Although Chile’s workplace accident rate has been dropping steadily, the Aug. 5 San Jose mine accident that trapped 33 miners has drawn attention to deficiencies in the enforcement of regulation, particularly in small companies.
Mining Safety Record
In Chile’s mining industry, serious accidents are now rare and the accident rate is lower than in almost all other sectors, including the retail and services industries as well as the transport industry (which has the highest rate), manufacturing and construction. However, in addition to lax supervision, three aggravating factors appear to have contributed to the San Jose accident:
–Accident rates are much higher in small and midsized mines such as San Jose, than in the large mines operated mostly by large international companies.
–Mining accidents are more frequent in underground mines than open-cast operations. Between 1990 and 2005, the former accounted for 58.5% of mining deaths in Chile as compared to 12.5% in open-cast operations (with the remainder accounted for by processing plants or prospecting).
–The San Jose mine was closed between 2007 and 2008, but when copper prices rise, as has happened since their collapse in late 2008, there is a strong incentive to reopen mines, without their owners necessarily having carried out proper maintenance in the intervening period.
Overall accident decline. According to government figures, Chile’s overall rate of non-fatal workplace accidents dropped to 5.3 per 100 insured workers in 2009, down from 7.6 in 2002 (although deaths have held steady at around six per 100,000 workers).
This decline is attributed largely to the work of the three privately managed workplace health and safety mutual associations into which Chilean companies can pay a risk-adjusted percentage of their payroll, rather than the state social security system. Like the state system, these associations provide free medical care for workers suffering work-related accidents or illnesses, and pay benefit for lost working time but, unlike the state system, they also offer companies advice and support in implementing preventive safety measures.
On Aug. 23 President Sebastian Pinera announced the creation of a Workplace Safety Commission to review Chilean legislation on workplace safety, mechanisms for its enforcement and the level of fines for infringements (widely considered too low). Chaired by Labor Minister Camila Merino, the nine-member commission–including lawyers, engineers, risk-prevention experts and economists–is scheduled to report by Nov. 22, following a process of public consultation with worker representatives, business associations and think-tanks. However, ahead of the commission’s report, its conclusions are expected to focus less on safety regulation as such than its enforcement.
In Chile responsibility for supervising workplace safety is shared by a number of government agencies:
–The Labor Ministry’s Labor Inspection Service is responsible for enforcing labor legislation in general and has the power to close an operation on grounds of safety.
–The Health Ministry also supervises working conditions in order to control the risk of work-related illnesses and accidents.
–In the case of the mining sector, the National Geology and Mining Service is also responsible for inspecting safety conditions as well as recommending preventive measures and providing training.
With no clear dividing line between their functions, it can be a matter of chance which of these agencies responds when problems are suspected, and responsibilities can become diluted. Additionally, the agencies tend to be understaffed, have stretched budgets and complain that their best employees are often headhunted by the companies they are responsible for supervising. This problem appears to be particularly acute in the National Geology and Mining Service, the responsibilities of which include mapping mineral resources and advising the government on the award of mining concessions in addition to supervising mine safety.
Although Chile’s performance on workplace safety is comparable to those of its income peers, the recent mining accident has highlighted the challenges it faces if it is to match the standards of industrialized countries. Moreover, as in other areas, this challenge has its roots in the need to modernize and strengthen government agencies in line with the demands of economic growth and development.
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