OVERVIEW ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AFFECTING WOMEN IN SAMI 1.

OVERVIEW ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AFFECTING WOMEN IN

SAMI

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Presentation Outline• Background• Personal Protective Equipment• Health Risks• Fatalities and Injuries Involving Women• Safety and Security• Conclusion

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Background• Traditionally, the South African Mining Industry (SAMI) has

been a male dominated sector.

• The promulgation of the MPRDA and the Mining Charter created an enabling environment for women to participate in SAMI.

• The Mining Charter set a target of 10% of women in the SAMI by 2014.

• Women entering a traditionally male dominated sector, meant that the environment had to change to accommodate them.

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BackgroundChallenges experienced include amongst others:

• Lack of proper Personal Protective Equipment

• Safety and security challenges impacting on WIM

• Sexual Harassment - major barrier for women entering the mining sector

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Personal Protective Equipment • Personal protective equipment (PPE) for the mining industry has

previously been designed for men.

• Women working in the mining industry have unique and special health and safety needs resulting from their anatomical and physiological makeup.

• PPE for women must be designed to comply with: • the physiological and anatomical being of female mine workers• be based upon female anthropometric (body measurement) data• Nature of mining environment• Nature of work performed

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Personal Protective Equipment • PPE available for use in heavy duty work environments such as mining

and construction are unsuitable and inherently unsafe for female workers – as most PPE were designed based on the male population

characteristics. • Female workers in these workplaces have:

– inadequate protection against risks from work-related hazards while,– their personal comfort and work performance were also

compromised. • Literature also showed that inadequate or ill-fitting PPE presents a safety

hazard for any worker.• PPE should incorporate ergonomic and comfort aspects of users so as to

guarantee its efficiency and effectiveness.

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Safety, Security and Sexual Harassment• Workplace Violence (WV) and Sexual Harassment (SH) is a recurrent

problem and a threat to the health, safety and security of female workers in the SAMI

• Lack of formal structures, awareness, education and support in the management of violence, abuse and SH in the SAMI ensure that most female victims either:– do not formally report incidents or– opt to deal with them personally

• Policies and procedures for managing WV and SH are either non-existent or where they exist were obsolete and ineffective.

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Occupational Hygiene PerformancePersonal exposure to Noise Exposures– Commodity

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Gold Chrome Coal Copper Iron Ore PGM Diamonds Other Total RSA

% Heg A 0.404154633737235

0 0.563477107975227

0 0 1.19538577511805

0 0.738020632255632

0.73512253098784

% Heg B 79.0954019978774

81.1846200321762

49.6992333519522

83.5050304235195

70.8984375 81.6855148204125

61.6332343323995

52.6488386500148

73.0153487884863

% Heg C 20.5004433683854

18.8153799678237

49.7372895400726

16.4949695764805

29.1015625 17.1190994044694

38.3667656676005

46.6131407177296

26.2495286805259

5

15

25

35

45

55

65

75

85

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Occupational Hygiene PerformancePersonal exposure to Airborne Pollutants – Commodity

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Gold Chrome Coal Copper Iron Ore PGM Diamonds Other Total RSA

% Heg A 9.06878982733445

1.10327866994571

10.613702399124

10.0078186082877

31.8905237089373

0.324667752281316

3.79986609840135

5.5396618485663

5.65222589574305

% Heg B 31.4590974922971

19.1920622867958

32.0731016392079

13.6099631408466

34.3843324349916

2.85730346956143

22.8302225705841

19.5479137586951

18.4079389793733

% Heg C 59.4721126803684

79.7046590432585

57.3131959616681

76.3822182508656

33.7251438560711

96.8180287781573

73.3699113310146

74.9124243927386

75.9398351248837

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15

25

35

45

55

65

75

85

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Occupational disease trends by region: 2013 and 2014

2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2014 Percentage change

Region Sil Sil PTB PTB Sil+TB Sil+TB NIHL NIHL CWP CWP Asb Asb Other Other Total Total

EC 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 100%

FS 483 472 775 597 51 55 170 195 0 0 2 1 106 116 1587 1436 -10%

GR 309 224 646 818 3 13 173 192 0 0 0 0 74 120 1205 1367 13%

KZN 6 2 65 86 0 0 15 23 1 2 1 0 1 3 89 116 30%

LP 6 1 45 110 0 0 132 169 8 4 0 3 4 6 195 293 50%

MP 41 28 335 375 1 3 308 198 111 88 6 9 70 60 872 761 13%

NC 0 7 39 102 0 0 151 185 1 0 0 1 6 8 197 303 54%

NW (K) 362 136 403 199 93 37 96 104 0 0 0 0 165 68 1119 544 -51%

NW (R) 220 193 940 1166 1 1 339 342 4 0 1 1 25 30 1530 1733 13%

WC 1 0 7 3 0 0 5 16 0 0 0 0 1 1 14 20 43%

TOTAL 1430 1063 3255 3460 149 109 1389 1424 125 94 10 15 452 412 6810 6577 -3%

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2014 Summit Milestones

• Goal is ZERO Harm• Elimination of Occupational Lung Diseases• Elimination of Noise Induced Hearing Loss• Reduction and prevention of TB, HIV and AIDS

infections• Elimination of fatalities and injuries

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Safety and SecurityRisk factors include:

• Shift work and physical violence

• Living at home and commuting

• Place and time of the incident and the perpetrator and day of

the week.

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MHSC Research Projects • Personal Protective Equipment for Women in

Mining • Safety and Security Challenges impacting on

Women in Mining• Prevention materials for sexual harassment in

the mining industry.

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Conclusions• 2014 Summit Milestones

• MHSC Research Projects

• Research projects have been completed and the outcomes are ready for implementation!

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Thank you I

Ngiyabonga !

Dankie !Ke leboha !

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