SMALL-scale miners have been called upon to exercise extreme caution and prioritise safety in their operations amid risks of flooding and shaft collapse associated with the rainy season.
In a statement, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development said the onset of rains significantly increases the risk of fatal incidents in mining areas.
“As the rainy season begins, the Ministry of Mines urges all small-scale and artisanal miners across the country to exercise extreme caution and prioritise safety in their operations,” reads the statement.
“Heavy downpours weaken ground structures, flood underground shafts, cause slope failures, and can result in sudden mine collapses.
“Many past accidents during this period have been linked to unsafe working conditions made worse by saturated soils and uncontrolled water inflows.”
The ministry strongly advises miners to avoid working in underground shafts or open pits with visible cracks, loose ground or signs of water seepage and ensure proper drainage systems are in place to reduce water accumulation around workings.
Miners have also been urged to reinforce all support structures and regularly inspect them throughout the rainy period, work in teams and maintain clear communication, avoiding isolated operations, and stay alert to weather forecasts and suspend operations during heavy rainfall or storms.
“Report hazardous conditions immediately to the Ministry of Mines, Civil Protection Unit and other law enforcement agencies as well as community leaders,” said the ministry.
“Safety remains the highest priority. No amount of gold or other mineral output is worth the loss of life. We appeal to all mining communities to enforce safety protocols and ensure every worker returns home safely each day.
“The Ministry of Mines will continue to engage with miners and stakeholders to promote safe, responsible mining practices throughout the rainy season and beyond.”
Young Miners Foundation chief executive officer, Mr Payne Kupfuwa, said the ministry has done well to issue a warning to small-scale miners pertaining that they should be careful as the rainy season has just approached.
“Indeed, as small-scale miners it is crucial, we also prioritise our safety, especially during this rainy season. So, as small-scale miners, there are quite a number of measures that we are also putting into place to ensure safety,” said Mr Kupfuwa.
“One of them is we are conducting regular mining inspections through the safety, health and environmental departments.
“We are encouraging each other and also ensuring that every small-scale mine has a safety, health and environmental department and a mine manager who is sensitive to risks, who is sensitive to safety, health and environmental issues.
So, by conducting those regular mining inspections, it ensures our mines are structurally sound and identify potential risks.”
Mr Kupfuwa said if there are some shafts that have to be put aside or not worked on, they should just be left alone up until the rainy season has been done.
He said timbering is also being done to reinforce the shafts, implementing proper drainage systems, encouraging our employees as well as ensuring that our systems are strong in terms of use of safety equipment and keeping themselves informed by monitoring the weather forecast.
“So, we have some small-scale miners, including myself, through our organisations, we have developed some evacuation plans and they have first aid kits on site to ensure that if there is any other accident or there is an injury, people can be assisted, employees can be quickly assisted before we even go to the hospital,” added Mr Kupfuwa.
“We are establishing these emergency response plans. They are really critical in our mining planning and we are implementing them on a daily basis.
“We are also providing safety training. It is very important for our employees to know what to do when there is an accident.”
The Young Miners Foundation is also utilising social media platforms to communicate with different players in the sector.-herald
