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

problems. In some areas, they should improve the ventilation before we start work, but they
don’t.” 102 In a 2008 article in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public
Health, researchers took dust samples from Mopani’s two underground mines and found that
“59% and 26% of Mufulira and Nkana Mine samples, respectively, were above the calculated
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible exposure limit.” They
concluded that “weak dust monitoring at these mines … may increase the risk of
nonmalignant disease in many miners” and recommended that “Zambian mining houses and
the government establish crystalline silica analysis laboratory capacity and adopt dust mass
concentration occupational exposure limits for more protective dust monitoring of
workers.” 103 In response to a letter from Human Rights Watch outlining concerns, Mopani’s
Chief Executive Officer David Callow said that the company takes the issue of silicosis “very
seriously and is focused on reducing incidence” through measures including “improved
localized dust management in work places”; programs raising employees’ awareness on
“dust control and personal protective equipment usage”; implementing “personalized dust
monitoring techniques” for Mopani employees working in high-exposure areas; and more
frequent medical checkups. Mopani’s response continued:
Silicosis generally has a long latent period to manifest, which can be 20 years
or more, so some of the benefits of [the company’s] focus since privatisation
may not yet be apparent. Even still, incidence has been almost halved since
privatisation. Progress in this area is monitored closely by Mopani’s board. 104
At the processing and smelting operations, miners work with acids and other noxious
chemicals to separate the copper from the rock. Sulfuric acid is one of the most commonly
used substances. As with underground miners, workers are also routinely exposed to dust,
fumes, and other hazardous substances. In certain departments, often referred to as “hot
metal” departments, miners work in environments of extreme heat. Fatal accidents are far
less common in processing than in underground mining, but acid burns and lung disease,
for example, can be common when companies do not comply with safety regulations. 105
102 Human Rights Watch interview with underground drill operator at Mopani, Mufulira, November 15, 2010. A previous report on
Mopani cited an interview in which the miner similarly complained about poor ventilation and also related that the company would
purposefully show other parts of the operations when inspectors came. Les Amis de la Terre and Counter Balance, The Mopani
Copper Mine, Zambia: How European development money has fed a mining scandal, December 2010, p. 17.
103 Patrick Hayumbu, Thomas G. Robins and Rosa Key-Schwartz, “Cross-Sectional Silica Exposure Measurements at Two Zambian
Copper Mines of Nkana and Mufulira,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol.5, 2008, p. 86.
104 Letter from Danny Callow, chief executive officer of Mopani Copper Mines Plc, to Human Rights Watch, October 12, 2011.
105 Human Rights Watch interviews with miners at the Chinese-run smelting and processing plants, Chambishi and Kitwe,
November 2010 and July 2010; with miners at the Konkola Copper Mines-run smelter, Chingola, November 2010; with mine
union officials, Kitwe, November 2010 and July 2011.
35 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | NOVEMBER 2011