Summary

This review describes the laws, regulations, practices, and procedures involved in mine safety. We also survey the suppliers and consultants who service the mining industry with regard to health and safety services and equipment.

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INTRODUCTION

I shudder to think how often I climbed unsecured ladders, jumped for a wildly swinging blondin bucket, or slithered over slippery penstock pipes surrounded by wet concrete. At my first job men died on the site:

• Soon after I arrived someone fell from a block to the river below.
• Two cranes toppled when a fiery Italian ignored the trip limits.
• One sunny Saturday my boss died flying stunts in his little plane.

All this happened at the Hendrik Verwoerd Dam construction site, later renamed the Gariep Dam. Its website has many photos of this beautiful dam.

Today I would not do what I did then, nor countenance what I allowed to be done. I am older and I am wiser. Training sessions in health and safety for radioactive and hazardous waste and work on construction sites under skilled health and safety professionals have taught me.