Deaths within South Africa's mining industry have reached a plateau of around 200 a year, down from 1,000 in 1987 and 500 in 1987, a new health and safety audit has revealed.

However, on the back of a recent string of accidents, Thabo Gazi, the Chief Inspector of Mines at the Department of Minerals and Energy, has told the country's parliament that further improvements are necessary.

The results of the department's audit of 333 high-risk mines, which was ordered by President Thabo Mbeki, are due to be released within the next few weeks, though Mr Gazi has already stated that they will make interesting reading for mining companies operating within the country.

Furthermore, the audit is likely to influence the forthcoming Mine Health and Safety Amendment bill, which is currently being debated in parliament, with the Chief Inspector stating that plans are in place to raise non-compliance fines from 200,000 rand to one million rand as well as establishing strict timelines for mines to conduct internal investigations into accidents.

"The intention here is not to force people to incriminate themselves," Mr Gazi stated.

"We simply want to learn from the many accidents that are happening in the industry."



Source:

S. African mine audit shows low safety compliance (11/06/08)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL1110287420080611