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

NFCA first began active operations that management purchased ambulances to get injured
workers to the hospital in Kitwe, some 30 kilometers away. 154
At Sino Metals, the CNMC-owned processing plant in Chambishi, workers told Human Rights
Watch that there was only a single full-time safety officer for the almost 400 employees. And
several said that even his hiring showed just how little emphasis Sino Metals places on
safety, as the person was formerly a driver, without any specific training in the country’s
safety regulations. 155 One mechanic there said: “We have plenty of people trained to perform
these jobs in Zambia, yet this is who they hire. They don’t take [safety] seriously. Improving
safety is even more important than the salary issue, it has to be changed.” 156
China Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Corporation took over China Luanshya Mine (CLM) in
2009, after it had lay dormant for just under a year. Several miners, in particular those who
work underground, told Human Rights Watch that there has been a real change in the
safety officers’ authority and role—reflecting the overall decline in safety with the Chinese
owner. A miner who works with explosives to blast new areas of mining explained:
A real change [with the Chinese owner] has been the enforcement of safety
aspects. In the past, a safety officer would say, “You can’t work here
because of whatever regulation,” and it would be followed. But now, safety
officers can’t stop operations. They always have to check with management.
Management decides, not the safety officer, which is a problem. We’ve
seen more accidents as a result. We have an average of about three
accidents a week; last week we had six! For four years, back under [Swissbased]
Enya, we were the safest mine in the country. We used to go a
month with maybe one accident. But now it has gone way up.
Why? There is way too much pressure from the Chinese that permeates
through the Zambian managers as well. They care about always pushing,
pushing to get the most production, and that has made us less safe….
Second, the Chinese never slow down or look deeper at accidents when
they happen. Once when I raised this with a Chinese manager he said,
“Why are we talking about accidents when there are two or three in a week?
That’s nothing.” They made clear that in China accidents are far more
154 Human Rights Watch interview with NFCA safety officer, Chambishi, November 11, 2010.
155 Human Rights Watch interviews with miner B at the SX/EW plant, Sino Metals, Kitwe, November 8, 2010; with mechanic A
at Sino Metals, Kitwe, November 8, 2010; and with copper sampler A at Sino Metals, Kitwe, November 8, 2010.
156 Human Rights Watch interview with mechanic A at Sino Metals, Kitwe, November 8, 2010.
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