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COMMISSION
  
OF
  
INQUIRY
  
INTO
  
SAFETY
  
AND
  
HEALTH
  
IN
  
THE
  
MINING
  
INDUSTRY 
 
167 
 
12.7.5   The COMMSSION RECOMMENDS that, in the absence of an unequivocal 
undertaking from the Department of Health to provide adequate resources, the 
Medical Bureau of Occupational Diseases be transferred back to the Department 
of Mineral and Energy Affairs (see Ch. 4). 
 
12.8.1 
The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that: 
 
-a system of health and safety representatives should be established at each mine, 
and that regulations be drafted to formalise their position, with at least one 
representative per 100 non-managerial employees.  The manager, in consultation 
with the workforce should facilitate their election, and define the workplaces to 
be covered; 
 
-one or more Mine Health and Safety Committee(s) should be established by the 
manager at each mine, after consultation with workplace representatives, 
concerning the number of committees, size of membership, rules of operation, 
and frequency of meetings.  The Committees should consist in equal numbers of 
representatives of management including mine officials, and elected workplace 
representatives; 
 
-the Committees should be consultative in nature and make recommendations to 
the manager; and 
 
-the ratio of health and safety representatives to workers might be varied for those 
mines employing very large numbers but it is important to ensure that small 
mines are adequately catered for (see Ch. 6.12.3 and Ch. 10.3.7). 
 
12.9.1 
The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that: 
 
-in view of the inadequacy of training in rock engineering at all levels of the 
industry, comprehensive support regulations should be developed by MRAC for 
enforcement by the GME’s staff (see Ch. 3.1.6). 
 
12.9.2 
Tripartite groups should visit collieries in America, Europe and Australia to study 
methods applied in those countries for face and goaf ventilation, stone dusting 
and the use of stone dust barriers (see Ch. 3.2.2). 
 
12.10.1  The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that revision of the regulations should 
include minimum standards for housing and feeding workers (see Ch. 2 and Ch. 
4). 
 
12.10.2  The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that a tripartite structure be established 
between the State, the mining industry and representatives of employees to seek 
ways and means of improving the lot of workers who live on the mines, and to 
investigate the whole question of housing and accommodation for workers and 
their families at mines, with due regard for the continued viability of communities 
thus established.  A way must be found which will enable our society to make 
changes in order to make better human beings of the workers (see Ch. 2.1.3). 

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COMMISSION
  
OF
  
INQUIRY
  
INTO
  
SAFETY
  
AND
  
HEALTH
  
IN
  
THE
  
MINING
  
INDUSTRY 
 
168 
 
 
12.10.3  The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that the mining houses take a policy 
decision to move towards family housing over a period of time, and that in the 
meantime steps be taken to upgrade existing hostels whenever it is reasonably 
practicable to do so (see Ch. 2.1.3). 
 
12.10.4  The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that for mines with a remaining life of ten 
years or more the industry improves, within five years, accommodation to the 
point at which no more than eight men are housed in a single room on any mine 
(see Ch. 2 and Ch. 4.7.2). 
 
12.11.1  The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that all mines regardless of size should be 
required to measure the relevant environmental conditions at regular intervals and 
compare the results to an agreed set of standards.  These standards should be 
internationally acceptable and incorporated into regulations or codes of practice 
(see Ch. 4.9.3). 
 
12.11.2  The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that regulations should require regular 
measurement of noise levels and a demarcation of unsatisfactory noise areas (see 
Ch. 4). 
 
12.11.3  The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that the GME should have adequate 
resources and staff to ensure that environmental monitoring can be audited at all 
stages from the sampling strategy to the analysis and presentation of the results 
(see Ch. 4). 
 
12.11.4  The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that regulations, or approved codes of 
practice, should ensure that a coherent process is set in train, which conforms to 
the fundamental principles of modern occupational health practice (see Ch. 4.6.2). 
 
MATTERS FOR FUTURE INVESTIGATION 
 
12.12.1  The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that all mining companies and others who 
are able to move forward the national initiative in adult education should take 
every opportunity to advance this cause with a view to improving communication 
in mines, which will in turn result in improved health and safety (see Ch. 6.1). 
 
12.12.2  The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that the teaching of English should be 
actively promoted as this is the only practical way of meeting the urgent need for 
a common language of communication (see Ch. 2.1.4 and Ch. 6.1). 
 
12.12.3  The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that having due regard to the complexity 
of the language issue all workers be given basic education and training in English 
(see Ch. 2.4 and 6.1). 
 
12.12.4  The COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that: 
 
existing training schemes should be reconsidered and revamped with a view to re-
emphasising health and safety matters; 
 

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