Concerted effort needed to reduce SA mine fatalities, says industry

DURBAN - The mining industry said there needed to be a concerted effort to reduce fatalities at the country’s mines, following a slight regression in safety standards in 2023.

More than 50 fatalities were reported in 2023, up from 45 in 2022.

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A recent mining report showed that rockfall and conveyance accidents were among the leading causes, especially in the platinum and gold sectors.

The sudden surge in fatalities at mines sparked renewed concerns about safety.

The deadly accident at the Impala Platinum mine in the North West also drew criticism about the industry’s alleged flouting of safety regulations.

A mining consulting firm, DSS Plus, said the industry must double down on its zero-harm agenda.

While he admitted it was not a silver bullet, DSS Plus director, Jaco Pieterse, said he believed technology could help improve safety at mines.

“What the adoption of technology enables is making sure that you can move up the hierarchy of controls, so then you can either eliminate the risk by taking a worker away from a hazardous working environment or you can add additional controls that make your dependency on those administrative controls significantly lower.”

Pieterse said he hoped the Mining Indaba resulted in tangible outcomes in improving policy and framework in the industry.