Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: In 2024, South Africa recorded its lowest fatality rate in mining operations.
Thanks to technology, stricter adherence to mine health and safety legislation, and the active role of senior management, the sector is making great strides to ensure that every worker returns home safely. Still, is zero harm achievable by 2030?
Hello and welcome to Deep Insights, brought to you by Mining Review Africa. My name is Rochelle Buerta and in this episode, Editor in Chief Gerard Peter speaks to Eben Van Seil, a partner at Beech Feldman Incorporated and an expert in mine health and safety legislation who speaks candidly about the current state of health and safety in South African mines.
He touches on the role of technology and inbound new legislation that will enhance mine health and safety. He also provides ample food for thought regarding South Africa's goal of achieving zero harm by 2030.
Let's join the discussion.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: Eben, thank you for joining us on Deep Insights today.
Now, 2024 marked the lowest number of fatalities in the South African mining sector. Talk to me in your experience, what is your assessment of the current state of health and safety in the country's mining sector? And also touch on how it has evolved in recent years.
[00:01:46] Speaker C: Thank you very much for having me.
Health and safety has evolved quite significantly over the past couple of years, most certainly from the inception of the Mine Health and Safety act all the way back in 1997. We've seen a year on year reduction in the number of fatal incidents and accidents occurring at our mines. You correctly point out that 2024, according to the Minister, saw the lowest number of fatalities in the history of mining in South Africa, being a number of 42 in total, which represented a 24% improvement year on year, compared to 2023 where we had 55 recorded fatalities. The objective, of course, of the Mine Health and Safety act is to ensure that zero harm towards our employees and that is the goal that the industry is striving towards. So most certainly the industry is making great improvements in reaching this objective of zero harm. There are challenges of course in reaching that objective, but most certainly we are seeing a very positive improvement in reducing the number of not only fatalities, but also significant injuries or lost time injuries, reportable injuries and accidents and so on.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: Okay, now you did say that there are challenges, and these are also long standing challenges as well. But as we present the where we presently are, what are some of the most significant health and safety challenges facing the mining industry today? And in your opinion, can these be overcome in the goal to achieve zero harm?
[00:03:40] Speaker C: A lot of the challenges I believe, and this Is just based on our interactions with clients and various mining operations. I believe one of the biggest issues to still be the human component.
Obviously we have employees in our working places. They are still people. They have their own lives, their own issues, their own struggles that they deal with.
What then inevitably happens when there are economic factors, such as a downturn in commodity prices, companies not doing as well as it used to, they need to reduce number of employees or restructure the business and so on. This profoundly impacts on employees in the working place and the way that they go about doing their work. So, for example, if you receive a notification to then say the company is considering restructuring, you have not yet been retrenched or let go, for a lack of a better word. But you are aware that this process is underway.
Your mind is not 100% where it should be. Your main focus is no longer on doing the job safely, focusing on the mind, standards and procedures that need to be complied with, because you are bringing your own issues into the working place with you. It weighs heavily on employees, as one would expect to be the case with anybody who might face possibly losing their job. And when these things happen, unfortunately, we see that despite all of the technology that's brought in to assist and practically reduce incidents and accidents, and we'll get into some of those things a bit later. But despite bringing in technology and drafting procedures and standards and policies, and giving training and doing what is necessary to educate people so that they can work safely, unfortunately, it remains a big factor, in my view, these personal circumstances weighing on employees that then lead them to not focus 100% on what they are doing.
They might not be sleeping properly at night anymore. It weighs heavily on their mental health, et cetera, et cetera. And all of those things then ultimately result in an uptick in incidents in accidents that occur in working places.
[00:06:06] Speaker B: Okay, now Eben, I want to touch on technological advancements late in our conversation, but it's an interesting point that you've just brought up about the introduction of technology.
Do you think that there's an over reliance on technology to make mining operations safer?
And hence workers are not as cognizant as they were before about safety procedures, etc. And say, well, the technology is there, it's going to make the operation safer?
[00:06:45] Speaker C: Absolutely. I mean, one of the biggest developments have been in the collision avoidance spaces between trackless mobile machinery or moving machinery on mines. And the most significant number of incidents historically used to involve moving equipment and machinery. Now the technology that's been implemented in the last couple of years it's called PDS and vds.
Collectively calling it collision avoidance between machines and pedestrians has seen a reduction then in the number of incidents which occur. But there are still incidents that occur regardless of the implementation of this technology.
And you mention over reliance on the technology and that is sadly again what I also find when we assist mines doing fatal accident investigations.
