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Accidents, Injuries, and Safety among Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners in Zimbabwe

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) employs 14–19 million people globally. There is limited research on accidents, injuries, and safety in Zimbabwe’s ASGM. This study investigates the prevalence of accidents and injuries, as well as the associated risks and existing safety practices. A cros...

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Autores principales: Singo, Josephine, Isunju, John Bosco, Moyo, Dingani, Bose-O’Reilly, Stephan, Steckling-Muschack, Nadine, Mamuse, Antony
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9324458/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35886514
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148663
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author Singo, Josephine
Isunju, John Bosco
Moyo, Dingani
Bose-O’Reilly, Stephan
Steckling-Muschack, Nadine
Mamuse, Antony
author_facet Singo, Josephine
Isunju, John Bosco
Moyo, Dingani
Bose-O’Reilly, Stephan
Steckling-Muschack, Nadine
Mamuse, Antony
author_sort Singo, Josephine
collection PubMed
description Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) employs 14–19 million people globally. There is limited research on accidents, injuries, and safety in Zimbabwe’s ASGM. This study investigates the prevalence of accidents and injuries, as well as the associated risks and existing safety practices. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among artisanal and small-scale gold miners. Data from 401 participants were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The prevalence of accidents and injuries was 35.0% and 25.7%. Accidents associated with experiencing injuries included mine collapses and underground trappings. The major injury risk factors were digging, blasting, being male, being 18–35 years old, crushing, and the underground transportation of workers and materials. Injuries were reported highest among the miners working 16 to 24 h per day. Participants had heard about personal protective equipment (PPE). There was training and routine inspections mainly on PPE use. Mine owners and supervisors were reported as responsible for OSH, which was mainly PPE use. Practices including the use of wire winch ropes and escape routes were rare. There was ignorance on underground mine shaft support. The mining regulations that had the potential to introduce comprehensive safety controls were not adaptable. We recommend applicable health and safety regulations for Zimbabwe’s ASGM.
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spelling pubmed-93244582022-07-27 Accidents, Injuries, and Safety among Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners in Zimbabwe Singo, Josephine Isunju, John Bosco Moyo, Dingani Bose-O’Reilly, Stephan Steckling-Muschack, Nadine Mamuse, Antony Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) employs 14–19 million people globally. There is limited research on accidents, injuries, and safety in Zimbabwe’s ASGM. This study investigates the prevalence of accidents and injuries, as well as the associated risks and existing safety practices. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among artisanal and small-scale gold miners. Data from 401 participants were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The prevalence of accidents and injuries was 35.0% and 25.7%. Accidents associated with experiencing injuries included mine collapses and underground trappings. The major injury risk factors were digging, blasting, being male, being 18–35 years old, crushing, and the underground transportation of workers and materials. Injuries were reported highest among the miners working 16 to 24 h per day. Participants had heard about personal protective equipment (PPE). There was training and routine inspections mainly on PPE use. Mine owners and supervisors were reported as responsible for OSH, which was mainly PPE use. Practices including the use of wire winch ropes and escape routes were rare. There was ignorance on underground mine shaft support. The mining regulations that had the potential to introduce comprehensive safety controls were not adaptable. We recommend applicable health and safety regulations for Zimbabwe’s ASGM. MDPI 2022-07-16 /pmc/articles/PMC9324458/ /pubmed/35886514 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148663 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Singo, Josephine
Isunju, John Bosco
Moyo, Dingani
Bose-O’Reilly, Stephan
Steckling-Muschack, Nadine
Mamuse, Antony
Accidents, Injuries, and Safety among Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners in Zimbabwe
title Accidents, Injuries, and Safety among Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners in Zimbabwe
title_full Accidents, Injuries, and Safety among Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners in Zimbabwe
title_fullStr Accidents, Injuries, and Safety among Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners in Zimbabwe
title_full_unstemmed Accidents, Injuries, and Safety among Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners in Zimbabwe
title_short Accidents, Injuries, and Safety among Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners in Zimbabwe
title_sort accidents, injuries, and safety among artisanal and small-scale gold miners in zimbabwe
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9324458/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35886514
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148663
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