Document 2J4O98QQY3OZa6Eb2YmKbVw2a

:__________________________ The OHS Commissions David W. Stanton SIMRAC Project Launches Military Museum, Johannesburg 31st July 2003 f Presentation Contents Early Commissions of Enquiry on Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), UK Preparation of the PDF files for the SIMRAC CD OHS Commissions/ Committees of Enquiry in South Africa Commission - Definitions the act of granting authority to undertake certain functions a special group delegated to consider some matter the act of committing a crime a fee for services rendered based on a percentage of an amount received or collected or agreed to be paid (as distinguished from a salary) the state of being in good working order and ready for operation m Early OHS Commissions Cotton Industry, UK* 1 Owners of large textile mills purchased large numbers of children from workhouses in all the large towns and cities By the late 1790s about a third of the workers in the cotton industry were pauper apprentices Child workers were especially predominant in large factories in rural areas *Internet Source of UK Information: Spartacus Educational http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk House of Commons Unguarded machinery was a major problem for children working in factories. One hospital reported that every year it treated nearly a thousand people for wounds and mutilations caused by machines in factories. A report commissioned by the House of Commons in 1832 said that: "there are factories, no means few in number, nor confined to the smaller mills, in which serious accidents are continually occurring, and in which, notwithstanding, dangerous parts of the machinery are allowed to remain unfenced." The report added that the workers were often "abandoned from the moment that an accident occurs; their wages are stopped, no medical attendance is provided, and whatever the extent of the injury, no compensation is afforded." Manchester In 1842 a German visitor noted that he had seen so many people in the streets of Manchester without arms and legs that it was like "living in the midst of the army just returned from a campaign." Sadler Committee In 1832 Michael Sadler introduced proposed limiting the hours of all persons under the age of 18 to ten hours a day. He described in detail the suffering of children in factories but after much debate it was clear that Parliament was unwilling to pass his bill However, in April 1832 it was agreed that there should be another parliamentary enquiry into child labour. Sadler was made chairman and for the next three months a parliamentary committee sat and interviewed 89 witnesses Sadler Committee (Continued) Michael Sadler discovered that at least six of these workers had been sacked for giving evidence to the parliamentary committee. Sadler announced that this victimisation meant that he could no longer ask factory workers to be interviewed He now concentrated on interviewing doctors who had experience treating people who worked in textile factories Manchester Children During the campaign for the 10-Hour Day, a group of factory children in Manchester joined together to support factory legislation Sadler Committee (Continued) Submission from Manchester's Factory Children Committee sent to the House of Commons in 1836 - We respect our masters, and are willing to work for our support, and that of our parents, but we want time for more rest, a little play, and to learn to read and write. We do not think it right that we should know nothing but work and suffering, from Monday morning to Saturday night, to make others rich. Do, good gentlemen, inquire carefully into our concern Sadler Committee (Continued) Michael Sadler was defeated in the 1832 General Election (by a flax-spinning magnate) and lost his seat in the House of Commons Sadler's report was published in January 1833. The information in the report shocked the British public and Parliament came under increasing pressure to protect the children working in factories The Rev. George Bull, the Evangelical curate of Bierly near Bradford, asked Lord Ashley to become the new leader of the factory reform movement in the House of Commons Factories Act 1833 Lord Ashley agreed to George Bull's request and in March 1833, he proposed a bill that would restrict children to a maximum ten hour day. On 18th July, 1833, Ashley's bill was defeated in the House of Commons by 238 votes to 93 Although the government opposed Ashley's bill it accepted that children did need protecting and decided to put forward its own proposals. The government's 1833 Factory Act was passed by Parliament on 29th August Under the terms of the new act, it became illegal for children under nine to work in textile factories, whereas children aged between nine and thirteen could not be employed for more than eight hours a day Mining In 1840 Lord Ashley helped set up the Children's Employment Commission