The African Show on Occupational Risk Prevention (Salon Africain de la Prévention des Risques Professionnels (SAPRIP)) was held in Niamey, Niger, on 6-8 Novembre 2006. This year, the theme was «Occupational safety and health in mining and quarrying: For an integrated management». Organized by the Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale of Niger, under the auspices of the Inter Africaine de Prévention des Risques Professionnels (IAPRP), the event brought together 135 mining and quarrying engineers, occupational safety and health specialists and other experts from 9 countries*, including France. Various institutions were represented including the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Conférence Interafricaine de la Prévoyance Sociale (CIPRES), the International Commission of Occupational Health (ICOH) and the Institut national de recherche et de sécurité (INRS ), France.

As a result of the technical workshops, occupational hazards and preventive measures in the various types of mining and quarrying were put forward. The discussions emphasized the need for establishing guidelines on prevention for the subregion. The IAPRP was given the mandate to develop such guidelines, as well as to compile the existing legislative texts on occupational safety and health (OSH) in mining and quarrying in the subregion countries. The debate accentuated the need for better training on OSH matters among trade unions, labour inspectors, doctors and nurses active in this sector. Consequently, the participants agreed to develop a workers' education programme on OSH for trade unions in mining and quarrying and to encourage the acquisition of particular competences among concerned specialists (labour inspectors, doctors and nurses). The ILO will play a key role in these activities and will also take part, in collaboration with Burkina Faso and Niger, in the production of a film on safety and health in mines. The discussions led to a summary of all agreed activities which was adopted by the responsible countries and organizations.

Docteur T. Kalhoulé, ILO OSH Regional Adviser for Francophone Africa, Subregional Office-Dakar, conducted many of the technical workshops and discussions. He is delighted by the results of this African Show.

The next Edition of SAPRIP will take place on Novembre 2010 focusing on «Prevention methods to combat occupational hazards in agrosilviculture».

* Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, France, Gabon, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

Information resources on OSH in mining and quarrying

• Convention (C176) and Recommendation (R183) on Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995
   
• Code of Practice on Safety and Health in Opencast Mines, 1991
   
• Handbook on Safety and Health in Small-scale Surface Mines, 2001
   
• Chapter on Mining and Quarrying, extracted from the ILO Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety, 1998