Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996 (Act No. 29 of 1996)

Regulations

Guideline for a Mandatory Code of Practice

Underground Rail Bound Equipment

Part A: The Guideline

1. Foreword
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1.1The Commission of Inquiry into Safety and Health in the Mining Industry chaired by the Honourable Mr Justice R N Leon identified haulage and transport accidents as the second largest category of accidents in mines.

 

In an initiative to address this problem, a tripartite task group was established soon after the Leon commission under the auspices of the Mining Regulation Advisory Committee (MRAC) to revise the then existing Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) Guideline for Underground Rail Bound Transport, and the then existing Minerals Act Regulations, Chapter 18, dealing with rail bound transport. Arising from this work new Regulations were issued in Chapter 8 of the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA), 1996 (Act No. 29 of 1996) Regulations which came into force in 2004 and a guideline was issued on 1 August 2003 and came into force on 1 February 2004.

 

Despite the above revised legislation accidents involving rail bound equipment remained unacceptably high and in 2012 the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC) requested MRAC again to review the legislation to include appropriate minimum performance standards. This led to a current review of this Guideline and the Regulations.

 

1.2According to the South African Mines' Reportable Accident Statistical System (SAMRASS), rail bound transport contributed approximately 8% of all reportable accidents during the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2012. Of the 3 125 rail bound reportable accidents, 145 persons lost their lives and this can be broken down into the following categories:
Locomotive drawn vehicle51.7%
Hand tramming1.4%
Locomotive36.5%
Re-railing6.9%
Coupling/Uncoupling3.5%

 

1.3This document was compiled bearing the significant risks associated with underground rail bound transport equipment in mind. This can be tested as found in paragraph 8 of this Guideline.