Zambia urged to control labour abuses at Chinese-owned mines

Enviromine

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch

Publishing Date: 03 Nov 2011 1:20pm GMT
Author: Mining, People and the Environment

Health and Safety Corporate Social Responsibility CSR Legal and Legislation

International non-government organisation, Human Rights Watch has called on the Zambia government to take action against poor working conditions in Chinese-run copper mines in the country.

In a new report, the NGO said it had discovered “abusive employment conditions that fail to meet domestic and international standards and fall short of practices among the copper mining industry elsewhere in Zambia” at several Chinese-owned operations.

Drawing on 170 interviews with mine employees and other industry stakeholders, the report said a number of mine employees “spoke of poor health and safety standards, including poor ventilation that can lead to serious lung diseases, hours of work in excess of Zambian law, the failure to replace workers’ personal protective equipment that is damaged while at work, and the threat of being fired should workers refuse to work in unsafe places.”

Human Rights Watch added that primary responsibility for ensuring international standards are met rests with the government, and that “this requires addressing inadequacies in the Mines Safety Department and boosting fines for breaching safety regulations and labour laws”.

The report goes on to list a number of recommendations for both the Zambian and Chinese government, Chinese mine operators and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.