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Moneyweb reports that Covid-19 claimed the lives of 749 miners over the last two years, with 74 more losing their lives in work-related fatalities in 2021.
This was told to delegates at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town last week by Roger Baxter, CEO of the Minerals Council SA (MCSA), which was previously known as the Chamber of Mines. Mine fatalities reached their lowest level in three decades in 2019 when the number dropped to 51 for the year. That statistic promptly reversed course to claim 60 lives in 2020 and 74 in 2021. Baxter said there appeared to be a variety of reasons behind the deteriorating mine fatality performance, with work fatigue being a key culprit. Figures from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy showed “Falls of ground” as the leading cause of mine deaths until 2011, when it was brought under control. But, some 30% of mine fatalities were from fall of ground (FoG) incidents in 2020, prompting the MCSA’s Zero Harm Forum to find out why this was. It found an exodus of experienced rock engineers from SA, with many others reaching retirement age, with little or no progress on execution of rock-related projects currently in Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC) research programme and projects. Another reason for rock-related incidents was an attitude of getting the job done, often at the cost of safety. Transport-related accidents were another leading cause of fatalities. The Covid fatality rate for the sector as a whole over the past two years was 1.18%, which was lower than the general population. More than 70% of mine workers are vaccinated against Covid, about double the level for the general population.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ciaran Ryan at Moneyweb
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