Safety and Health

To anyone who has not worked in a mine, or even visited one, the preoccupation of miners with their safety and health might seem a trifle obsessive. But where else do workers face a constantly changing combination of workplace circumstances, both daily and throughout the work shift? In what other occupation, in an atmosphere without natural light or ventilation, is one creating voids in the earth by removing material and trying to ensure that there will be no immediate reaction from the surrounding strata? Despite the considerable efforts in many countries, the toll of death, injury and disease among the world's mineworkers means that, in most countries, mining remains the most hazardous occupation when the number of people exposed to risk is taken into account.

Although only accounting for 0.4% of the global workforce, mining is responsible for over 3% of fatal accidents at work (about 11,000 per year, about 30 each day). No reliable data exist as far as injuries are concerned, but they are significant, as is the number of workers affected by occupational diseases (such as pneumoconioses, hearing loss and the effects of vibration) whose premature disability and even death can be directly attributed to their work.

The ILO will convene a meeting of experts in May 2006 to review and update the 20-year-old Code of practice on safety and health in underground coal mines (see Meetings section).

Links to safety and health information in other ILO departments

InFocus Programme on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment
- Safety and health in mining

Asian-Pacific Regional Network on Occupational Safety and Health Information
- Protecting and saving lives at work: The emerging challenge in Asia. In particular, see section on mining as a hazardous industry.