Occupational medicine commits itself to render a comprehensive service concerning the protection and promotion of the health (and safety) of employees in the mining industry, maintaining the highest professional, ethical and moral standards.

Each of the nine provinces within the borders of South Africa has at least one regional Medical Mine Inspector. A Medical Mine Inspector can:

• Enter any mine at any time without warrant or notice, for the purposes of monitoring or enforcing compliance with the MHSA;
• Question any person on any matter to which this Act relates;
• Require any person who has control over, or custody of, any document, including but not limited to, a plan, book or record to produce that document to the inspector immediately or at any other time and place that the inspector require;
• Inspect any article, substance or machinery; any work performed; or any condition;
• Inspect arrangements made by the manager for medical surveillance of employees; and
• Seize any document, article, substance or machinery or any part or sample of it; and perform any other prescribed function.

Annual Medical Report

In terms of Section 16 of the Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996 (Act 29 of 1996), as amended, and Mine Health and Safety Regulations - every Occupational Medical Practitioner at a mine must compile an Annual Medical Report which covers the health of employees based on their records of medical surveillance. Furthermore, an analysis of the status of the mentioned health of employees should be provided without disclosing the names of the employees. The new format of the report was released in 2010. Employers must make sure to use the new forms.

Annual Medical Report has to be given to the employer, who must in turn deliver a completed copy to the Medical Inspector via the office of the Regional Inspector: Occupational Medicine. The records are then captured at the regional offices and complete data forwarded to the Medical Inspector. This information assists the inspectorate to analyze disease trends in all the different commodities and assess the achievements of the mining industry in relation to the milestones set in terms of eradicating Silicosis and Noise Induced Hearing Loss by 2013.

For the purpose of the Annual Medical Report, the list of important diseases that are commonly found in the mining industry include:

• Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB);

• Silico-tuberculosis (SITB);

• Asbestosis (ASB);

• Pneumoconiosis (PN);

• Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL);

• Silicosis (SIL); and

• Other diseases.

The Annual Medical Report must be submitted before the end of February of each year. Administration fines will be given to mines which do not submit annual reports as per requirements of the Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996 (Act 29 of 1996).