The General Conference of the International Labour Organization,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International
Labour Office, and having met in its Eighty-Second Session on
6 June 1995, and
Noting the relevant International Labour Conventions and Recommendations
and, in particular, the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention,
1957; the Radiation Protection Convention and Recommendation,
1960; the Guarding of Machinery Convention and Recommendation,
1963; the Employment Injury Benefits Convention and Recommendation,
1964; the Minimum Age (Underground Work) Convention and Recommendation,
1965; the Medical Examination of Young Persons (Underground Work)
Convention, 1965; the Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise
and Vibration) Convention and Recommendation, 1977; the OccuPational
Safety and Health Convention and Recommendation, 1981; the OccuPational
Health Services Convention and Recommendation, 1985; the Asbestos
Convention and Recommendation, 1986; the Safety and Health in
Construction Convention and Recommendation, 1988; the Chemicals
Convention and Recommendation, 1990; and the Prevention of Major
Industrial Accidents Convention and Recommendation, 1993, and
Considering that workers have a need for, and a right to, information,
training and genuine consultation on and particiPation in the
Preparation and imPlementation of safety and health measures concerning
the hazards and risks they face in the mining industry, and
Recognizing that it is desirable to prevent any fatalities, injuries
or ill health affecting workers or members of the public, or damage
to the environment arising from mining OPerations, and
Having regard to the need for cooperation between the International
Labour Organization, the World Health Organization, the International
Atomic Energy Agency and other relevant institutions and noting
the relevant instruments, codes of Practice, codes and guidelines
issued by these organizations, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard
to safety and health in mines, which is the fourth item on the
agenda of the session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of
an international Convention:
adopts this twenty-second day of June of the year one thousand
nine hundred and ninety-five the following Convention, which may
be cited as the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995:
1. For the purpose of this Convention, the term "mine"
covers -
(a) surface or underground sites where the following activities,
in particular, take place:
(i) exploration for minerals, excluding oil and gas, that involves
the mechanical disturbance of the ground;
(ii) extraction of minerals, excluding oil and gas;
(iii) preparation, including crushing, grinding, concentration
or washing of the extracted material: and
(b) all machinery, equipment, appliances, plant, buildings and
civil engineering structures used in conjunction with the activities
referred to in (a) above.
2. For the purpose of this Convention, the term "employer"
means any physical or legal person who employs one or more workers
in a mine and, as the context requires, the operator, the princiPal
contractor, contractor or subcontractor.
1. This Convention applies to all mines.
2. After consultations with the most representative organizations
of employers and workers concerned, the competent authority of
a Member which ratifies the Convention:
(a) may exclude certain categories of mines from the application
of the Convention, or certain provisions thereof, if the overall
protection afforded at these mines under national law and practice
is not inferior to that which would result from the full application
of the provisions of the Convention;
(b) shall, in the case of exclusion of certain categories of mines
pursuant to clause (a) above, make plans for progressively covering
all mines.
3. A Member which ratifies the Convention and avails itself of
the possibility afforded in paragraph 2(a) above shall indicate,
in its reports on the application of the Convention submitted
under article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour
Organization, any particular category of mines thus excluded and
the reasons for the exclusion.
In the light of national conditions and practice and after consultations
with the most rePresentative organizations of employers and workers
concerned, the Member shall formulate, carry out and periodically
review a coherent policy on safety and health in mines, Particularly
with regard to the measures to give effect to the provisions of
the Convention.
1. The measures for ensuring application of the Convention shall
be prescribed by national laws and regulations.
2. Where appropriate, these national laws and regulations shall
be supplemented by:
(a) technical standards, guidelines or codes of practice; or
(b) other means of application consistent with national practice,
as identified by the competent authority.
1. National laws and regulations pursuant to Article 4, paragraph
1, shall designate the competent authority that is to monitor
and regulate the various aspects of safety and health in mines.
2. Such national laws and regulations shall provide for:
(a) the supervision of safety and health in mines;
(b) the inspection of mines by inspectors designated for the purpose
by the competent authority;
(c) the procedures for reporting and investigating fatal and serious
accidents, dangerous occurrences and mine disasters, each as defined
by national laws or regulations;
(d) the compilation and publication of statistics on accidents,
occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences, each as defined
by national laws or regulations;
(e) the power of the competent authority to suspend or restrict
mining activities on safety and health grounds until the condition
giving rise to the suspension or restriction has been corrected;
and
(f) the establishment of effective procedures to ensure the implementation
of the rights of workers and their representatives to be consulted
on matters and to participate in measures relating to safety and
health at the workplace.
