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INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION |
Sectoral Activities Programme |
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Mining; (coal; other mining)C o n t e n t s
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INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION |
Sectoral Activities Programme |
See text links
below
Mining; (coal; other mining)C o n t e n t s
|
The environmental impact of mining can be significant and long-lasting. There are many examples of both good and bad practice as far as the management and rehabilitation of mined areas are concerned. More recently, the environmental effect of the use of minerals is becoming an important issue for the industry and its workforce. The debate on global warming, for example, could affect the use of coal in some areas; recycling lessens the amount of new material required; and the increasing use of non-mineral materials, such as plastics, affects the intensity of use of metals and minerals per unit of GDP.
Competition, declining mineral grades, higher treatment costs, privatization and restructuring are each putting pressure on mining companies to reduce their costs and increase their productivity. The high capital-intensity of much of the mining industry encourages mining companies to seek the maximum use of their equipment, calling in turn for more flexible and often more intensive work patterns. Employment is falling in many mining areas -- as a result of increased productivity, radical restructuring, and privatization. These changes not only affect mineworkers who must find alternative employment; those remaining in the industry are having to work in a very different way, requiring more skills and more flexibility. Finding the balance between the desire of mining companies to cut costs and those of workers to safeguard their jobs has been a major issue throughout the world of mining. Mining communities must also come to terms with changes in the industry -- adapting to new mining operations, as well as to downsizing or closure.
Mining is often considered to be a "special" industry -- close-knit communities with radical workers doing a dirty and dangerous job. Mining is also a sector where many at the top -- managers and employers -- are former miners or mining engineers with wide, first-hand experience of the issues that affect their enterprises and workforces. Moreover, mineworkers have often been the élite of industrial workers and have frequently been at the forefront when political and social changes have taken place rather faster than was envisaged by the government of the day.
About 23 billion tonnes of minerals, including coal, are produced each year. For high-value minerals, the quantity of waste produced is many times that of the final product. For example, each ounce of gold is the result of dealing with about 12 tonnes of ore; and each tonne of copper comes from about 30 tonnes of ore. For lower value materials, such as sand, gravel and clay -- which account for the bulk of the material mined -- the amount of waste material that can be tolerated is clearly minimal. It is safe to assume, however, that the world's mines must produce at least twice the final amount required (excluding the removal of surface "overburden" which is subsequently replaced and therefore handled twice). Globally, therefore, some 50 billion tonnes of ore are mined each year. This is the equivalent of digging a 1 metre deep hole the size of Switzerland, every year.
Mining is not a major employer. It accounts for about 1% of the world's workforce -- some 30 million people, 10 million of whom produce coal. This is not the whole story, however. For every mining job there is at least one job that is directly dependent on mining. In addition, it is estimated that at least 6 million people not included in the above figure work in small-scale mines. When one takes dependants into account, the number of people relying on mining for a living is likely to be about 300 million.
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 1% of the global workforce, mining is responsible for about 8% of fatal accidents at work (around 15,000 per year). 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 has been dealing with labour and social problems of the mining industry since its early days, making considerable efforts to improve work and life of those in the mining industry -- from the adoption of the Hours of Work (Coal Mines) Convention (No. 31) in 1931 to the Safety and Health in Mines Convention (No. 176), which was adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1995. For 50 years tripartite meetings on mining have addressed a variety of issues ranging from employment, working conditions and training to occupational safety and health and industrial relations. The results are over 140 agreed conclusions and resolutions, some of which have been used at the national level, others have triggered ILO action -- including a variety of training and assistance programmes in member States, and some have led to the development of codes of safety practice and, most recently, to the new labour standard.
Labour and social issues in mining cannot be separated from other considerations, whether they be economic, political, technical or environmental. While there can be no model approach to ensuring that the mining industry develops in a way that benefits all those involved, there is clearly a need that it should do so. The ILO is doing what it can, but it cannot work alone. It must have the active involvement of the social partners in order to maximize its impact. The ILO also works closely with other international organizations, bringing the social and labour dimension of mining to their attention and collaborating with them as appropriate.
Because of the hazardous nature of mining, the ILO has been always deeply concerned with the improvement of occupational safety and health. The ILO's International Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses is an internationally recognized tool for recording systematically radiographic abnormalities in the chest provoked by the inhalation of dusts. Two codes of practice on safety and health deal exclusively with underground and surface mines; others are relevant to the mining industry. Additional information can be obtained from the ILO's Occupational Safety and Health Branch.
