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COMMISSION
  
OF
  
INQUIRY
  
INTO
  
SAFETY
  
AND
  
HEALTH
  
IN
  
THE
  
MINING
  
INDUSTRY 
 
23 
 
South Africa is rich in minerals, which occur in different geological environments.  
Consequently, minerals are mined throughout the country under various conditions and are 
exploited on different scales.  Hence, the hazards associated with the mining of different 
minerals are likely to present threats of different magnitude.  In order to produce the 
Commission’s report timeously, it will be sensible to devote a great proportion of the 
Commission’s attention to those mines that contribute most of the accidents.  The next 
analysis attempts to pinpoint the most hazardous mines or groups of mines by examining 
the statistics associated with the exploitation of different commodities. 
 
In Table 6 the non-fatal, fatal and all injuries are examined on the basis of commodities 
mined.  The tabulation is arranged to facilitate the identification of those mines that are 
employed to extract those commodities that are the main sources of mine accidents. 
Cumulative figures are given to make this task simpler. 
 
TABLE 6: 
INJURIES CLASSIFIED BY COMMODITIES MINED 
 
 
TYPE 
OF 
MINE 
 INJURED 
 KILLED 
 TOTAL 
 
 
 
 
 
Nr. %   
Nr. %   
Nr. % 
 
Gold 
   7368 
86,5 
 426 
72,7 
 7794 
85,6 
 
Coal 
   279 
3,3 
 90 
15,4 
 369 
4,1 
 
Cumulative  
 
7647 89,8  
516  88,1  
8163 89,7 
 
Platinum 
  492 
5,8 
 29 
5,0 
 521 
5,7 
 
Cumulative 
  8139 
95,6 
 545 
93,1 
 8684 
95,4 
 
Diamond 
  99 
1,2 
 20 
3,4 
 119 
1,3 
 
Cumulative 
  8238 
96,8 
 565 
96,5 
 8803 
96,7 
 
TOTAL   8515 
100,0 
 586 
100,0 
 9101 
100,0 
 
 
 
The tabulated data reveal some points of fundamental importance.  It is obvious that the 
safety record of the gold mining industry virtually swamps the contribution of all other 
types of mining.  Clearly, the safety performance in mining as a whole cannot be improved 
significantly unless the problems of gold mining are addressed effectively.  Some 85,6% of 
all injuries and 72,7% of all fatalities are due to difficulties encountered in gold mines. 
 
The next largest contributor to fatal accidents is coal mining.  This branch of the industry 
was responsible in 1993 for 15,4% of all fatal accidents in the industry, but reported only 
3,3% of non-fatal injuries and, hence, contributed 4,1% of all injuries.  This lopsided 
performance suggests the presence of one or more causes of injuries that result in a high 
percentage of fatalities.  This deduction necessitates a more detailed analysis of the accident 
record of this part of the industry. 

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COMMISSION
  
OF
  
INQUIRY
  
INTO
  
SAFETY
  
AND
  
HEALTH
  
IN
  
THE
  
MINING
  
INDUSTRY 
 
24 
 
In the remainder of Table 6 the data relevant to two other relatively major sectors of the 
industry are added.  The platinum and diamond industries represent 5,7% and1,3% of all 
mining injuries respectively.  While these contributions are important in themselves, they 
are dwarfed by the record of gold mining.  It is important to note that the branches of 
mining involved in the recovery of gold, coal, platinum and diamond underground 
contribute 96,8% of non-fatal accidents and 96,5% of fatal accidents in South African 
mines. 
 
These high proportions are, perhaps, not surprising since these four branches together 
represent a dominant part of South African mining.  It is perhaps less expected that the 
combination of the gold and coal industries alone is responsible for nearly 90% of all 
injuries (non-fatal 89,8%, fatal 88,1%, total 89,7%). 
 
It is an obvious consequence of these findings that the remainder of this chapter will focus 
special attention on gold and coal mining. 
 
3.2 
SAFETY PERFORMANCE IN GOLD MINING 
 
3.2.1  Analysis of Injuries 
 
As we have already indicated in the previous section, the gold mining industry is 
responsible for a very large percentage of the accidents occurring in mining.  To 
gain an insight into this depressing accident history, it will be rewarding to examine 
the accident records in detail.  On this occasion an attempt will be made to identify 
the types of accidents that dominate the industry’s performance.  In Table 7 the most 
important accident types are analysed in a format similar to that used in constructing 
the previous Table. 
 
The accident categories listed in Table 7 either directly correspond to the listing in 
the GME’s statistics or they represent the amalgamation of similar types in his 
tabulation. 
 
The most striking conclusion that emerges from this table is that 61,7% of gold 
mining fatalities, or 263 lives lost in 1993, are due to rock falls or rockbursts.  This 
represents a rate killed of 0,98 per thousand employed underground.  (This is based 
on the Minerals Bureau figure for average number of workers working underground 
in gold mines during 1993 of 269 466).  This rate would be regarded as depressingly 
high even as the fatality rate from all sources in an advanced mining industry.  It is 
also somewhat surprising to learn that 44,9% of all deaths in South African mining 
are due to rock failure in gold mines.  No other mining industry appears to be known 
with such a preponderance of fatalities due to rock failure. 
 
It should be noted that the GME’s records show rock falls and rockbursts separately.  
Such discrimination is, however, often uncertain and no benefit will accrue here by 
maintaining this somewhat unreliable subdivision.  Thus, these records are 
combined into a single entry in Table 7.  The official records subdivide 
“strainbursts” and “rockbursts”.  No reliable definition of such events exists, hence 
the classification depends entirely on those who provide the data, and seems 
pointless. 

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