MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT
Introduction
 

OBJECTIVES
By the end of this Section you should:
  1. have an overview of the background leading to the promulgation of the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA);
  2. have an idea of what the Mine Health and Safety Act covers and the key principles of the Act;
  3. be familiar with those features of the MHSA requiring the establishment of a risk assessment and medical surveillance programme

This introductory page contains links to other pages in this section. These are included for your convenience, both for reference and for revision purposes. It is strongly recommended, however, that you first access the material in its logical sequence, indicated by the "Next Page" link above.

ACTIVITIES:

  1. A lecture will provide an overview of the MHSA.
  2. Work through the exercise.

EXERCISE:

1. List some of the main improvements to the MHSA over the OHSA: (when you have listed them on paper, you can check the answer (NOT BEFORE !)

2. You have been recently appointed as the occupational health doctor on a gold mine. List the main steps of your overall approach to establishing a medical surveillance programme on the mine bearing in mind the legal requirements under the MHSA. (See the answer)

REFERENCES:

  1. Review Mine Health and Safety Act.
  2. Lewis P, Jeebhay M. The Mines Health and Safety Bill 1996 - A new era for health and safety in the Mining Industry. Industrial Law Journal, 17 (3), 429-447, 1996.
  3. Leon RN et al. Commission of Enquiry into Safety and Health in the Mining Industry. Department of Minerals and Energy, 1994.
  4. Guild R, Ehrlich RI, Johnston JR, Ross MH, eds. Handbook of Occupational Health Practice in the South African Mining Industry, 1st edition, Johannesburg, South Africa, SIMRAC, 2001 - Chapter 1, Pages 1-17.
  5. Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) for Airborne Pollutants. In Department of Minerals and Energy (DME)) - Occupational Hygiene Regulations, 2001 - Schedule 22.9(2)(a) http://www.saioh.org/OELs/oels.htm.
  6. Guideline for the compilation of a mandatory code of practice on minimum standards to perform work at a mine - DME, 2000
  7. Regulations (R1486) under the MHSA - Chapter 11 (Occupational Medicine), Dec 1999
  8. Guidance note for occupational medical practitioners on TB control programme; Lung function testing.