Chamber of Mines applauds coal industry’s improved safety performance

The Chamber of Mines recently attended the CoalSafe 2016 conference, hosted by the South African Colliery Managers’ Association (SACMA), in Secunda, Mpumalanga.

President of the Chamber of Mines, Mike Teke noted: “We commend the coal industry for its continued improvement in safety performance. We further note that Minister of Mineral Resources Mosebenzi Zwane congratulated 16 companies for operating without any fatalities for a period of more than 12 months at the annual announcement of safety statistics in Pretoria in January this year. Five of these companies were coal mining companies including Exxaro, Sasol, Total Coal South Africa, Kuyasa Mining and Coal of Africa. The performance of these companies indicates to us that the industry’s goal of Zero Harm is achievable.”

In 2015, the coal industry reported five fatalities compared to nine in 2014. This represents an improvement of 44%. The number of injuries reported by the coal industry has also decreased to 207 injuries during 2015, compared to 267 in 2014, which is an improvement of 22%.

Teke added: “While we recognise that work towards ensuring that each and every mineworker returns from work unharmed every day must continue, we are gratified to note the continuing improvement in safety performance across the mining industry.”

“We extend our thanks to those who are involved in the rescue attempts at Lily mine owned by Vantage Goldfields. Our thoughts continue to be with the employees and family members of those affected by this great tragedy,” he concluded.

Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/mining/10032016/chamber-of-mines-applauds-coal-industrys-continually-improving-safety-performance-369/