The lowest number of deaths in the mining sector ever were recorded in 2022, while there was also no mining accident with loss of life for more than five people over the past three years, 25 years after the introduction of the Mine Health and Safety Act that promotes cooperation among stakeholders on mine health and safety.
Gwede Mantashe, minister of mineral resources and energy today announced the 2022 mine health and safety statistics for the mining industry. The sector recorded 49 deaths in 2022, an improvement of 34% compared to 2021, when 74 mining deaths were recorded.
He said while there was no mine disaster or accident where five or more people lost their lives over the past three years, stakeholders must redouble their efforts and ensure that there is no loss of life in the industry in the future, as one life lost is one too many.
The most significant progress was made in reducing deaths from Fall of Ground (FOG) accidents, with a reduction of 70% from 20 fatalities in 2021 to 6 in 2022. There were also no machinery-related fatalities in 2022 compared to 3 in 2021.
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“However, we must continue to focus on transport-related accidents, as it is an emerging source of occupational fatalities, increasing from 16 in 2021 to 17 mining deaths in 2022. To address the challenge of transport-related accidents at mines, all stakeholders are urged to implement the collision avoidance systems in the introduction of the new regulations on trackless mobile machinery (TMM).”
The number of occupational injuries also decreased to 2 056 in 2022, compared to 2 143 in 2021, an improvement of 4%. Mantashe said most of these injuries happened due to repeat accidents categorized as general types of accidents and fall of ground, as well as transport and mining.
Occupational diseases also decreased according to the number of Annual Medical Reports (AMRs) submitted to the department, which decreased slightly from a total of 932 reports in 2020 to 931 reports in 2021.
Mantashe said the latest statistics and reports on occupational health show that employees are exposed to hazards that exceed the occupational exposure limit, which is of great concern.
“Progress has been made in reported occupational diseases, with a drop from 2 013 in 2020 to 1 924 in 2021, with much of the progress attributable to the manganese, iron, chrome, coal, diamond, copper and platinum sectors.”
The department also noted a decrease in silicosis, pulmonary TB (PTB), Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis (CWP) and other diseases. However, Mantashe pointed out that the gold sector regressed, showing an overall increase in the total number of occupational diseases reported.
“The burst of the tailings dam in Jagersfontein is a reminder of the dangers posed to the lives of mining communities by operations that fall outside of the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate,” he said.
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More improvements in other statistics
Other important statistics were:
- No fatal FOG accidents were reported from the gold sector for seven consecutive months from January to July of 2022. The only 3 fatalities due to FOG in the gold sector occurred in August, November and December of 2022. Only 1 fatal FOG accident was reported due to seismicity in 2022.
- Coal, platinum and chrome underground mines each reported only 1 FOG related fatality in 2022.
- The gold sector improved by 50% from 30 fatalities in 2021 to 15 fatalities in 2022.
- The platinum sector improved by 14% from 21 mining deaths in 2021 to 18 fatalities in 2022.
- The coal sector improved by 50% from 10 fatalities in 2021 to 5 fatalities in 2022.
- Other mines improved by 15% from 13 fatalities in 2021 to 11 fatalities in 2022.
- Silicosis cases decreased by 11.43% from 271 cases in 2020 to 240 cases in 2021.
- Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) cases decreased by 6.60% from 849 cases in 2020 to 793 cases in 2021.
- Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) cases increased by 5.15% from 738 cases in 2020 to 776 in 2021.
- The number of injuries in the gold sector decreased from 738 in 2021 to 586 in 2022.
- The number of injuries in the coal sector increased from 170 in 2021 to 180 in 2022.
- The number of injuries in the platinum sector increased from 1027 in 2021 to 1030 in 2022.
- The number of injuries in other mines increased from 208 in 2021 to 260 in 2022.
Mantashe also referred to the Coalbrook disaster 63 ago on 21 January 1960, when 435 mineworkers lost their lives.
“We have since made significant strides in improving the health and safety of mineworkers and other persons at our mines. There is a general understanding and appreciation that the health and safety of mineworkers is central to the long-term sustainability of the mining industry.”
He said the workers convert investments in the industry into wealth and therefore, it remains a collective duty for all social partners to ensure that mineworkers return home from work unharmed every day.
