New regulations will save miners’ lives

Jul 17, 2016 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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Far too many young, productive Guyanese lives are lost in the gold and diamond mining industry.
Too many mothers are grieving the deaths of their sons, too many families their breadwinners. Young men with big dreams of a financially comfortable life, venture into the interior regions to face down the physical hardships that go hand in hand with dredging on land and in water for Guyana’s high quality yellow gold.
Since the global price for this commodity went through the roof quite some years ago, it became compulsory for the government to implement the necessary measures to ensure industrial, occupational health and safety.
Of course, the previous administration did as little as they possibly could, instead spending donor funds on studies and ignoring the recommendations.
As soon as the Coalition Government stepped into the driver’s seat last May, President Granger commissioned an in-depth inquiry into the causes of the repetitive mining site deaths. The CoI covered a 12-month period – June 2014 and June 2015 – and the findings revealed that 25 deaths were recorded in 16 accidents, 75% of which were due to collapsed mining pits, or “pit failures”.
The report also stated that from 2010 to 2015, a total of 62 young miners died while working in the mineral mining industry.
The worst accident recorded up to that time was the May 7, 2015 collapse of a mining pit at Mowasi, Region 7.
These accidents occurred because the dredge owners and/or their General Managers and supervisors took shortcuts to get the most out of the ground in the shortest possible time with minimal effort and cost.
These shortcuts turned out to be neglect of their responsibility to implement safe industrial practices. In addition, the numerous mining operations spread throughout the interior regions, along rivers and creeks, received very minimal oversight.
Many of the recommendations from that 2015 CoI were implemented, but the accidents continued, so the subject became the focus of the July 2016 Mining Safety seminar held under the theme, “Putting Safety First in Mining; charting a course to cultivate compliance and strengthen enforcement”.
Here is an excerpt of the opening address delivered by Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman:
“The story of mining in Guyana has been one of glorious triumphs and ignominious tragedies. In fact, the (often told) harrowing adventures of the pork-knocker (of old) navigating rushing waterfalls, fighting off “tigers” and escaping collapsing pits, add to the folklore of an exciting and dangerous, yet immensely rewarding industry. But what about the stories of those who didn’t survive – the countless men who lose their lives or limbs and leave behind grieving and broken families?
It is their story that this seminar seeks to focus on. The loss of these good souls has left an imprint on the lives of thousands of Guyanese and we can no longer continue with ‘business as usual’. (We are) revisiting our systems to vastly improve the operating, monitoring and modernization of our mining sector.
Unfortunately, we have lost many miners over the past two years due to mining pits collapsing. While we cannot restore their lives, we can certainly honour their memories by making mining safer for these men and women who are active contributors to our country’s development.
To paraphrase a popular slogan “All lives matter”, in our case we say “Our Miners’ lives matter”.
The average profile of the miner who lost his life in recent times is of a young, inexperienced but eager patriot who believes that the opportunities available in the urban centres (city and towns) are too few, too restrictive to allow him a fair chance at financial success. As such, he turns to the “bush”, seeking a fortune and at the same time, defining his manhood and establishing his credentials as a self-sufficient, contributing member of society. It is he who takes care of his family’s affairs.
From this profile we can see an industry that for the most part, is hinged upon a desperation to succeed. Unfortunately this desperation is compounded by acute ignorance of the basic aspects of engineering and physics that must accompany the construction of safe mines. This desperation, the ignorance of occupational health and safety requirements, and the easy availability of pliable human resources, often give way to recklessness and inevitably accidents occur.
The government as the key regulator of the industry must lead the way towards responsible mining. However, it will require a collective response from every single stakeholder to implement the required policies and enhanced regulations, to monitor and enforce them, and most importantly, to improve education and awareness of everyone who is actively involved in the industry – dredge and heavy earth moving equipment owners, operators and miners.
We expect that support will also come from our technical institutes, University, and the companies in the private sector that profit from the sale of excavators, ATVs and mining equipment.”
The 2016 Mining Seminar focused on innovative and modern mechanisms to improve occupational health and safety practices across the sector, global best practices, and new innovations.
Meanwhile, a plan of action has been presented by the GGMC that demands closer collaboration with the Ministry of Social Protection, improvement in the availability of trained/graduated technical skills, mandatory continuous basic skills training on site and the introduction of certification for the owners and General Managers of mining operations who stay true to their mandate to train their staff, to implement hazard-control mechanisms, and who institute the required health and safety standards.

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