Its first report on mines and collieries was published in 1842. The report caused a sensation when it was published. The majority of people in Britain were unaware that women and children were employed as miners Later that year Lord Ashley piloted the Coal Mines Act through the House of Commons. As a result of this legislation women and children were prohibited from working underground OHS Commissions South Africa Preparation of CD Files Commission/ Committee Reports obtained Report pages scanned to obtain page images OCR software utilised on page images Text in OCR files checked against text on page images OCR files published as Word docs Word docs edited to improve layout and correct mistakes Word docs checked visually and via Text to Speech Adobe PDF files created and text checked Volunteers checked text in PDF files against page images Backup files stored on external hard drive, Zip Drive & CD Problems No existing listing of OHS Commissions - Some info in Erasmus Report, further info from Sabinet Finding Commission/ Committee Reports - Wits University: reference only, NCOH: reports missing, COM Library: No Librarian, reports misplaced OmniPage Pro Version 12 (2003) - Bugs in initial release particularly during spell checking, large file sizes (Erasmus: 55 MB) Problems in publishing to Word Problems in Word due to Tables corrupted Large size of reports to visually check text - Four Reports on SIMRAC CD = 340,000 words OHS Commissions/ Committees 1903 (Weldon) - Miners' Phthisis 1905 (Jameson) - Mine Compounds 1907 (Swinburne) - Mine Single Outlet 1907 (Swinburne) - Mine Winding 1910 (Krause) - Mining Regulations 1912 (Swinburne) - Mine Explosions 1912 (Van Niekerk) - Phthisis/ TB 1919 (Kotze) - Phthisis Prevention 1919 (van Hulsteyn) - Phthisis Acts 1925 (Pittman) - Mining Regulations 1930 (Young) - Miners' Phthisis 1932 (McGregor) - Workmen's Comp " 1951 (Allan) - Other Mine Diseases 1952 (Beyers) - Silicosis Bureau/ Board 1955 (Oosthuizen) - Silicosis/ TB 1963 (Marais) - Safety in Mines 1976 (Erasmus) - Occupational Health 1980 (Wiehahn) - Labour Legislation 1981 (Nieuwenhuizen) - Occ. Dis. Comp 1995 (Leon) - OHS Mining 1997 (Benjamin) - National OHS Council Commissions/ Committees on SIMRAC CD Erasmus (1976) Report of the Commission of Enquiry on Occupational Health Nieuwenhuizen (1981) Report of the Commission Of Inquiry into Compensation for Occupational Diseases in the Republic of South Africa Leon (1995) Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Safety and Health in the Mining Industry Benjamin and Greef (1997) Report of the Committee of Inquiry into a National Health and Safety Council in South Africa Summaries of Reports on CD ,, Source for : Erasmus, Niewenhuizen and Leon Commissions An Introduction to Occupational Health for Primary Health Care Providers in the Public Sector IHRG, Cape Town Erasmus Report 1976 The Commission found the provision of health services in industry to be: inadequate for workers exposed to dust, chemicals, metals, gases, physical and biological hazards standards for occupational health were lower in South Africa than overseas inadequate statistics existed regarding conditions in the working environment, the state of health of the working population, and the nature of diseases contracted by workers inadequate rehabilitation of workers affected by occupational diseases Erasmus Report (Continued) Further, the state of legislation affecting occupational health was: grossly duplicated -12 separate departments involved no single body was responsible 71% of workers were not covered by legislation gross deficiencies in the existing legislation the ability to change legislation was hampered by the slowest departments Erasmus Report (Continued) It also commented on inadequate notification and compensation of occupational diseases, poor training and under-staffing of the factory inspectorate, and occupational medical and nursing departments Recommendations The Erasmus Commission recommended a single consolidated Industrial Health Act The government responded in 1983 with the Machinery and Occupational Safety Act (MOSA) Nieuwenhuizen Report 1981 The Commission considered the differences between the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act (ODMWA) and Workmen's Compensation Act (WCA) The Commission recommended that all compensation for diseases and injuries should fall under one Act which should be based on the WCA, with repeal of the ODMWA Permanent incurable diseases listed under the ODMWA should be included in a third schedule for temporary curable disease Nieuwenhuizen Report (Continued) Single sum payments should be replaced by pensions, which should keep up with inflation Early stage pneumoconiosis, diagnosed on chest Xrays should remain compensable even if there is no functional impairment. However, the earliest stage of pneumoconiosis diagnosed on x-ray should no longer be