“You'll Be Fired if You Refuse” - Human Rights Watch

whether large or small, safety officers are required to conduct an investigation, prepare a
report, analyse the causes, and recommend precautionary measures to take and how to
resolve the issue. As long as the Zambian manager believes there is the need to report an
accident to the Mines Safety Department, the Chinese manager has never once stopped
him from doing so.
On the situation around the distribution of PPE: By October 2006 (when regular
production had just begun), Sino-Metals has already developed a detailed set of
“Standards for the Distribution of PPE,” and since its implementation has made
amendments and improvements on three occasions: April 2007, June 2008 and February
2009. The aim was to have workers receiving reasonable and effective labour protection.
In the “Standards for the Distribution of PPE” that is currently in use, the job types have
been refined to a total of 41, while there are 18 types of PPE equipment, including the
smaller pieces. The equipment list includes goggles, dust masks, anti-acid respirators,
soundproof ear plugs, cloths, soap, and washing powder. “Standards for the Distribution
of PPE” sets forth clear regulations surrounding the “respirators” mentioned in your letter;
these are distributed by Sino-Metals on a regular basis and workers have been collecting
all of them. However, some workers dislike using them, preferring cloth masks instead;
cloths perform the same function as respirators.
Some of the equipment is distributed at short intervals, for instance, two sets of anti-acid
uniforms are distributed to mine workers on an annual basis. Some workers receive a pair
of anti-acid boots every four months, which means they receive three pairs a year.
Sino-Metals has discovered that work clothes that it purchased from China are on sale in
Chambishi’s markets. Investigations have shown that some workers sell the work clothes
which they had just collected from the company and show up for work in old and tattered
ones; during inspections, they report that the company has not replaced their work clothes
in a timely manner. In addition, some workers are extremely careless about the PPE from
Sino-Metals. There are many occasions on which we have found that work clothes issued
barely a week before are missing a sleeve, or where the worker continues wearing a torn
pair of trousers. This is not a problem to do with quality, since most workers are able to
use their uniforms for a long time, with no damage to the two sets of work clothes given
to them every year.
Despite facing such problems, Sino-Metals has continued to mandate that PPE damaged
before distribution is due shall be replaced, and that it will only charge half the costs incurred.
2. Issue of shift lengths
A. NFCA
Work is carried out in three eight-hour shifts. NFCA believes that as the main ore body in
Chambishi copper mine has a daily discharge of nearly 50,000 cubic meters of water and
a large volume of groundwater, it is extremely difficult for mining operations to take
place in this deep mine. Hence, the mine’s lifeline depends on the effective functioning of
all underground water drainage systems, power supply systems, and hoisting systems.
Due to safety needs, workers charged with key responsibilities related to underground
water discharge, power supplies, and hoisting systems are required to hand over their task
to workers in the next shift, but their working hours will not be extended. This is a
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