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Elandsrand was preventable, says mines minister Posted: Fri, 05 Oct 2007 [miningmx.com] -- THE accident at Harmony's Elandsrand mine in which 3,200 workers were trapped two kilometres underground could have been prevented if a proactive stance when inspecting mines had been taken. This is according to South Africa's mines minister, Buyelwa Sonjica, who was addressing the media at the tripartite Mine Health and Safety Council's (MHSC) fifth biennial summit in Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg on Friday. Calling for tighter regulations, Sonjica said the scarcity of skills and high turnover within the department of minerals and energy's inspectorate had led to limited capacity: "If there was more proactivity, inspectors would have checked the infrastructure and noted there was something wrong with the shaft and could have prevented the incident." The summit also discussed founding a mines safety tribunal that had teeth to punish lax safety standards, a development that would be contained in an amendment to the Health and Safety Act. "There's still big room for improvement in our capacity to monitor and enforce health and safety compliance," Sonjica said. Said Sonjica: "Maintenance in terms of reducing risk is a low-hanging fruit, something you can achieve yesterday. If maintenance was done properly, I think this could have been prevented. Something went wrong with this and not acceptable because it can be achieved." There was little to add to an earlier statement by South African president, Thabo Mbeki, published on the government website, The Presidency, that the mines ministry should spearhead an audit into the country's mines. Said Sonjica: "I can't even guess what the president wants me to do." "He did mention it telephonically to me, but I got the information through the media this morning. When I get the full brief, I'll make it available. I understand that the audit should cover all mines, not only gold." Sonjica said an investigation into the accident at Elandsrand would start on October 8, and would "not take more than a month" to conclude. "The six weeks given for the closure of the mine itself should be adequate for us to complete the investigation." Responding to Sonjica's assertion that the department's inspectorate lacked personnel "because they're being poached by them [companies]", Chamber of Mines president Lazarus Zim said the industry "saw the need for a strong and vibrant" inspectorate. "We should be asking what we should be doing to ensure sustainablity of inspectorate. We are not running away from regulation, but need to make sure that standards are in place." MHSC chairperson Thabo Gazi said there were 50 high-level vacancies within an inspectorate that has a total of about 330 positions. Engineers and doctors were difficult to retain owing to "constraints when it comes to remuneration', he said. Commenting on the prospect of a tribunal, Gazi said it would require an amendment to the Mine Health & Safety Act. Click Here to subscribe to our daily newsletter
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