South African Mineworkers

EDM number 83 in 2013-14, proposed by Katy Clark on 14/05/2013.
Categorised under the topics of Africa and Industrial health and safety.

That this House notes with deep concern that employees of Anglo American, the largest gold miner in South Africa throughout the twentieth century, undertook the dustiest jobs without the protection of a respirator as profits were prioritised over employee safety as evidenced by research carried out by Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA); further notes that a series of published studies over the last decade reveals that the prevalence of silicosis, a lung disease caused by prolonged or intensive exposure to silica dust in gold mines, is at around 25 per cent in long-term miners, including miners at Anglo American mines as reported by ACTSA; recognises that the condition of silicosis decreased lung capacity, making it difficult to breath, and massively increases the risk of tuberculosis, and that the combination of silicosis and tuberculosis can be fatal; and supports calls on Anglo American to live up to its Corporate Social Responsibility promises and take urgent steps to provide decent compensation and improve medical services for the thousands of miners formerly employed on Anglo's South African gold mines who have experienced silicosis.

This motion has been signed by a total of 41 MPs.