CRADLE TO GRAVE •
HOW TO TACKLE COVID-19 IN MINING
Leon Louw
Change rooms.
The Minerals Council South Africa has developed a number of
strategies and responses to minimise the virus’s impact on the
industry and its employees. According to Minerals Council CEO,
Roger Baxter, the mining industry’s preparedness plans are
based on established risk-management principles.
According to Baxter there are three broad phases. “At the outset,
the aim is to prevent the spread of the disease, largely through
education and hygiene as the first phase. The second phase
is to rapidly detect and quarantine anyone who is ill. “As the
third phase, companies will ensure that appropriate business
continuity measures are in place,” says Baxter.
The South African mining industry has developed a 10-point
plan in the early stages of the outbreak of Covid-19. These steps
include:
• Employee education and health promotion
• Health worker readiness
• Ensuring access to consumables (masks, sanitisers, testing
kits) and hardware (such as temperature monitors)
• Proactive influenza vaccination, which the industry
undertakes and promotes every year
• Understanding the potential impact on employees who
may be immuno-compromised
• Case definition and management of suspected cases or
contacts of cases
• Isolation of employees should the need arise
• Travel advice
• Reporting and communication in the industry in the event
of a case
• Monitoring
In carrying out these tasks in the mining industry require a
special approach. For example, self-isolation or self-imposed
quarantine in mining communities needs to be handled
differently from how it is carried out in, for example, cities of
Europe and North America or the suburban areas of South
Africa. The industry is therefore examining the case for providing
or supporting quarantine facilities.
There are also the issues of change-room hygiene, the more
intensive use of masks, gloves and goggles, particularly in
respect of underground work, and vertical and horizontal
transport facilities.
The use of wards in existing mine hospitals, already with
expertise in the screening and treatment of tuberculosis,
including XDR TB, is being examined for COVID-19 patients.
This could extend beyond industry employees, and regional
partnerships established with state health facilities in certain
mining regions.
While the Minerals Council exists primarily to serve its
members, this state of national disaster demands that
the organisation offer its expertise and materials to all
mining companies throughout South Africa. All companies
operating in the mining space are encouraged to consider
and adopt the 10-point plan; to use all available materials
developed by the Minerals Council, such as educational
documents and standard operating procedures; and to
make contact with the Minerals Council should they need
further guidance.
“As a key pillar of South Africa’s economy, both in its own right
and as a customer and suppliers of other sectors, the industry is
determined to keep its facilities in operation in order to ensure
that, once the COVID-19 pandemic has passed, South Africa’s
economy is able to resume, develop and grow,” says Baxter. •
www. africanmining.co.za
African Mining Publication
African Mining
African Mining • May 2020 • 49