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

Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) obliges states to ensure “[s]afe and healthy
working conditions. 95 International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 176 concerning
Safety and Health in Mines sets out the basic obligations of states and employers regarding
mine safety, as well as the rights and duties of workers and their unions. 96
Health and Safety Hazards
Workers throughout Zambia’s copper mining industry are exposed to a variety of health
and safety hazards that lead to accidents, including fatal accidents, and long-term health
consequences, particularly affecting their lungs. ILO Convention No. 176, as well as the
related ILO Recommendation 183 concerning Safety and Health in Mines, was drafted
specifically to deal with the risks that come with mining—with the goal “to prevent any
fatalities, injuries or ill health affecting workers or members of the public.” 97 While
accidents and some health consequences are likely to occur even when companies
follow—and governments enforce—safety regulations, the failure to take seriously health
and safety precautions leads to far greater problems.
A nurse at Sino-Zam Friendship Hospital, where miners at the three Chinese-owned Chambishi
operations receive free medical care, described the injuries she sees from NFCA miners:
Rock falls are the most frequent of the severe problems. They are at times
fatal, or result in crushed bones. We’ve had to do traumatic amputations of
fingers, for example…. There are other injuries from [chemical] gassing, also
acid and electric burns. And then there are common problems when the
concentrate dust shavings get in the miners’ eyes…. We also see general
health problems from the contact with dust and fumes, due to poor
ventilation. Pneumoconiosis [black lung] and particularly silicosis occur. 98
95 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), December 16, 1996, G.A. Res. 2200A( XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR
Supp. (No. 16) at 49, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), entered into force January 3, 1976, art 7. Zambia ratified the ICESCR on in April 1984.
96 ILO Convention No. 176: Convention concerning Safety and Health in Mines, adopted June 22, 1995. Zambia ratified Convention No.
176 in January 1999. ILO Recommendation 183 concerning Safety and Health in Mines was drafted as a supplement to ILO Convention No.
176. When Zambia ratified the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, it tacitly indicated an acceptance of Recommendation 183 as well.
97 ILO Convention No. 176, preamble.
98 Human Rights Watch interview with nurse at Sino Zam, Kitwe, November 11, 2010. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), “Silicosis is a disabling, nonreversible and sometimes fatal lung disease caused by overexposure to respirable
crystalline silica. Silica is the second most common mineral in the earth’s crust and is a major component of sand, rock, and mineral ores.
Overexposure to dust that contains microscopic particles of crystalline silica can cause scar tissue to form in the lungs, which reduces
the lungs’ ability to extract oxygen from the air we breathe.…There is no cure for the disease, but it is 100 percent preventable if
employers, workers, and health professionals work together to reduce exposures.” CDC, Preventing Silicosis,
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/silica/silfact1.html (last accessed October 18, 2011). The US Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) identifies effects of silicosis, including bronchitis; increased susceptibility to tuberculosis; and lung cancer, as
silica is a “human lung carcinogen.” OSHA, Silcosis, http://www.osha.gov/Publications/silicosis.html (last accessed October 18, 2011).
33 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | NOVEMBER 2011