compensable Compensation should not be awarded to miners with treatable tuberculosis Leon Report 1995 The main emphasis and focus of occupational health activity on the mines has thus been on regulating the compensation for occupational diseases rather than the prevention thereof The Minerals Act focused predominantly on the safety issues in the mining industry with no emphasis on promoting the occupational health status of workers Leon Report (Continued) These deficiencies provided the impetus for the Commission recommending the following: Drafting of a new Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA, 1996) to provide the comprehensive legal framework for creating a health and safe working environment Restructuring of the enforcement agency Promulgating of regulations on rockfalls and rockbursts Leon Report (Continued) Promulgating of regulations and protective measures to protect the health of workers including occupational hygiene and medical surveillance programmes with specific reference to tuberculosis Restructuring of research institutions and health information systems Ensuring appropriate training and certification of all workers in the industry Benjamin Report 1997 Occupational accidents and work-related ill-health impose a considerable cost on the South African economy and society (the dearth of data results in this cost being underestimated) Prevention policies to promote and enforce compliance with OHS legislation are inadequately developed With the exception of the mining industry, a dwindling level of resources are devoted to the prevention of occupational accidents and work related ill-health Benjamin Report (Continued) There is a critical shortage of personnel to develop OHS policy and to enforce OHS legislation while, at the same time, existing human resources are inefficiently utilised The programmes of prevention and compensation agencies are insufficiently coordinated. Compensation agencies do not adequately promote the prevention of occupational accidents and work-related ill-health There is generally a low level of employer compliance with obligations in terms of compensation legislation and a low level of employee awareness of rights in terms of compensation legislation Benjamin Report (Continued) There is: - inadequate reporting of occupational accidents and, to a greater extent, work-related ill-health. This prevents the determination of the full extent of these problems, the effective development of preventive strategies and deprives employees of compensation benefits - insufficient research on OHS and no coordinated research programme - a severe shortage of skilled OHS personnel and no coordinated skills training strategy to address this shortage - no coordinated communication strategy to raise public awareness of OHS and to promote active approaches among employers and employees Benjamin Report (Continued) The Committee is of the view that existing legislation and administrative structures are unable to meet the challenges of technology, the expectations of employees, the requirements for enhanced productivity and competitiveness and the obligations of the state A new perspective and a fresh impetus is necessary to, at a national level, initiate a coordinated approach to occupational health, safety and compensation The Committee recommended that a national policy on occupational health, safety and compensation must be developed as the first step in a process to rectify the situation OHS Commissions PDF File Sizes Report Erasmus* Full Text 2.9 MB Page Images 15.2 MB Nieuwenhuizen 1.2 MB 7.4 MB Leon 1.6 MB 16.8 MB Benjamin 1.1 MB 10.4 MB *All tables captured as images resulting in larger file size Commissions: Web Address ASOSH.org: http://www.asosh.org/Legislation/SouthAfrica/ Commissions.htm PDF files available on SIMRAC CD and at ASOSH.org PDF files published as Version 1.0 Need further checks by additional eyes to ensure electronic text exact reproduction of original text Further Work Commissions CD 1903 - 2003 Page images of all OHS Commissions 1903 to present day with Electronic Text of last Five Commissions (Marais 1963 to Benjamin 1997) plus Other relevant information such as ILO Report on the DoL Inspectorate, the 2001 Benjamin Report to the DoL and the 2003 Consultants Report on the challenges facing the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate (MHSI) DVD with Silicosis, TB and Compensation Information? Thank You To those who checked the text in the PDF files for the Erasmus, Benjamin and Leon Reports Perhaps SIMRAC could offer a small prize or payment for persons to check say 25,000 words (equivalent to about a 100 pages of the Benjamin Committee Report or 30 pages of the Erasmus Commission Report) so the exact text is obtained To PRESENTATIONPRO for their free demo PowerPoint templates for this OHS Commissions presentation and the Welding presentation - http://www.presentationpro.com