3. Such national laws and regulations shall provide that the manufacture,
storage, transport and use of explosives and initiating devices
at the mine shall be carried out by or under the direct supervision
of competent and authorized persons.
4. Such national laws and regulations shall specify:
(a) requirements relating to mine rescue, first aid and appropriate
medical facilities;
(b) an obligation to Provide and maintain adequate self-rescue
respiratory devices for workers in underground coal mines and,
where necessary, in other underground mines;
(c) protective measures to secure abandoned mine workings so as
to eliminate or minimize risks to safety and health:
(d) requirements for the safe storage, transportation and disposal
of hazardous substances used in the mining process and waste produced
at the mine; and
(e) where appropriate, an obligation to supply sufficient sanitary
conveniences and facilities to wash, change and eat, and to maintain
them in hygienic condition.
5. Such national laws and regulations shall provide that the employer
in charge of the mine shall ensure that appropriate plans of workings
are prepared before the start of operation and. in the event of
any significant modification, that such plans are brought up to
date periodically and kept available at the mine site.
In taking preventive and protective measures under this Part of
the Convention, the employer shall assess the risk and deal with
it in the following order of priority:
(a) eliminate the risk;
(b) control the risk at source;
(c) minimize the risk by means that include the design of safe work systems; and
(d) in so far as the risk remains, provide for the use of personal
protective equipment.
having regard to what is reasonable, practicable and feasible,
and to good practice and the exercise of due diligence.
Employers shall take all necessary measures to eliminate or minimize
the risks to safety and health in mines under their control, and
in particular:
(a) ensure that the mine is designed, constructed and provided
with electrical, mechanical and other equipment, including a communication
system, to provide conditions for safe operation and a healthy
working environment;
(b) ensure that the mine is commissioned, operated, maintained
and decommissioned in such a way that workers can perform the
work assigned to them without endangering their safety and health
or that of other persons;
(c) take steps to maintain the stability of the ground in areas
to which persons have access in the context of their work;
(d) whenever practicable, provide, from every underground workplace,
two exits, each of which is connected to separate means of egress
to the surface;
(e) ensure the monitoring, assessment and regular inspection of
the working environment to identify the various hazards to which
the workers may be exposed and to assess their level of exposure:
(f) ensure adequate ventilation for all underground workings to
which access is permitted;
(g) in respect of zones susceptible to particular hazards, draw
up and implement an operating plan and procedures to ensure a
safe system of work and the Protection of workers;
(h) take measures and precautions appropriate to the nature of
a mine operation to Prevent, detect and combat the start and spread
of fires and explosions; and
(i) ensure that when there is serious danger to the safety and
health of workers, operations are stopped and workers are evacuated
to a safe location.
The employer shall prepare an emergency response plan, specific
to each mine, for reasonably foreseeable industrial and natural
disasters.
Where workers are exposed to physical, chemical or biological
hazards, the employer shall:
(a) inform the workers, in a comprehensible manner, of the hazards
associated with their work, the health risks involved and relevant
preventive and protective measures;
(b) take appropriate measures to eliminate or minimize the risks
resulting from exposure to those hazards;
(c) where adequate protection against risk of accident or injury
to health including exposure to adverse conditions cannot be ensured
by other means, provide and maintain at no cost to the worker
suitable protective equipment, clothing as necessary and other
facilities defined by national laws or regulations; and
(d) provide workers who have suffered from an injury or illness
at the workplace with first aid, appropriate transportation from
the workplace and access to appropriate medical facilities.
The employer shall ensure that:
(a) adequate training and retraining programmes and comprehensible
instructions are provided for workers, at no cost to them, on
safety and health matters as well as on the work assigned;
(b) in accordance with national laws and regulations, adequate
supervision and control are provided on each shift to secure the
safe operation of the mine;
(c) a system is established so that the names of all persons who
are underground can be accurately known at any time, as well as
their probable location;
(d) all accidents and dangerous occurrences, as defined by national
laws or regulations, are investigated and appropriate remedial
action is taken; and
(e) a report, as specified by national laws and regulations, is
made to the competent authority on accidents and dangerous occurrences.
On the basis of general principls of occupational health and in
accordance with national laws and regulations, the employer shall
ensure the provision of regular health surveillance of workers
exposed to occupational health hazards spedific to mining.
Whenever two or more employers undertake activities at the same
mine, the employer in charge of the mine shall coordinate the
implementation of all measures concerning the safety and health
of workers and shall be held primarily responsible for the safety
of the operations. This shall not relive individual employers
from responsibility for the implementation of all measures concerning
the safety and health of their workers.
