Rebecca Loselo Inspector of mines NC

1. Northern Cape region Occupational Medicine January 12- 13 2016 Rebecca Loselo Inspector of mines NC

2. Outline • Back to basic – occupational medicine in NC • Purpose of the DMR Inspectorate • Findings during 2015 Audits / Inspections • Health and Safety Policies including TB HIV AIDS STI • Legal Appointments – OMP • Risk Assessment and Risk Profiling • Training on identified risks • Medical Surveillance • Statutory Reporting • Ex miners Benefit medicals

3. Back to basics 2016 • Re engagement with Occdiseases was marked by 2 major events: • 1995 Report of the Leon Commission which gave evidence that self regulation of occupational health and policy in the mining industry had failed. • 1996 the promulgation of the MHSA which came and modernized OH practice in the mining industry and introduced a number of notable innovations • Innovations included duties of the employers and rights of the employees

4. Purpose of the Inspectorate DMR inspectorate has 3 major functions • Conduct inspections and Audits • Issue Instructions/ sanctions to deal with dangerous conditions in the mines • Conduct Investigations and Inquiries into accidents and health threatening occurrences

5. Health and Safety Policies including TB HIV AIDS STI Audit /Inspections Findings IN 2015 • No policies in place in some mines • Policies that are not communicated to the employee reps bodies • Polices that are not conspicuously displayed • Policies that do not talk about the organisation of the work and how the workers are going to be protected • Policies that do not have a revision date.

6. Legal Appointments – OMP Audit Findings 2015 • Different scenarios: • Full time OMP’s • Part time OMP’ • OMP employed by a different company’s (Mobile services that is stationed from between 150 kilos to 1000kilos from the mine • OMP who never set their feet on the mines they are serving. • OMP appointment letters with no qualifications, practice numbers or HPCSA registration or no appointment letter at all. • No monthly walkabouts reports of the OMP • No attendance of the Health and Safety meeting of the OMP • MHSA talk about the OMP and not OHNP

7. Risk Assessment and Risk Profiling Audit/Inspections Findings 2015 Primary prevention of O H Diseases requires control of hazard at source. • Some mines have not documented the hazard emanated during production and use a generic system to identify hazard • Occ Hygienist does discuss his report with OMP. • HEG’s not isolated and provided to the OMP. • Issue of the concept of general worker is still existing … what is a general worker? Gets overexposed. • The use of last resort of engineering controls • Issue of just providing PPE instead of looking at the engineering controls first at source. • Ergonomics and vibrations assessment not done for most operators.

8. Training on identified risksAudit Inspections Findings 2015 • Relevant specific and adequate training not conducted for identified hazards. • Induction regarded erroneously as training therefore leading to repeated incidents and exposures.

9. Medical Surveillance Audit Inspections Findings 2015 • Not linked to hygiene measurements. • Generic in nature • Medical Files storage not meeting legal standards. • Medical examination not done on site sometimes even fragmented with Xrays done at government hospitals. • Appointed OMP sub contracting other external OMP do to their medicals. • No disability procedures to deal with people unfit employees • No section 20 medical appeals awareness done. • No return to work procedure to manage employees who had been absent from work for an extended periods of time

10. Statutory ReportingAudit inspections Findings 2015 • OH Disease not reported by most mines on DMR 231 . • Some mines report with inadequately filled forms. • AMR … all mines report on this, but the quality of reports horrible! • AMR not signed by GM and employee Reps • AMR diseases not corresponding to Health Incidents • TB/HIVAIDS STI programs lacking in most mines

11. Ex miners Medical Program • Established in 2015 by the MBOD for lung examinations and compensations. • 2 in the region Kimberley and Kuruman Hospitals. • Conducted through appointment system from the Braamfontein MBOD. • All services are free of charge.

12. Way forward 2016 • DMR inspectors are MHSA enforcers and not consultants – OMP’s Hygienist, Safety officers, Mining Engineers etc are appointed as competent persons • The employees to be made aware of the Disability and return to work procedures and not to be referred to DMR inspectors but the DoL. • OMP monthly walkabout reports should be sent to the DMR offices by latest the 4th of every month.

13. Thank You.