Mine Health and Safety Act No. 29 of 19963
This Act applies to all industries that fall under the Department of Mineral Resources and is only applicable to companies registered as a mine.
The stipulations are, in essence, the same as the OHS Act. The act however states that an employer must prepare and implement a mandatory code of practice for any matter affecting the health or safety of workers and any other person who may be directly affected by the activities of the mine. All the Guidelines are available online and are free, access them all at: https://www.dmr.gov.za/mine-health-and-safety/resource-center
There are 3 particular Codes of Practice that the audiometrist should be familiar with:
1. Minimum Standards of Fitness to Perform Work at a Mine – effective since 30/06/201613
This guideline assists OMPs in determining fitness to perform specified work at a mine or entity that reports under the Mine Health and Safety Act (Act 29 of 1996) as amended, or to continue to perform such work. It outlines the most common approaches to be followed by the OMP to determine the fitness to work of an employee suffering from a medical condition.
Section 8.5.7.3 Audiometric Standards stipulates that pure tone audiometric screening at 0,5kHz, 1kHz, 2kHz, and 3kHz must meet the following criteria:
Age 16 - 39: | Pure tone average of 15dB or less | |
Age 40 and above: | Pure tone average of 25dB or less | |
Irrespective of age: | A threshold of 45dB or less at 3kHz | |
Hearing Aids: | The use of a hearing aid by those working in a designated noise zone should not be permitted. |
2. Guidance note for the Standard Threshold Shift (STS) in the management of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss – effective since 30 September 201614
Regulation 839 was published in line with the 2015 Milestones for the Mining Industry. Milestone monitoring was introduced to assist mining companies to identify cases of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) earlier and thereby minimise NIHL, as well as reduce employee’s risk of other physiological and psychological effects associated with NIHL.
The STS principles do not apply to compensation for occupational hearing loss and are not meant to replace Instruction 171. Monitoring for STS is done during medical surveillance when the audiogram done must be evaluated against the Milestone Baseline to determine if an STS has occurred. Once a reportable STS has been determined the employee must be informed and counselled on hearing protective measures. STS’s must be reported in the mines annual medical report.
3. Guideline for the compilation of a mandatory Code of Practice for an occupational health program for noise – effective 1 September 200315
The objective of this guideline is to enable the employer at every mine to protect the health of employees at the mine by monitoring and reducing their exposure to noise. This guideline was updated in 2018 but to date has not been published by the DMR.
This guideline sets out the two components of an Occupational Health programme namely:
3.1.1 Occupational Hygiene
The employer is required in terms of regulation 9.2(2) or in terms of the risk assessment at the mine to establish and maintain a system of occupational hygiene measurements in respect of occupational exposure to noise.
3.1.2 Medical Surveillance:
The employer is required in terms of regulation 11.4 or in terms of the risk assessment at the mine to establish and maintain a system of medical surveillance. These key elements are shown in Figure 3.1 below.
Figure 3.1: The Flow Diagram of Occupational Health Programme for Noise to be implemented on a Mine4