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

Miners told Human Rights Watch that a good pair of gumboots, for example, cost 165,000
Kwacha (US$34), and work overalls cost around 78,000 Kwacha ($16). For many of those
working in the Chinese-run mines, that would together comprise between one-fourth and
one-half of their monthly basic salary—meaning most miners choose to work with defective
equipment, rather than pay for new PPE themselves.
Human Rights Watch documented dozens of injuries and health problems across CCS,
Sino Metals, and NFCA as a result of the companies’ failure to maintain PPE or provide all
appropriate equipment. At CCS and Sino Metals, workers often described suffering acid
burns as a result of management’s refusal to replace gloves, boots, and other PPE that had
been torn or burned through by acid during the course of work. The failure to provide
sufficiently protective equipment in the first place contributed to additional acid burns, as
explained by a worker in the smelter at CCS:
I’ve been burned four times from acid splashes that come inside my clothes.
The shield that we’re using is not good enough. It’s supposed to have a
cloth that goes down completely to the chest, to not leave anywhere
exposed; but this shield that they give us leaves our neck exposed. We’ve
gone to management about this, but nothing has been done. They’ve just
said that they’re giving us a shield, and we should be more careful.
It’s similar with the suits and gloves. The leather starts developing holes
from the acid burning through. For each PPE, there’s a timeframe. Even if
the protective equipment is worn out, or has had a hole burned through,
the Chinese will say no if we ask for a new one—they say that we can get a
new one when time expires. I’ve had acid splash on my hand where there
was a hole in my glove…. It’s happened to others who work with me. 127
Miners, both at the copper processing operations and NFCA’s underground mine, also
complained to Human Rights Watch of recurring lung problems as a result of defective
respirators or the failure to provide a respirator. A miner at Sino Metals said:
I work in the copper tank house, where I’m exposed to a lot of fumes.
Doctors I’ve spoken to say that it’s dangerous.… [The company] provides a
not have the final say. The Chinese do.” Human Rights Watch interview with acid plant operator A at CCS, Kitwe, November 6,
2010.
127 Human Rights Watch interview with miner A in the smelter furnace at CCS, Kitwe, November 6, 2010.
41 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | NOVEMBER 2011