MINING IN FOCUS
M
ining operations around the country strive
to send employees home safely at the end of
each shift, by implementing various stringent
health and safety measures in their working
places. Despite these measures and various safety drives
to put health and safety of employees above all else, fatal
accidents unfortunately continue to occur.
While no employer would like to contemplate the death of
any employee on duty at any of its operations, employers
must ensure that they follow due process, in the event of a
fatal accident occurring.
On 10 May 2019, the Chief Inspector of Mines published,
in terms of the Mine Health and Safety Act No 29 of 1996
(MHSA), a Guidance Note on Medico-Legal Investigations of
Mine Deaths. The guidance note originated from the need
to provide clarity on the process that must be followed
for deaths that require a medico-legal autopsy, and to
give guidance to all stakeholders regarding their roles and
responsibilities in cases of natural, unnatural or uncertain
mine deaths.
In case of death
When a death occurs on the mine premises, the roles and
responsibilities of the employer are detailed in Section 9 of the
guidance note. While most of the required steps to be followed
ordinarily form part of the emergency preparedness and
response procedures followed by employers when a serious
or fatal accident occurs at the mine, there are a few important
additional requirements imposed on the employer in terms of
the guidance note, which employers should take note of.
Clause 9.1(e) of the guidance note requires that the
employer: “should bring the death to the attention of the
Occupational Medical Practitioner (OMP) or any medical
practitioner, as soon as possible, who must certify the death.”
Clause 9.4.1 of the Guidance Note stipulates that: “In the event
of a death, the employer is required to get an OMP/medical
practitioner to certify the death. The OMP / medical practitioner
should take into account the circumstances surrounding the
death, as provided by the employer, as well as the occupational
and medical history of the deceased in determining whether the
death is due to natural, unnatural or uncertain causes. Should the
OMP/ medical practitioner decide that death is due to unnatural
causes, the OMP/medical practitioner must notify the SAPS who
will open a docket and notify the Forensic Pathology Services.”
Our interpretation of the requirement is that an Advanced
Life Support Paramedic (ALSP), or an Intermediate Life
Support Paramedic (ILSP) who attends to an employee
following an accident, can declare an employee deceased.
The additional requirement is, however, that the mine’s OMP
or any medical practitioner must subsequently certify the
death as soon as possible after the employer had brought
it to their attention. In order for a death to be ‘certified’, the
OMP or any medical practitioner must examine the body
and indicate if the likely cause of death was due to natural
or unnatural causes. It therefore does not appear to be an
absolute requirement that it must be the mine’s OMP who
must certify the death of the employee after an ALSP or ILSP
had declared an employee deceased. It can be any medical
practitioner who is registered as such in terms of the Health
Professions Act No. 56 of 1974.
This will assist the employer in the event that the mine’s
Occupational Practitioner is not available to attend to the
certification of the death and any other medical practitioner
can be dispatched to attend to the certification of the death.
The OMP must, however, assist the medical practitioner who
completes the death certificate with relevant information,
for example medical surveillance data, the condition and
the environment where the body was found, and so on,
where required.
In accordance with the guidance note, the mine’s OMP is also
now required to participate in the investigation conducted in
terms of Section 11(5) of the MHSA.
There are various other requirements which are set out in the
guidance note, which employers are required to take note
of. Employers should consider implementing the provisions
of the guidance note in their emergency preparedness and
response procedures, to ensure that relevant employees
who are involved in the process following any accident or
occurrence at a mine that results in the death of a person, are
aware of the provisions of the guidance note.
Eben van Zyl is a senior associate in the mining group at
Eversheds Sutherland.
www. africanmining.co.za
African Mining Publication
African Mining
African Mining October 2019
47