent incidents are shared with the sole purpose of learning from each other and preventing similar incidents in the future.

The Minerals Council augmented the CEO-led initiatives in 2019 by adopting the Khumbul’ekhaya Health and Safety Strategy, which pursues step-change efforts on health and safety.

The Minerals Council is reviewing the industry’s health and safety performance and is enhancing the Khumbul’ekhaya Strategy to implement a second version in order to achieve the 2034 milestones.