The system, for example, when we talk in collision avoidance systems, is designed in such a way that the operator of the machine would, on a screen in his control panel be able to see the presence of another machine. The screen would tell him how far this object is away from him and or how far this person is away from him. And then there's technology in place to automatically stop this machine, especially in the underground working places that's been in place for quite a while where the machine will automatically stop or is supposed to automatically stop before it makes contact with this object or person. In one of the incidents I was involved in, however, there was a glitch in the technology. The technology is still young, it's developing.
Every underground working place again especially is different in how these signals bounce off the walls in the working place and around corners and so on. And effectively what happened is there was an incident where a machine struck a pedestrian right when I then asked the operator to say, but you know, your machine gave you a warning, the machine didn't stop. That was the glitch. It was supposed to timeously stop. It didn't. But you got a warning to say there is something within a 5 meter radius of your machine.
Why did you not yourself keep a proper lookout or you know, apply the brakes yourself. And he said, but the machine would have stopped if there was something that. That was his response to say, it's not me, it's not the operator's fault if there's something the machine should have stopped. If it didn't stop, it means it's okay that over reliance then on the technology forever in a day. It doesn't matter how far ahead in the future we are, there will be issues with technology, there will be glitches, there will be moments when there's a loss in communication between systems. In the operating environment, for example, you still have wires and components that are fixed in place and because of the vibrations of the machine get damaged or rattle loose or whatever the case may be, and the operators will ultimately plays a key role in safely operating that machine. But because of the technology and the perception that it is foolproof, so to speak, foolproof, it's fail safe, nothing will go wrong. I Don't need to use my own common sense or keep a vigilant lookout, etc. Etc. To avoid an incident or accident. So unfortunately, yes, technological advances, great, they do reduce the number of incidents and accidents, but we will still have incidents and accidents where the technology is not 100% there yet and operators not taking the necessary precautions to assist them in conjunction with a system that we don't have incidents and accidents.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: Okay, that's interesting to note, but I mean, Evan, there's no doubt that, you know, the technology is here to stay and it's going to advance. So tell me about some of the technology, technological advancements that are being leveraged to enhance health and safety in mining operations. Now you've, you've just shared where, you know something went wrong when it came to human tech interaction. But talk to me about some of the success stories that you've experienced.
[00:11:20] Speaker C: Yes, well, I mean, for, for every incident where it's gone wrong, again, sticking with TMMs, there have been many, many, many cases where the technology prevented a serious incident or a serious collision from happening. It almost happens weekly where because of this technology, a collision or a near miss doesn't take place because of the presence of the technology. There are other things as well. If we talking falls of ground, which is an issue in underground mining environments or where we've got slopes in the open pits, technology to scan the high wall. So in an open cast pit where you have this high wall, there are radar systems that can now be implemented to, on a continuous basis, scan this high wall for movement. So essentially your biggest risk that can happen in a pit or open cast environment is a slope failure. So to put it in simple terms, you're standing in a hole and there's a whole mound of material going up to the side as you dig down this high wall or slope failure can then occur when there's movement. Now, of course, there are rock engineers and geotechnical personnel involved in designing these high walls. It's not just a case of placing material on the side. There's a very precise way in how it's to make sure it is safe. But there are other factors that can result in the instability of it. And that could be earth tremors, earthquakes in other parts of the world that ultimately impact on the stability of our slope or water, excessive water that puddles or whatever the case may be. And the radar technology is then there to scan this high wall on an ongoing, continuous basis. And if there's the slightest detection of movement and, and this would be movement that you can't see with your eye. So a safety officer doing his inspection would look out for physical signs of, you know, rocks rolling down or visual cracks that can be seen. But this technology is so sensitive that it detects the most minuscule movement and then plots it out to trigger certain alarms to the responsible persons to say has been detected. There's a downward trend, meaning the movement is continuing and we need to then evacuate the pit or move people to safety well before the incident happens. So that's just another example of technology, I think, doing incredible things in the mining industry. Where previously you had to rely on visual observations and more outdated systems to try to detect movement.
[00:14:23] Speaker B: Absolutely. Now Eben, earlier on in this discussion, you spoke about sort of the state of a worker's mind, sorry.
And how they react if they are sick, depressed, affected by socioeconomic factors, etc. Now, now, you know, the mining sector has always played a leading role when it comes to health. If you recall a few years ago during the COVID 19 pandemic, it was one of the first sectors to start providing vaccinations for its workforce.
Talk to me about some of the other initiatives that mines have put in place to ensure that it there's both physical and mental health well being.
[00:15:23] Speaker C: I think the mining industry as an employer is acutely aware that ultimately, again, its success hinges on its workforce. So yes, the Mine Health and Safety act is there to provide for physical safety and health. But of course there is an understanding that mental health, mental well being of employees is equally important and that programs need to be launched and put in place to address some of these issues that employees bring with them to the working place. A mine is an inherently dangerous place to be.
