Rebecca LoseloInspector of mines NC

Northern Cape regionOccupational Medicine

January 12- 13 2016

Outline

1. Back to basic – occupational medicine in NC2. Purpose of the DMR Inspectorate3. 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

4. Ex miners Benefit medicals

Re engagement with Occ diseases 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

Back to basics 2016

Purpose of the Inspectorate DMR inspectorate has 3 major functions1.Conduct inspections and Audits2.Issue Instructions/ sanctions to deal with dangerous conditions in the mines3.Conduct Investigations and Inquiries into accidents and health threatening occurrences

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.

Legal Appointments – OMP Audit Findings 2015

1. 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.

2. OMP appointment letters with no qualifications, practice numbers or HPCSA registration or no appointment letter at all.

3. No monthly walkabouts reports of the OMP4. No attendance of the Health and Safety meeting of the OMP5. MHSA talk about the OMP and not OHNP

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Thank You.