COUNTRY IN FOCUS •
Leon Louw
Many processing plants had to be put on care and maintenance during the national lockdown as a result of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
resulting rand‐ earnings windfall – although it may
be short-lived – will be a welcome contribution to
propping up lost earnings and subsidising the myriad
urgent initiatives related to tracking and containing
future Covid-19 infections in the workplace.
The nation-wide lockdown has also given businesses,
including mines, some opportunity to plan for how
operations might proceed in the ongoing context
of potential Covid-19 outbreaks. In this sense, the
virus can be seen as yet another risk which must be
understood and mitigated – in a sector which suffers
from no shortage of operational and commercial risks.
Its extensive risk management capability puts it in a
good position to develop the necessary protocols to
identify infections in good time and to prevent them
from spreading.
Likely responses
This will involve intensive disinfection routines,
frequent testing, speedy contact-tracing procedures
and effective isolation facilities. It will no doubt also
call for innovative management of staff movements,
which may include keeping shifts together as far as
possible to avoid transmission between different
shift-teams.
Building on its experience of managing other health
risks, the sector has already involved a range of experts
such as epidemiologists – and will have to develop the
necessary systems to focus on who is most at risk and
how those groups are best protected. Random testing
of asymptomatic employees is likely to receive more
attention as a method of minimising infections.
The reality, however, is that localised outbreaks of
Covid-19 infections are possible in the future, and these
will need to be effectively controlled. These will become
Leon Louw
The question is whether mining companies will be able to manage the health
requirements like social distancing when workers venture underground into
confined spaces.
an ongoing risk that mining companies – indeed all sectors – will have
to manage as part of our post-Covid working environment. This may
require mines to develop plans for the part-closure of certain sections,
to contain outbreaks while allowing general production to continue. It
could be that stop notices may even be issued – much like Section 54
notices – that require mines to prove that certain procedures have been
followed in the event of a Covid-19 infection being discovered.
Risk management
Effective risk management is really the only way that mines have ever
operated successfully, and this bodes well for their ability to deal with
the latest threat to health and safety. It should also be appreciated that
large organisations like mines are in fact better placed than many others
to adapt. This may seem counter-intuitive, given their large numbers of
employees often gathered in confined spaces. Mines will usually have
the resources and the scale to explore innovative solutions, and to apply
these in iterative and responsive ways. Many smaller businesses, which
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African Mining Publication
African Mining
African Mining • May 2020 • 29