Mining plays an important role in the economic development of a country and is one the most risk-exposed industries all over the world. In Pakistan, mine workers are vulnerable to fatalities almost all the time and even skilled mine workers are at huge risk due to personal negligence, lack of awareness and casual behavior of officials in charge. Even under strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s), which exist merely in the documents (Form IX) rather than on-site, mine workers are prone to extremely serious injuries leading to death sometimes.

In Pakistan data collection for mine workers is one of the most challenging tasks since there is no check and balance on behalf of the authorities at the mining site. Most of the fatal incidents even after reporting go uninvestigated and leave a question mark on the stakeholders. Absence of medical centers and hospitals in the nearby vicinity also limit the accidents to be documented for assessment.

Risk Analysis in mining industry of Punjab, Pakistan

Ur. Rehaman A. conducted a study in Punjab Pakistan, to evaluate risk assessment and vulnerability of mine workers. The data under consideration was between the year 2005-2018. Since there was a limitation in data collection, the data evaluated in the research paper[1] under discussion was assessed on the basis of trends in accidents, pattern of continuous occurrence of similar accidents, types of minerals showing maximum accidents and results were deduced on the basis of analysis.

According to Ur. Rehman A. almost half of the accidents (49%) in sandstone mining occurred due to lack of personal safety equipment. 28% of the incidents occurred due to slope stability issues and 17% involved surface mining machinery. Explosives were responsible for 6% of the on-site accidents.

Root cause of accidents and fatalities in mining industry of Punjab, Pakistan

Research group carrying out this work further discuss the root cause of the very accidents and injuries considering that the number of accidents is quite high. The basic cause of the accidents in mining industry is

• Unavailability of occupational health and safety measures
• Shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Political monopoly over mines and lease
• Lack of awareness and basic education since mine workers are mostly poor and illiterate
• Absence of pre-post evaluation of workers
• Involvement of third-party contractors who work for concessionaires
• Weak rule of law and enforcement of laws related to occupational hazards

Remedial measures that should be considered in order to avoid accidents and injuries in the mining sector of Punjab Pakistan

Pakistan is gifted with all sorts of salient geographical features and has a global importance when it comes to mining industry. Unfortunately, she has been struggling to keep pace with technical advancements since its inception. Mining in Punjab has reinforced in the recent government’s era however there are unavoidable loopholes and clear shortcomings that should be addressed.

• Every mine worker whether involved in small scale mining, surface or large-scale mining must be made familiar with the occupational health and safety hazards workers must be facing during their working hours.
• He/she must be provided with basic education of risk analysis and vulnerability before his allocation to work in a specific mine.
• Use of personal protective equipment (PPE) must be made necessary and proper guidelines must be provided to workers beforehand.
• Inspectorates and Contractors must be reported of minor incidents in mines and they must be educated accordingly.
• Worker rights must be made and laws and rules must be enforced in case of fatalities, accidents or even minor injuries.
• A physician must be appointed in the mine vicinity to cure first hand injuries.
• Hospitals or health care units with proper facilities must be located near the mining region in case of emergency.

Laborers either working with small manual tools or with heavy machinery must be made familiar with health and safety issues they might come across while mining. As most of the mine workers are poorly educated, proper guidelines and training sessions must be held before their appointment at the mine site.

A thorough introduction and usage of personal protective equipment PPE must be made with the workers and their usage must be made compulsory in order to avoid minor injuries and even causalities. With improved regulatory practices, awareness prior to posting of mine workers and an assigned physician nearby mining site a lot of fatalities and accidents can be avoided and which in turn will encourage more skilled workers and professionals to serve in the mining industry.

[1] A. Ur Rehman et al. Investigation and Analysis of fatal accidents reporting practices in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and remedial measures. Resour. Pol 73, 102186. 4