The Minerals Council South Africa (MCSA) recently commemorated the National Day of Health and Safety in Mining 2021, an event that underpins and supports the Khumbul’ekhaya Health & Safety Strategy.
This year’s event is centred on a theme of Renewed Focus for our New Normal, which recognises the integration of health, safety and wellbeing, acknowledging the regression in fatalities in 2020 compared with 2019, the impacts of COVID-19 and the consequent behaviour changes needed. Roger Baxter, CEO of the Minerals Council noted: “The history of this day is rooted in our Khumbul’ekhaya campaign initiated to remind us all, and particularly the leadership of our industry, of the need to maintain an intense focus on the safety and health of our industry’s employees,” noted Roger Baxter, MCSA CEO. He added that any measure of the effectiveness and progress of the industry must look first at progress towards ensuring that every employee returns home as healthily and safely as they left home to head for their workplace. According to Baxter, the last 18 months have confronted the industry with an additional and most profound health challenge. “I would like to thank everyone present for the remarkable role you have all played in optimising lives and livelihoods – government, organised labour and industry. Together, we have as an industry done a remarkable job of working together to protect our employees from the ravages of COVID-19 as far as this has been possible – working hard to save lives and livelihoods. And we will continue with this. But, the way forward for us, as an industry and a country, is to achieve community immunity through vaccination.” In her address, Nolitha Fakude, President of the Minerals Council noted: “COVID-19 has been a part of our lives for close on 18 months now, with its impacts on health, safety and well-being. And it is not going to leave us for some time to come. We saw in 2020 a deterioration in mining’s safety performance in terms of fatalities. Worse still, thus far in 2021, we are seeing a further deterioration in the fatality trend. This is not acceptable to us, as the Minerals Council and the industry. For all these reasons, our CEO Zero Harm Forum has decided that the theme for today, and for the year ahead, should be: Renewed Focus for our New Normal.”Additional Reading?
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