Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

A broken promise

2011; Volume: 18; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/iur.2011.0013

2308-5142

DICK BLIN, Dick Blinn,

Occupational Health and Safety Research

REPORT□ CHILE A broken promise For export copper a country revenue exports in isderived which alone 49 from accounting percent mining, of with for all export revenue isderived from mining, with copper exports alone accounting for US$39.3 billion in 2010, Chile's mine safety methodology is in thedarkages. A dichotomy was infull viewlastfall: whilethegovernment of Sebastián Pineramarshalled thevery besttechnicalandengineering expertise torescue33miners fromthe small San José copper mine near Copiapóundertheworld'sspotlight, thecountry continued to wallow in day-to-day safety practicesthatare cumbersome, unmanageableand deadly. Despite Piñera'spromiseheard around the worldon 18October- fivedaysafter therescue - thatChilewould reform a disjointed national minesafetycode and adopt global standards, nothing haschanged.In fact, inearly2011when theICEMmetwithseniorgovernment officials, we weretoldthereis nothing now on thegovernment 's agendatodo either. Thus,theICEM,together withtheInternational Metalworkers' Federation, saw no alternative but tobegintoapplypressure on thePineragovernmentthrough a globalcampaignto correct the structural framework inherent toChile'ssad mine safetyculture,which is a throwbackto the Pinochet regime. Another dichotomy restsinthe factthatin all oftheprinciples contained in the ILO'sConvention No. 176of1995,theSafety and Healthin MinesConvention, Chileanpractices runcounter totheseprinciples. A case in pointis thatthecommission Pinera set up to investigate thecause of theSan José accident of5 August, 2010,isthat no tradeunion representatives were invited to thecommission, eventhough the130miners ofCampañiaMinera San Esteban Primerawere represented by a union. Convention176 clearlyspells out that workers andtheir trade unionsshallparticipate in mineinspections and accident investigations. Chile'smineunionsdo sound the alarmfrequentlyon safety infractions. But the common refrain from bothgovernment and industry has been theunion'sdutyis to negotiate economic issues,nottopartake insafety orhealthmatters. AtSanJosé,UnionNo. 2 ofCampaniaMinera San Estebanrepeatedly warnedof safety flaws and actually presented legalchallengesin court to close themineon severaloccasions.After a miner was killedfrom a rockslidein 2007 that was similar to theone lastAugust, SanJoséwas shutfora briefperiodby SERNAGEOMIN, the NationalServiceof Geologyand Mining. Butit was reopeneda short timelaterbyanother government official who did not read the closure report, and reliedsolelyon theowner'spromise thatcorrections wouldbe made. One ofthosepromises was a ladderthrough a ventilation shaft to serveas a secondexitroute, a standard enshrined inConvention 176.Noneof the necessarysafetymodifications were made, there werenofollow-up inspections, andthelack of a second egress,in fact,caused the 69-day entrapment after theexplosionthatsent700,000 tonsofrockon topofthe33. It shouldbe pointedout thatSERNAGEOMIN, bycharter, is nota health andsafety inspectorate. It playsthatrole,but so do bureauxinsidesix Chileanministries. Therein laysa majorproblem: Chile has overlapping role-playing safetyunits coveringall sectorsof work. Thanks to the Pinochet legacy,noneoftheagencieshavejudicialpowerstoenforce whatfewregulations there areandallarewithout thetechnical capabilities to inspect andprevent accidents before they happen. Andnone are solelydevotedto mining, now the nation'slifeblood.To cover Chile's 8,000 mines,thereare a totalof 16 mineinspectors. Chiledesperately needsan autonomous National Safetyand Health Agencyand it desperately needs a separateand autonomous MineHealth and Safety Inspectorate. In short, all oftheprerequisites in Convention 176aremissing in Chile:regular inspections, set procedures to report and investigate dangerous occurrences and accidents, tradeunionconsultation ,regulatory bodieswiththeauthority to shut and keep shutdangerousmines,a miner's right to refuseunsafework,workers' rights to select their own healthand safety representatives, and employerobligations to providesafety training and safety programmes. Convention 176 places responsibility on employers to notonlyremove workplacehazards,butto removethecauses of thosehazards. Thatis whythe ICEM has targeted Chilefor reforming notonlyitsinternal minesafety laws, butto ratify, implement and fully adhereto the standards setdownin ILO Convention 176.The country has grownintoa world-leading mineral resourceprovider and in 2010 became thefirst LatinAmerican country to join the OECD. But regarding safety andhealth ofworkers employed inmining, ithasyettobecomeworld-class inany measurable form ormanner. Nothinghas changed for Chile's miners Nice promises made beforethe world's media have notbeen implemented DICK BUN isInformation, Campaigns, and Pulp and Paper Officer for global union federation ICEM in Geneva. Page 15Volume 18Issue 1201 1 INTERNATIONAL union rights ...