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COMMISSION
  
OF
  
INQUIRY
  
INTO
  
SAFETY
  
AND
  
HEALTH
  
IN
  
THE
  
MINING
  
INDUSTRY 
 
44 
 
4.2 
EXISTING LEGISLATION: THE MINERALS ACT (ACT NO 50 OF 1991) 
 
It is important at the outset to examine the health content of the Act in some detail if the 
proposals to replace it are to be clearly understood, subject to the general proviso that the 
mere use of the word health does not automatically imply that it is used in an informed way.  
Health in the context of the workplace has specific connotations which do not necessarily 
apply in other health fields. Most importantly, health at work is related to the environmental 
conditions in which work is done, and any separation of health effects from environmental 
conditions is inappropriate. Despite the fact that this may add to the length of the 
Commission’s Report, the existing legislation must be scrutinised from two distinct points 
of view to establish whether it is effective or not for the control of both health and safety. 
 
A detailed commentary on the text of the Minerals Act is contained in Appendix 7 
 
4.2.1  It is a matter for concern that throughout the Minerals Act itself, and also in much of 
the written and oral evidence given to the Commission the words “safety and health” 
or “health and safety” are coupled in an apparently random fashion.  It is frequently 
the case that where the two words are used together initially, the subsequent 
discussion or section of the Act refers only to safety.  This suggests a preoccupation 
with safety, and implies an inevitable neglect of health.  More importantly it 
suggests pervasive loose thinking, not only on the part of those giving evidence but 
among those responsible for drafting and promulgating the legislation.  There is no 
doubt from the evidence that this neglect of health is reflected in the activities, 
training and skills of the mines inspectorate, and in the attitude of management and 
management organisations.  It also accounts for the fact that the Department 
responsible for the health of miners has no health professional on its staff, and for 
the fact that, under the guise of “rationalisation” the MBOD was transferred from 
the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs (DMEA) to the Department of Health 
(DoH).  Contact between the DMEA and the DoH is confined in practice to the 
decision to control mines in terms of the ODMW Act and the administrative 
procedures involved in the determination of risk. 
 
4.3 
EXISTING REGULATIONS: MADE IN TERMS OF THE MINERALS ACT. 
 
Discussion of the enabling statute, which is clearly inadequate leads logically to an 
examination of the existing Regulations, promulgated in terms of that Act, to decide 
whether the provisions of the Regulations compensate effectively for these deficiencies.  
This is a priori, unlikely. 
 
A detailed commentary on the text of the regulations made in terms of the Minerals Act is 
contained in Appendix 7. 
 
4.3.2  Ventilation is vital for the protection of health. 
 
The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that all the regulations made in connection with ventilation 
requirements should be scrutinised to ensure that they conform to modern standards. 
 
 
 

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COMMISSION
  
OF
  
INQUIRY
  
INTO
  
SAFETY
  
AND
  
HEALTH
  
IN
  
THE
  
MINING
  
INDUSTRY 
 
45 
4.3.3  Regulation of exposure to diesel fumes is controversial and in view of the increasing 
use of diesel engines, particularly in coal mines, the COMMISSION 
RECOMMENDS that this matter be re-examined in detail, and that definitive 
research studies are essential. 
 
4.3.4  The COMMISSIONER CONCLUDES that the content of the regulations does not 
compensate for the deficiencies in the enabling Act, particularly in respect of 
occupational medicine.  There are insufficiently detailed provisions relating to 
gasses and dust in Chapter 10 of the regulations, and regulations which directly 
concern the health of workers are interspersed among those which regulate the 
operation of machinery or the mechanics of ventilation. 
 
4.3.5  Regulations for the examination of workers are made in terms of the ODMW Act for 
those diseases defined in that Act.  It is a matter for concern that no new regulations 
have been promulgated in terms of the ODMW Act since it was promulgated in 
1973, and that the ODMW Act is no longer the responsibility of the DMEA. 
 
4.3.6  The Commission is led to the conclusion that the Minerals Act and the derived 
regulations are inadequate for the prevention, control and early recognition of work 
related health conditions.  This suggests, a priori that occupational diseases will not 
be shown to have been satisfactorily controlled. 
 
4.3.7  The critical point which is missing from the legislation is the risk assessment 
process.  Unless the legislation is amended to set in train a process enforceable in 
terms of explicit regulations or approved codes of practice, and unless exposure and 
outcome are linked through systematic data collection and analysis the present 
uncertain and unsatisfactory situation will continue.  The opportunity to revise and 
rearrange the whole body of regulations under the supervision of a tripartite 
committee, should not be missed as the present arrangement does not make the 
regulations easy to use. 
 
The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS urgent revision of the whole body of the regulations in line 
with the many recommendations made throughout this chapter and elsewhere in the report, and that 
the process of revision pay due regard to practice elsewhere, and that professional and technical 
experts be involved ab initio. 
 
4.4 
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES IN MINES 
 
4.4.1  The cause of a particular disease is not always a single agent, nor is the 
manifestation of disease uniform in all individuals exposed to the same working 
conditions.  Disease may be the resultant of a number of causes, some of which are 
specific to the workplace and others unrelated to occupation. Commonly 
occupational and life style factors interact to produce disease, for example, chronic 
obstructive airways disease in persons exposed to dust who smoke, or tuberculosis 
in dust exposed miners living in hostels or overcrowded slums and squatter 
settlements adjacent to mines. 
 
4.4.2  Real understanding of the pattern of disease in a community or group depends not 
only on determining the outcome (the incidence of a particular disease) but also on 
relating exposure at work to subsequent disease.  This is studied to establish a dose-  
 
 
 

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