The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) on Friday urged the South African mining industry to implement measures that will improve its deteriorating safety record.

Minerals Council South Africa confirmed that 58 mineworkers have died in South African mines to date this year compared with 51 during the same period in 2017. 

David Msiza, DMR chief inspector, implored the mining bosses to implement safety measures agreed upon to safeguarding the lives of workers, and recommitted his department to working with the industry to reverse the tide against rising mining fatalities.

"Although there has been a significant improvement on health and safety as the stats has indicated, we are greatly concerned that mineworkers are still losing their lives in the mining sector. Specifically for myself, the greatest concerns concern is the fact that they lose their lives not of new things but of what we call repeat or recurring incidents," Msiza said.

"As indicated up to date there has been 58 fatalities. What is of concern to us once again is that seismicity, rockfalls, and fires are a still the major contributors to fatalities. We are also worried that the number of women who are negatively affected by accidents and health issues is increasing. We want to implore for us to work together." 

The Minerals Council on Friday launched its national day of health and safety 2018 as part of its recommitment to the shared goal of Zero Harm campaign and ensuring that all employees can go to work in the knowledge that they will return home, every day, unharmed.

Roger Baxter, chief executive of Minerals Council South Africa, said the deterioration in safety performance was unacceptable, saying the industry was still facing serious safety problems despite an 88 percent improvement in fatality rates between 1993 and 2016.

"Since 2017, there has been an increase in the number of disaster accidents related to seismic activity, fall of ground and fire incidents. The multiple fatalities from disasters have compounded the industry safety performance. Hence our focus on critical engineering controls to effectively address these catastrophic events," Baxter said.

"Addressing fall of ground incidents, particularly at deep-level mines, is an area that joint industry efforts have focused on most intensively over the past several years."

Baxter said that over the next month, 66 members of the Minerals Council will be hosting safety and health days at each of their operations to recommit and reaffirm the industry’s commitment.