The adoption of the Convention on safety and health in mines in 1995, which has set the principle for national action on the improvement of working conditions in the mining industry, is important because:
In many countries rural underemployment has led to an upsurge in unregistered, unsafe small-scale mining. To be sure, small-scale mining can enable the exploitation of otherwise uneconomic resources, but often only in the short term.
Small-scale mining also provides considerable employment, particularly in
rural areas. Unfortunately many of these jobs are precarious and do not conform
with labour standards. Uncontrolled mining has resulted in many accidents and
illnesses. The already stretched resources of mining inspectorates have proved
no match for this burgeoning activity. In some countries many more people are
employed in small-scale, often informal, mining activities than in the formal
mining sector.
Upwards of 13 million people engage in small-scale mining, including significant numbers of women and children. Moreover, small-scale mining affects the livelihood of 80-100 million. Unfortunately, non-fatal accident rates are routinely six or seven times higher than in larger operations, even in industrialized countries. Moreover, there have been many disasters in recent years at small-scale mines in developing countries when over ten and up to 100 deaths have occurred. That is not to say that there are no safe, clean small-scale mines -- there are, but they tend to be in the minority. Perhaps more important are the occupational and community health risks from mining and processing and the environmental problems that often arise.
In order for small-scale mining to be prosperous and safe it needs to be raised from being an unorganized, unsupervised activity to one that is modernized, monitored, organized and supported. The absence of employers' and workers' organizations in small-scale mining puts a special responsibility on the State. Through concerted action to improve the lot of small-scale miners the economic and social benefits of small-scale mining will increase markedly and its integration into formal mining accelerate. To assist in this process the ILO will hold a tripartite meeting on social and labour issues in small-scale mining in May 1999. The report for this meeting "Social and labour issues in small-scale mining" will be published in March. It sets the scene for small-scale mining and has chapters on women in small-scale mining; child labour in small-scale mines; legislation; relations between small-scale and large mines; and assistance to small-scale mines. At the time of the meeting several working papers will be published that deal with small-scale gold mining in Bolivia, the Philippines and Zimbabwe and child labour in small-scale mines in Niger, Peru and the Philippines.
Social and labour issues in small-scale mining, Geneva, 1999 (forthcoming), report for the
Tripartite Meeting on Social and Labour Issues in Small-scale Mines, Geneva 17-22 May, 1999.
Jennings, Norman S. (ed.). Small-scale gold mining:Examples from Bolivia, the Philippines & Zimbabwe,
Sectoral Activities Programme Working Paper, SAP2.76/WP.130, Geneva 1999 (forthcoming).
Encyclopaedia of occupational safety and health, 4th ed., V. 3, Geneva, 1998.
Polidano, Cain. The impact of climate change policies on employment in the coalmining industry, Sectoral Activities Programme Working Paper, SAP 2.64/WP.115, Geneva, 1997.
Conclusions and resolutions adopted by the Coal Mines Committee and the Tripartite Technical Meetings on Mines Other than Coal Mines, 1997.
Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176) and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 183), 1995.
Jennings, Norman S.(ed.). Productivity, employment and industrial relations in coalmines: Three case-studies from Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Sectoral Activities Programme Working Paper, SAP 2.40/WP.78, Geneva, 1994.
Jennings, Norman S (ed.). Productivity, employment and industrial relations in coal mines: Three case-studies from China, India and Zimbabwe, Sectoral Activities Programme Working Paper, SAP 2.39/WP.77, Geneva, 1994.
Jennings, Norman S.(ed.). Productivity, employment and industrial relations in coalmines: Two case-studies from the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation, Sectoral Activities Programme Working Paper, SAP 2.38/WP.76, Geneva, 1994.
Recent developments in the coalmining industry; and Productivity and its impact on employment and labour relations in the coalmining industry, Geneva, 1994; and Note on the Proceedings, reports for and of the Thirteenth Session of the Coal Mines Committee, Geneva, 1995.
Safety and health in opencast mines: A code of practice, 1991.
Coal Mineworkers' Charter: Collection of conclusions and resolutions, 1990.
Mr. Norman Jennings,
Sectoral Activities Department,
International Labour Office,
4, route des Morillons,
CH-1211 GENEVE 22 -- Switzerland
Tel. (41.22) 799-7529, Fax (41.22) 799-7967,
e-mail: jennings@ilo.org or sector@ilo.org
