1) An appeal under section 20(1) must be lodged with the Medical Inspector--
a) within 30 days of a decision or finding that an employee is unfit to perform any particular category of work;
b) within 90 days of the date of issue of an exit medical certificate; or
c) within such period as the Medical Inspector may allow on good cause shown.
The annual medical report contemplated in section 16(1) must include details regarding at least the following:
a)
i) Name of mine.
ii) Name, address and telephone number of the occupational medical practitioner responsible for compiling the annual medical report.
b) Type of mine. Commodity or commodities being mined.
c) Total number of employees (including contract workers) who were subject to medical surveillance in terms of section 13 during the reporting period and the total number of hours worked by those employees.
d) The number of initial, periodical and exit examinations conducted as part of the medical surveillance system.
e) An analysis of the employees’ health based on the employees’ records of medical surveillance, without disclosing the names of the employees.
f) Comments on the future direction of the medical surveillance system.
g) The number of employees certified for compensation for occupational diseases.
The exit certificate contemplated in section 17 must include details regarding at least the following:
a) Particulars of mine:
i) Name of mine.
ii) Type of mine. Commodity or commodities being mined.
iii) Postal address.
iv) Telephone number.
v) Fax number.
vi) Name of occupational medical practitioner responsible for producing the exit certificates [Section 17(4)].
b) Particulars of employee:
i) Name.
ii) Date of birth.
iii) Any one of the following numbers: Identity number, the Department of Mineral and Energy (DME) number, industry number, company number, or Medical Bureau for Occupational Diseases (MBOD) number.
iv) Date of initial medical examination.
v) Labour history, specifying occupations, periods in each occupation and, if available, the number of shifts worked in each occupation.
c) Exit medical summary:
i) Date of last medical examination.
ii) Clinical comments on chest x-ray (CXR).
iii) International Labour Organization (ILO) classifications of the chest x-ray (CXR), if applicable.
iv) Lung function testing:
§ Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1):
-- Actual and predicted percentages.
§ Forced Vital Capacity (FVC):
-- Actual and predicted percentages.
§ Ratio of Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1)/Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) -- expressed as a percentage.
v) Audiometry (hearing loss average in decibles (dB) at 0.5, 1, 2, 3 kilohertz (kHz).
vi) Other biological monitoring by the employer of the employee, and if so, comments on the results.
vii) The significant hazards/risks the employee was exposed to, such as dust, noise, radiation, chemical or other.
viii) Occupational diseases, past or present, including severity.
ix) Summary of whether any compensation has been received or if a claim for compensation has been submitted.
x) Name and signature of occupational health practitioner completing the exit certificate if such certificate is not completed by the occupational medical practitioner responsible for producing the exit certificate.
xi) Signature of employee and date of receipt by employee of a copy of the exit certificate.
1) The employer must establish and maintain a system of medical surveillance, as contemplated in section 13, of all employees in any working place, where the equivalent, continuous A weighted sound pressure level, normalised to an eight hour working day or a forty hour working week, is equal to or exceeds 85 dB(A)
2) The system of medical surveillance contemplated in regulation 11.4(1) must consist of a baseline audiogram, periodic audiograms and exit audiogram.
3) A competent person must perform all audiograms.
4) A baseline audiogram must be recorded before an employee commences employment or within 30 days of commencement of employment in any working place contemplated in regulation 11.4(1)
5) Testing for the baseline audiogram must not be done within 16 hours from when an employee has been exposed to an environment in which the noise level was equal to exceeded 85 dB(A). The use of hearing protection devices to effect this attenuation will not be acceptable.
6) The baseline audiogram is the better of the employee’s two audiograms performed on the same day and that do not differ from each other by more than 10 dB for any of the following measured test frequencies i.e. 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4 kilohertz (kHz).
7) If it is imposable to obtain two audiograms that comply with the requirements of regulation 11.4(6), the employees must be referred to a competent person to establish baseline-hearing levels in accordance with regulation 11.4(6)
8) If it is impossible for the competent person to establish baseline-hearing levels as contemplated in 11.4(7) the competent person may establish baseline-hearing levels by using other techniques, such as speech reception thresholds.
9) The employer must ensure that a periodic audiogram is obtained at least annually for all employees subject to medical surveillance in terms of regulation 11.4(1).
10) The periodic audiogram contemplated in regulation 11.4(9) must be performed at least 16 hours after any exposure of the employees to a noise level equal to or exceeding 85 dB(A). Use of appropriate hearing protection devices to reduce exposure will be acceptable.
11) In addition to the exit medical examination for the purposes of section 17, the employer must arrange an audiogram for every employee subject to medical surveillance in terms of regulation 11.4(1) and who is permanently transferred to a working place in respect of which medical surveillance is not required under regulation 11.4(1)
12) An audiogram conducted within the preceding six months may be used as an exit audiogram for purposes of section 17 or regulation 11.4(11)