GENEVA - Coalmining is a significant activity in some 50 countries, providing fuel to allow economies to industrialize and permit energy and steel production. But it is also one of the world's most dangerous and dirtiest jobs, and every year thousands of miners die in the darkness of deep underground mines.
But things are changing. Significant sustained improvements in coalmining safety and health have resulted from new technologies, more capital investment and training and changes in attitudes among competent authorities, employers, workers and their representatives. Now, the ILO and its constituents have crafted a new Code of Practice that puts potentially life-saving words to paper and in practice for the first time.
The new Code, adopted here at a tripartite meeting, will replace an existing Code adopted in 1986 to reflect the many changes in the industry and its workforce, as well as the development of new ILO instruments on occupational safety and health. It sets out a national framework that specifies the roles of the competent authorities, employers, workers and their organizations. The Code includes a methodology for identifying hazards and preventing and minimizing risks, as well as specific provisions for safe underground coalmining operations. It also provides important practical guidance in support of the provisions of the ILO Convention No. 176 on Safety and Health in Mines, 1995, and its accompanying Recommendation, No. 183.
The Code of Practice was adopted by 23 government, employer and worker experts following a six-day meeting; it will be submitted to the ILO's Governing Body in November 2006 for endorsement. (For more information, see ILO Press release ILO/06/20.)