When I go and do audits at a mine, for example, I always say to them, when I have to go underground, you know, this is not a place that a lawyer should be.
They are used to the hazards and risks and the dangers of that working environment. As someone that doesn't go there on a daily basis, it feels 10 times scarier. But when you work in this high risk environment, it is therefore very important for employers to take steps to address some of these softer issues. Yes, we address physical safety and barriers to be put in place, your physical health that needs to be addressed, that you don't get occupational diseases and so on. But equally, if I have an operator operating a dangerous piece of equipment, be it a trackless mobile machine, a winch, a drill, the softer issues being mental health and related issues are equally important because that employee brings it with him into the working place. And you'll find if you go to any mine really, or rather I haven't been to one where when you start a meeting, the first thing that's asked is, let's do a check in. And the checking is, how are you doing physically, how are you doing mentally?
If you check in to say, I'm not doing well, or, you know, I'm not great, then immediately, you know, people like to joke about it. So if they say, let's do a check in, how are you doing today, Eben? And I joke and I say, ah, you know, I'm not feeling that great or whatever, they take it extremely seriously. In fact, it's not a joking matter because all of these things could potentially impact on the business. An incident or an accident occurring when employees start shift. One of the things that we have to look at if an accident occurred was how did that employee check in? If I have a female employee who perhaps has a baby at home with a new mother, how did she check in at the start of shift? If it's a night shift, did she say that she's feeling fatigued?
Did she express any concerns that she's not able to perform her work safely for that shift? Or never mind, ladies, any person, then it needs to be addressed by their line manager to then rather say, I'm not happy that you enter the working place then on the shift based on the information that I've received, or perhaps rather go and take a fatigue shift right now, or whatever the case may be. But all of these things are equally important to address those issues. And if it's not in the working place, if it's something you're dealing with outside of working hours, lots of mines have got employee support programs in place where employees can phone help lines or numbers on the emotional support side of things, where they need guidance or further assistance in dealing with issues that may not directly relate to mining or the employment, but ultimately could have an impact on that.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: Absolutely. Now, even at the recent mining in Darbour, the Minerals Council, when talking about the decrease in fatality rates in mining operations, they also touched on the importance of senior management, you know, CEOs, etc. Playing a leading role in enhancing health and safety.
In your opinion, what role do leadership and management play in maintaining and improving health and safety standards?
[00:19:46] Speaker C: I think management plays an absolutely critical role. Again, when we get involved as lawyers in incident and accident investigations and I'm sitting with senior management, my question to them would be, when last did you visit your area of responsibility?
When Last were you there? You cannot respond reactively the whole time. You can't only get up behind your desk when there's a report that something has gone wrong. The whole notion of visible felt leadership is a significant factor that can reduce incidents and accidents. If senior management, as I say, gets up behind their desks, goes into the working places, their presence is felt. Inspect over, inspect, audit the working places, give guidance and coaching as experienced people who have come in most cases from the ranks of employees in the field, they know what the issues are. They are experienced people who can give input and guiding and coaching. It's not just about going there to find fault and disciplining employees. As an experienced engineer, as an experienced mine manager, you have the ability to go into a working place, identify issues or deal with issues then, and give guidance to employees on how to do things better before an incident or an accident happens. And of course, it's good for employee morale as well to see senior leadership in the working places as well, that it's not just the case of, oh, we've got people sitting in the main offices upstairs, so to speak. And you know, they never bother to come down here. Those operations where senior management go into the field, they are present, they give guidance, they give input. Those are the operations that have success stories in significantly reducing the injuries and accidents that occur on these sites.
[00:21:54] Speaker B: Absolutely. You know, Jovan, just leading on from there, I want to ask you, do you think that, you know, including it in employees and also management's KPIs and also providing incentives for health and safety best practice, will that help us reach zero harm?
[00:22:18] Speaker C: That is a tricky question in the sense that, I mean, it's already a KPI for many supervisors and managers that they have to, for example, submit what is called planned task observations. So planned task observation is essentially when employee performs a specific activity, typically a higher risk activity, and the relevant supervisor then observes the employee performing this task according to a checklist to continue ensuring that the employee is working safely and is ultimately competent to do the work.
In most systems, these supervisors have to submit a set number of these over inspection reports, which would inevitably trigger their performance bonuses and so on. Or put it differently, if they don't do that, the consequence will be that they're not meeting their KPIs, and there will then be a penalty, be it a production bonus or whatever that they might lose out on because they're not meeting their KPIs.
[00:23:28] Speaker B: Okay, now, Eben, looking ahead, when it comes to current health and safety legislation, are you expecting any Significant changes that mining houses need to be aware of going forward.
