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26 September, 2011
On 14 September 14, the ICEM held an education and awareness-raising event on ILO Convention 176, the Health and Safety in Mines Convention, at XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work (WCSHW), an important global occupational health and safety gathering. It took place at the Haliç Congress Center in Istanbul.
The ICEM forum had the presence of two of the leaders of ICEM-affiliated mining unions, which indicated the commitment from them to get Turkey to ratify and implement the standards contained in Convention 176. Nurettin Akçul, President of Türkiye Maden-İş, the Mine Workers’ Union of Turkey, and President Eyüp Alabaş of Genel Maden-İş, the General Mine Workers’ Union of Turkey, participated and expressed the necessity of improved mine safety through adoption of global standards.
ICEM Industry and Corporate Affairs Director Kemal Özkan introduced the panellists. He noted that the ICEM has made mine safety a top priority, and will vigilantly work to get more countries to ratify ILO Convention 176.
The first panellist was Dr. Fikret Sazak, Director of Education Department for Maden-İş. He reviewed the deplorable occupational health and safety conditions in Turkey's mining sector, as well as generally.
From left to right: Brian Kohler, Glen Mpufane, Eyüp Alabaş, Kemal Özkan, Nurettin Akçul, Fikret Sazak, Turhan Oral
Neo-liberal policies of deregulation, privatization, and globalization are devastating the sector, he said. There is a large informal sector within the Turkish economy. Even within the formal sector, there is high unemployment, low union density, and therefore a big problem with contract labour, flexible labour arrangements, and other forms of precarious work.
Turkish mines are poorly regulated, and there are not enough government inspectors to adequately enforce even those regulations that do exist.
Sazak concluded that the solution lies in enacting effective and enforceable occupational health and safety laws, much more education and training, and worker participation through joint Health and Safety Committees. ILO Convention 176 sets out a minimum standard for all of these things, therefore it should be a high priority for the government of Turkey to ratify it. This will not happen without strong unions.
ICEM Mining Officer Glen Mpufane entitled his presentation “First Aid Needed for Safety and Health in the Mining Industry.” He focused on various incentive systems used to compensate miners – both workers and managers. This creates a race to the bottom where all standards are sacrificed to the altar of profit.
Surveying recent mining disasters, in Pakistan, New Zealand, the US, China, Russia, Mexico and other countries, Mpufane concluded that the role of trade unions was crucial. The ICEM predecessor, the Miners’ International Federation (MIF), played a major role in drafting and adopting ILO Convention 176 in 1995, and now the ICEM is the major organization campaigning for country to country ratification.
Brian Kohler, ICEM Officer for Health, Safety and Sustainability, reviewed some of the provisions contained in ILO Convention 176, and the associated Recommendation 183.
The main features include recommendations for a strong national legislative and regulatory framework, including inspection, required accident investigation, and reporting and record-keeping; employers' responsibilities to provide adequate training and supervision; hazard control following the principle of eliminating or controlling the hazard as close to the source of the hazard as possible and relying on personal protective equipment only as a last resort, and a recognition of workers rights to participate in health and safety policy-making at the workplace level and to remove themselves from danger.
Other important provisions include topics such as risk assessment and control, health surveillance, and risk communication. Good engineering design is a starting point for a safe mine, stated Kohler. Effective emergency response procedures and equipment are also necessary.
Kohler concluded by saying when it comes to occupational health and safety, governments and employers have responsibilities – workers have rights.