The bodies of four more illegal miners have been recovered at Harmony Gold’s Eland mine in Welkom, Free State, after a gas explosion on Thursday last week.
Major General Lerato Molale said the bodies were recovered on Thursday afternoon.
Author Archives: EcoImpact
Following the latest ISO 45001 working group meeting which was held during the week of February 6, we are able to provide an update on this new international standard for Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S).
It is anticipated that organizations currently certified to BS OHSAS 18001 will need to migrate to ISO 45001 within three years of the new standard’s publication, when BS OHSAS 18001 is likely to be withdrawn.
A second draft international standard (DIS2) is expected to be published in April of this year; there will then be a 4 month period to allow for translations and a ballot to be held on the DIS2.
The results of the ballot should be known by the end of July 2017 with the results of this being reviewed in September 2017.
If DIS2 is approved and the final draft international standard (FDIS) stage is not required, publication of the new standard could be as early as November 2017.
However, if an FDIS is required, the publication is more likely to be in Q2 2018.
At this point it is likely that OHSAS 18001 will be withdrawn and organizations currently certified to OHSAS 18001 will have a three year period to migrate to ISO 45001.
The “independent” geological consultant who said the catastrophic collapse of a sea cliff in front of a West Coast mineral sands mine was caused by natural events, was employed by the mine when he wrote this in a report, reported on Wednesday.
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With expectations of the long-awaited Carbon Tax being implemented in 2018, much more clarity will be needed from the 2017 Budget, which will be delivered by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday. Currently, much uncertainty exists, with industry questioning policy certainty, timelines if implementation and the process to be followed, with some expecting another delay in implementation, energy consultancy Cova Advisory cofounder Duane Newman said on Monday.
Harmony Gold on Monday announced that an employee was fatally injured in a fall of ground incident at its Bambanani mine in Welkom in the Free State. The worker was a winch driver who had been in Harmony’s employ since 2013, Harmony said in a statement. The incident occurred on Friday.
This is the gold mining company’s second fatality in recent times. On February 1 Harmony advised that one of its employees was fatally injured in a scraper-related incident at its Masimong mine, also in Welkom.
The Western Cape High Court will on Monday begin hearing the case of Australian mining company Tormin, which is accused of large scale environmental destruction in the province.
The Department of Environmental Affairs had previously attempted to hold Tormin criminally responsible for transgressing environmental laws.
Of the six people who died in a “freak accident’ at the Durban naval base on Friday, three are army officials and three are civilians, paramedics have said.
Paul Herbst from IPSS confirmed the six deaths and said 26 others have been injured.
Paramedics said the scene where the incident occurred is now being handled by the South African Police Service and naval authorities.
Last year, the Earth sweltered under the hottest temperatures in modern times for the third year in a row, US scientists said on Wednesday, raising new concerns about the quickening pace of climate change.
Temperatures spiked to new national highs in parts of India, Kuwait and Iran, while sea ice melted faster than ever in the fragile Arctic, said the report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Department of Energy (DoE) appears to be sneaking its New Energy Efficiency Strategy (NEES) past the public, advocacy group Outa said on Wednesday.
By publishing it just before Christmas, “government could be accused of trying to sneak this document past the unsuspecting taxpayers”, Ted Blom, Outa’s portfolio director for energy, said in a statement.
The Department of Environmental Affairs has embarked on a biodiversity compliance awareness drive with muti traders and traditional healers – with the first workshop kicking off on Thursday 19 January 2017.The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), in collaboration with the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD) and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) have hosted the one day workshop