[00:23:46] Speaker C: Yes.
The first significant one that's on the horizon is the Mine Health and Safety act amendment bill.
Now, the Mine Health and Safety act amendment bill is set to be tabled to Parliament. It was supposed to be the first quarter this year, but the timelines have been kicked out a bit because of the budget being behind now, the budget speech that was supposed to happen. So the timelines have moved on a bit, but most certainly the bill is there.
It surfaced in 2021, thereabouts already. Industry gave input and comments and this version that's now out is the version that will be presented to Parliament and in our view, will likely be implemented. And the MHSA amendment bill has got significant changes and it also has a great impact on senior management and mining houses that they need to take note of. While those changes have not yet come into force or into law, most certainly mining houses should be looking at the current bill to make sure that if it comes through that they would be able to comply with the requirements in the Act. There's a significant increase in penalties, for example, that's being introduced in this MHSA amendment bill. In the past or in the current form, you were looking at fines of a million rand and five years imprisonment and so on for offenses under the Act. Now there's the possibility of a mine being fined 10% of its annual turnover.
[00:25:29] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:25:29] Speaker C: Or of its exports, whichever is greater, which is a significant exposure to a business that CEOs, COOs, senior management need to take note of. There's also a couple of changes coming to training. So the obligations to train employees.
We could have a whole separate discussion on the impact of the MHSA amendment bill. But effectively the wording that was previously used as far as is reasonably practicable is then done away with. It's an absolute requirement that you must adequately. The word adequately is now introduced. Train employees.
It also seems to imply then that in the past some minds would. If there's a code of practice or a standard or a procedure, that a supervisor would hold a group meeting with employees and the employees would simply sign an attendance register confirming that, you know, this procedure has now been discussed with them and they're aware. The new changes seem to suggest that that's not good enough. A physical assessment is required. So for any training that you provide, you must be able to link it to a form of assessment. So a test that an employee wrote and was found competent on. So these generic attendance registers or mas sort of training exercises will no longer fly under the MHSA amendment bill.
There's also a Chapter 2amendment that might be coming. It's also been floating around for a while, but that deals with the legal appointments under the Mine Health and Safety act to consolidate the old Minerals act regulations, appointments that used to be made and were still in force. And in fact, in terms of the current mhsa. And it also places a number of obligations on the employer, especially on the competence front. So in the past, for example, the act wouldn't always be clear on exactly what type of competency a person required to hold a certain position. There would be generic definitions for what is meant by a competent person. But now there are very specific prescripts of what a certain position holder should have, like a safety officer now detailed what qualifications they must have. And also people acting in the role of a safety officer or a mine overseer or a shift overseer. In the past, sometimes, you know, if someone's away for three days or four days and so on, whoever was available and familiar with the working place acted for that person while they're away. But the amendment now would say that even the person who's acting needs to have a certain minimum competence and it's prescribed. And if you then appoint people who are not competent, it blows back to the employer because it's a failure to comply with the Minor Health and Safety Act. And then as I said earlier, there are significant penalties that are being introduced in the MHSA amendment bill. So employers need to take note that there are consequences when the new Chapter 2 is introduced. When exactly that will be, we're not quite sure yet, but there's a good chance that that could also come through later this year.
[00:29:09] Speaker B: Okay, now one final question, Jovin. Now, you know you've touched on changes to legislation, you've touched on technology.
Now the South African mining sector has targeted 2030 to achieve zero harm. And you know, we are five years away from that. Now, in your opinion, is it achievable or is it just pie in the sky putting me on the spot?
[00:29:37] Speaker C: Tricky question.
I think we are headed in a positive direction. I mean, we have seen the year on year downtick in the number of incidents and accidents with technology being introduced assisting in achieving that goal in South Africa at this point in time. Given that our mining operations are still very much human driven, employee driven, I think it will be a struggle to meet that target by 2030.
Will we see further reductions? Most certainly we will. But will we see zero fatalities in the entire mining industry by 2030? Based on just the way our mining methods operate. Still very much intensive from a human perspective, where you've got humans in the working place. It is almost impossible, in my view, to guarantee or rule out any incident or accident that it won't happen.
We've got people who need to operate equipment, people need to operate machinery. You can put as many safeguards in place as you want, but there's still the human element that you can't control.
[00:31:02] Speaker B: Eben Van Sal, who's a partner at Beech Feltman Incorporated and who specializes in mine health and safety legislation, thank you for joining us on Deep Insights today.
[00:31:16] Speaker C: Thank you so much.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: Thank you for listening. Remember to subscribe to Deep Insights on all popular podcast platforms. Also, for the latest African mining news and insights, visit mining review.com until next time. Goodbye.
