The Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate aims to reduce mining-related deaths, injuries and diseases through the establishment of national policy, legislation and systems to regulate and enforce health and safety, and support training in the mining industry.

The main functions of the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate are:

• Providing policy inputs for the establishment and application of mine safety standards at mining operations, and promote their application;

• Providing policy inputs for the establishment and application of mine equipment safety standards at mining operations, and promote their application;

• Providing policy inputs for the establishment and application of mine health standards at mining operations, and promote their application; and

• Ensuring an effective support and inspection service.

The inspectorate is headed by the Chief Inspector, who is also chairperson of the boards of the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC) and the Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA).

The main strategic objective of the inspectorate is to improve occupational health and safety in mines through the establishment and promotion of national policy, legislation and systems to regulate, monitor, audit and inspect mines; contribute to the development of qualifications, skills programmes and learnerships in the mining industry; and provide technical advice to the mines.

There has been a steady improvement in safety performance during the past 10 years. But all stakeholders agree that the fatality and injury rates remain high, especially in underground gold mines. Coal, platinum and other commodity mines have shown a satisfactory performance in relation to international benchmarks. This necessitated a concerted effort to improve the prevention of occupational accidents.

The prevention of occupational diseases has received increased attention in the years following the Leon Commission of Inquiry (1994) and the coming into effect of the Mine Health and Safety Amendment Act 1997, Act 72 of 1997 [PDF, 297KB].

There has been a steady appreciation of the need to apply more resources to deal with occupational health matters. Tuberculosis (TB) associated with exposure to silica dust is a growing occupational health concern and is receiving priority attention in the mining industry. The increase in prevalence of HIV-infection has led to a doubling in new TB cases and increased mortality. Noise-induced hearing loss has also been recognised as a major occupational health risk in the South African mining industry.

Source: info.gov.za