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

But even with that, our accidents continue to rise. With the copper price
high right now, they’re pushing people harder and harder. 196
The safety officer noted that the person tasked with reporting accidents to the Mines
Safety Department was Zambian, but that a Chinese national oversaw the entire office and
imposed considerable pressure that stopped them from reporting, including through
threats of termination. 197
As mentioned by the safety officer, the miners themselves often underreport accidents to
company safety officers and government inspectors. Multiple miners at Chinese-run
operations told Human Rights Watch that bosses had instructed them to not report an
accident, including an operator in the acid plant at Chambishi Copper Smelter (CCS):
There are a lot of smaller accidents…. When they happen, the Chinese push
you to just go home, they tell you not to go to the safety officer. This has
happened to me and to several others in my work group. If you go to the
safety officer, he’s required to report it to the mines safety directorate. But
they don’t want this; they don’t want the government to know. So they
quickly get you home, they’ll drive you themselves, and talk to you about
not reporting…. When it’s a more substantial injury, they’ll pay you to stay
quiet. The Chinese boss gave a friend of mine 50,000 Kwacha (US$10.40)
after he was hurt, to avoid him reporting. It was right in front of me. 198
Human Rights Watch confirmed the account with the injured worker, who was told by the
boss that the 50,000 Kwacha was “compensation” and that the injury—an acid burn—was
“minor” and so did not need to be reported. He said the boss expressly referenced a desire
to avoid being “charged” by the safety department. 199 The paying of bribes to avoid
reporting smaller injuries appears to be fairly standard practice, as it was presented
repeatedly by miners at CCS and NFCA in particular. An underground miner at NFCA, injured
in an accident in 2009, described to Human Rights Watch the ease of bribing workers:
I was told not to report [my accident] by my Chinese boss, who gave me
100,000 Kwacha ($21). He was capitalizing on my poverty to get me not to
report. I know others who have done the same thing. They pay people
196 Human Rights Watch interview with NFCA safety inspector, Chambishi, November 11, 2010.
197 Ibid.
198 Human Rights Watch interview with acid plant operator A at CCS, Kitwe, November 6, 2011.
199 Human Rights Watch interview with acid plant operator B at CCS, Kitwe, November 7, 2011.
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