1. Under the national laws and regulations referred to in Article
4, workers shall have the following rights:
(a) to report accidents, dangerous occurrences and hazards to
the employer and to the competent authority;
(b) to request and obtain, where there is cause for concern on
safety and health grounds, inspections and investigations to be
conducted by the employer and by the competent authority;
(c) to know and be informed of workplace hazards that may affect
their safety or health;
(d) to obtain information, relevant to their safety or health,
held by the employer or the competent authority;
(e) to remove themselves from any location at the mine when circumstances
arise which appear, with reasonable justification, to pose a serious
danger to their safety or health; and
(f) to collectively select safety and health representatives.
2. The safety and health representatives referred to in paragraph
1(f) above shall, in accordance with national laws and regulations,
have the following rights:
(a) to represent workers on all aspects of workplace safety and
health, including where applicable, the exercise of the rights
provided in paragraph 1 above;
(b) to:
(i) participate in inspections and investigations conducted by
the employer and by the competent authority at the workplace;
and
(ii) monitor and investigate safety and health matters;
(c) to have recourse to advisers and independent experts;
(d) to consult with the employer in a timely fashion on safety
and health matters, including policies and procedures;
(e) to consult with the competent authority; and
(f) to recive, relevant to the area for wihich they have been
selected, notice of accidents and dangerous occurrences.
3. Procedures for the exercise of the rights referred to in paragraphs
1 and 2 above shall be specified:
(a) by national laws and regulations; and
(b) through consultations between employers and workers and their
representatives.
4. National laws and regulations shall ensure that the rights
referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 above can be exercised without
discrimination or relation.
Under national laws and regulations, workers shall have the duty,
in accordance with their training:
(a) to comply with prescribed safety and health measures;
(b) to take reasonable care for their own safety and health and
that of other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions
at work, including the proper care and use of protective clothing,
facilities and equipment placed at their disposal for this purpose:
(c) to report forthwith to their immediate supervisor any situation
which they believe could present a risk to their safety or health
or that of other persons, and which they cannot properly deal
with themselves; and
(d) to cooperate with the employer to permit compliance with the
duties and responsibilities placed on the employer pursuant to
the Convention.
Measures shall be taken, in accordance with national laws and
regulations, to encourage cooperation between employers and workers
and their representatives to promote safety and health in mines.
The Member shall:
(a) take all necessary measures, including the provision of appropriate
penalties and corrective measures, to ensure the effective enforcement
of the provisions of the Convention; and
(b) provide appropriate inspection se rvices to supervise the
application of the measures to be taken in pursuance of the Convention
and provide these services with the resources necessary for the
accomplishment of their tasks.
The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated
to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for
registration.
1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of
the International Labour Organization whose ratifications have
been registered with the Director-General of the International
Labour Office.
2. It shall come into force 12 months after the date on which
the ratifications of two Members have been registered with the
Director-General.
3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member
12 months after the date on which its ratification has been registered.
1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it
after the expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention
first comes into force, by an act communicated to the Director-General
of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation
shall not take effect until one year after the date on which it
is registered.
2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does
not, within the year following the expiration of the period of
ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right
of denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound for
another period of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this
Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under
the terms provided for in this Article.
1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall
notify all Members of the International Labour Organization of
the registration of all ratifications and denunciations communicated
by the Members of the Organization.
2. When noti fying the Members of the Organization of the registration
of the second ratification, the Director-General shall draw the
attention of the Members of the Organization to the date upon
which the Convention shall come into force.
The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall
communicate to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, for
registration in accordance with article 102 of the Charter of
the United Nations, full Particulars of all ratifications and
acts of denunciation registered by the Director-General in accordance
with the provisions of the preceding Articles.
At such times as it may consider necessary, the Governing Body
of the International Labour Office shall present to the General
Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall
examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference
the question of its revision in whole or in part.
1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this
Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new Convention
otherwise provides -
(a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention
shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention,
notwithstanding the provisions of Article 19 above, if and when
the new revising Convention shall have come into force;
(b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into
force, this Convention shall cease to be open to ratification
by the Members.
2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual
form and content for those Members, which have ratified it but
have not ratified the revising Convention.
The English and French versions of the text of this Convention
are equally authoritative.
The foregoing is the authentic text of the Convention duly adopted
by the General Conference of the International Labour Organization
during its Eighty-second Session which was held at Geneva and
declared closed the twenty-second day of June 1995.
IN FAITH WHEREOF we have appended our signatures this twenty-third
day of June 1995.
The text of the Convention as here presented is a true copy of
the text authenticated by the signatures of the President of the
International Labour Conference and of the Director - General
of the Intermational Labour Office.
Certified true and complete copy.
For the Director - General of the International Labour Office: