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THE DEPARTMENT OF MINERALS AND ENERGY WILL POPULARISE THE MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT EXPO IN LIME ACRES AS PART OF IMBIZO FOCUS WEEK
As part of Imbizo Focus Week, the Department of Minerals and Energy is hosting the Popularisation of the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) Expo on Saturday, 3 November 2001, in Lime Acres Municipality, Northern Cape. The main purpose of the Act is to educate miners, team leaders, shift bosses and safety representatives to take safety into their hands and curb the recurrence of accidents in the mines.
Cabinet decided that government should conduct two Imbizo Focus Weeks annually, one at the beginning of the year following the opening of Parliament, and the second towards the end of the year. The aim is to strengthen interactive and unmediated communication with the public. The Imbizo Focus Week starts from 3 November 2001.
The objectives of the MHS Act are:
* To protect the health and safety of persons at mines; to require employers and employees to identify hazards and eliminate, control and minimise the risks relating to health and safety at mines;
* To give effect to the public international law obligations of the Republic that concern health and safety at mines; and
* To provide for employee participation in matters of health and safety through health and safety representatives and the health and safety committees at mines; to promote co-operation and consultation on health and safety between the State, employer, employees and their representatives.
The MHSA booklets were published based on the surveys conducted by the Mining Qualification Authority (MQA). Six languages were identified, namely Xhosa, Tswana, Sesotho, Zulu, Tsonga and Afrikaans with English included in every publication. The aim of the popularisation is to distribute MHSA booklets as widely as possible in each region. This will allow the employees to take part in decision-making, know their rights and what the Act is all about. The booklet is a summary of sections relating to rights and duties of employees extracted from the MHSA.
It is expected that the popularisation of the Act will benefit the employees in such a way that they will be able to fully understand the Act, and know their rights in the mining industry.
The programme to popularise the MHSA was launched by the Chairperson of the MHSC on 20 April 2001 at the Mining Summit.
Enquiries: Kanyo Gqulu at 083 293 3377/(012) 317 9537
Issued by: Department of Minerals and Energy, 2 November 2001