|
During 2004 IRCA was
honoured to be part
of the empowerment
of Small Scale
Miners through
training 479
beneficiaries in
Hazard
Identification and
Risk Assessment. We
thank the National
Skills Fund, the
Mining
Qualifications
Authority (MQA),
Department of
Minerals and Energy,
Department of
Labour, National
Union of Mineworkers
and all other
stakeholders for the
opportunity.
Our mandate was
to identify and
source the
candidates with the
help of the MQA,
local Departments of
Mineral and Energy
and local
Municipalities in
the 9 Provinces of
South Africa,
arrange and
co-ordinate the
training, including
transport,
accommodation and
meals. In a nutshell
the project was
rewarding as it was
challenging to train
in some remote parts
of our country as
well as arranging
the practical hazard
Identification and
risk assessment
sessions including
hiring local taxis
to transport the
learners to suitable
sites.
The Learners
benefited hugely
from the training
and stated this fact
in the course
evaluation reports,
communicating that
they feel they
should have received
the training much
earlier. They also
enquired when the
next training will
take place as more
of their colleagues
need to be exposed
to the training, as
well as what other
courses to further
educate and equip
them to operate
their businesses
safer.
As word spread
about the training
we had to turn many
people away who were
initially not
earmarked for the
training, but heard
about this "Free
Training." We were
restricted to train
50 Small Scale
Miners in each
Province, and in
some regions, for
example the Free
State, we were given
a list of 229
registered miners to
choose from.
Although a certain
amount of skills
transfer will take
place from the
people who have been
trained, one cannot
assume that this
will be done
adequately.
Over and above
the 450
beneficiaries
earmarked for
training (although
479 were trained),
IRCA trained 83
non-beneficiaries at
its own expense as
its contribution and
commitment to Human
Capital Development
and social
upliftment of
persons who would
ordinarily not be in
a position to pay
for this training.
Some lessons
learnt from this
project were:
- There is an
urgent need for
more Risk
Management
training to
empower Small
Scale Miners to
work safely
- Some of the
conditions these
miners operate
in are extremely
hazardous and
life
threatening.
- The
equipment /
tools used in
some instances
are
sub-standard,
exposing the
operators to
undue risks.
- Some
materials used
in the
operations are
sub-standard.
- There is a
general lack of
funds / funding
to correct many
of these
situations.
- From a
compliance
perspective
Small Scale
Miners need to
be monitored
through
Inspections and
Audits.
|
