OPINION: Gains and gaps in SA mine health and safety

Examining occupational health and safety trends in South African mining requires a critical, data-driven narrative that recounts key indicators and interrogates the forces shaping them. From 2016 to 2025, regulatory interventions, epidemiological shifts and persistent structural challenges interacted in complex ways. This analysis considers whether genuine improvement has occurred across mine health and safety.

Occupational exposures are dominated by three hazards: airborne pollutants, excessive noise and heat. These directly affect the prevalence of occupational lung diseases, noise-induced hearing loss and heat-related disorders. Reported occupational lung diseases have declined markedly over the past decade. Asbestosis cases fell from 635 in 2016 to 12 by 2021.

Similarly, pulmonary tuberculosis among mineworkers has declined, with reported cases dropping from 2,580 in 2017 to 839 in 2023. This is significant given the historical burden of tuberculosis in mining communities, often exacerbated by silica dust exposure and high rates of HIV co-infection.