Occupational Safety

and Health Risks

The situation of direct and outsourced mining
workers in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru
Diana Quiroz, Maria Paula Quiceno Mesa, and Estela Ospina Salinas
30 March 2023
About this report
This report has been commissioned by CNV Internationaal.

About Profundo
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sustainable world and social justice. Quality comes first, aiming at the needs of our clients.
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Authorship
This report was researched and written by Diana Quiroz with contributions of Maria Paula Quiceno
Mesa (deployment of the digital survey, data analysis, and review of draft report), Estela Ospina
Salinas (key informant interviews in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru and literature review), Gianina
Echevarria (interviews with Peruvian key informants), Ana Catalina Herrera (interviews with
Colombian key informants), Arnaldo Montero (interviews with Bolivian key informants), Maria
Camila López Martínez (data visualisation), Cindy Jazmin Fuquene Sierra (transcription of
interviews), Jasmine Arnould (literature review), Chithira Rajeevan (literature review), Barbara
Kuepper (review of draft report) and Maurice van Beers (review of draft report).
Correct citation of this document: Quiroz, D., Quiceno Mesa, M.P., Ospina Salinas, E. (2023,
January), Occupational Safety and Health Risks. The situation of direct and outsourced mining
workers in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Profundo.
Front page cover photograph by Alexis Villavicencio - Pixabay.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the workers and key informants in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru who
gave their time, knowledge, and experience to inform this research. Thanks to the affiliates of the
National Union of Mining, Petrochemical, Agrofuel and Energy Industry Workers
(SINTRAMINERGÉTICA) for facilitating the results of a survey conducted in 2019 for the case
studies in Chapters 1 and 3.
Disclaimer
Profundo observes the greatest possible care in collecting information and drafting publications
but cannot guarantee that this report is complete. Profundo assumes no responsibility for errors in
the sources used, nor for changes after the date of publication. The report is provided for
informational purposes and is not to be read as providing endorsements, representations or
warranties of any kind whatsoever. Profundo will not accept any liability for damage arising from
the use of this publication.
Contents
Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. 1
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 2
Occupational Safety and Health risks in mining ..................................................... 4
1.1 Increasing demand for minerals and impacts on workers ............................................ 4
1.2 Mining impacts on workers’ health and safety .............................................................. 5
1.2.1 Exposure to chemicals ..................................................................................................... 6
1.2.2 Occupational diseases ..................................................................................................... 7
1.2.3 Accidents .......................................................................................................................... 7
1.2.4 Biological hazards ............................................................................................................ 7
1.3 Occupational Safety and Health issues in mining in focus countries .......................... 8
1.3.1 Bolivia ................................................................................................................................ 8
1.3.2 Colombia ........................................................................................................................... 8
1.3.3 Peru ................................................................................................................................. 10
Mining workers’ perspectives on their OSH risk exposure in Bolivia, Colombia and
Peru 11
2.1 Occupational Safety and Health risks ........................................................................... 11
2.1.1 Physical risks .................................................................................................................. 12
2.1.2 Chemical and biological hazards .................................................................................. 16
2.1.3 Mechanical hazards ....................................................................................................... 16
2.1.4 Psychosocial risks.......................................................................................................... 18
2.1.5 Ergonomic risks .............................................................................................................. 23
2.2 Management of OSH risks ............................................................................................. 27
2.3 Gendered risks ................................................................................................................ 31
2.4 Risks for subcontracted workers .................................................................................. 31
Structural barriers to comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health ................. 33
3.1 Legal frameworks and enforcement bodies in producing countries .......................... 33
3.1.1 Bolivia .............................................................................................................................. 33
3.1.2 Colombia ......................................................................................................................... 36
3.1.3 Peru ................................................................................................................................. 39
3.2 Voluntary international sustainability initiatives and agreements .............................. 41
3.2.1 The Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) .................................................................... 41
3.2.2 The European Partnership for Responsible Minerals (EPRM) .................................... 41
3.2.3 The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) .............................................. 42
3.2.4 The Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable
Development (IGF) ......................................................................................................... 42
3.2.5 International Council on Metals and Mining (ICMM) ................................................... 42
3.2.6 Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) ................................................... 42
3.2.7 The International Finance corporation’s (IFC) Environmental and Social Performance
Standard and the Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) guidelines for mining. .......... 42
3.2.8 The Minamata Convention on Mercury ........................................................................ 43
3.2.9 Limitations of voluntary sustainability initiatives and agreements ............................ 43
Conclusions and recommendations .................................................................... 44
 4.1 Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 44
4.2 Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 45
References ............................................................................................................................... 47
Appendix 1 Methodology used for the digital survey.............................................................. 54
Appendix 2 Profile of key informants interviewed .................................................................. 56

List of figures
Figure 1 Workers’ perception of their exposure to dust and particulate matter .................. 12
Figure 2 Workers’ perception of their exposure to gases and fumes at work ...................... 13
Figure 3 Workers’ perceived quality of ventilation at the workplace ................................... 13
Figure 4 Workers’ perceived exposure to noise at work ..................................................... 14
Figure 5 Temperature at the workplace ............................................................................ 14
Figure 6 Workers’ perception of lighting at their workplace ............................................... 16
Figure 7 Workers’ perspectives on preventive maintenance of machinery at work ............. 17
Figure 8 Workers’ perspectives on corrective maintenance of machinery at work .............. 17
Figure 9 Workers’ perception of the condition of machine guards at work ......................... 18
Figure 10 Sleep duration among workers............................................................................ 19
Figure 11 Microsleep at work ............................................................................................. 19
Figure 12 Apnoea, restless leg syndrome, or narcolepsy diagnoses among workers ............ 20
Figure 13 Depression rate among workers, disaggregated by gender .................................. 20
Figure 14 Surveyed workers’ perceived workload ............................................................... 21
Figure 15 Surveyed workers’ work-life balance ................................................................... 21
Figure 16 Permission to rest outside agreed working hours and retaliation by employers .... 22
Figure 17 Workers’ perception of their treatment at work.................................................... 22
Figure 18 Frequency of workers’ pain in different body parts .............................................. 23
Figure 19 Workers’ perceived level of health and safety protection at work ......................... 24
Figure 20 Workers’ perceived condition of their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) ........ 24
Figure 21 Workplace accidents caused by a bad safety protocol regarding PPEs................. 25
Figure 22 Mining companies’ inclusion of workers in workplace accident investigations ..... 26
Figure 23 Workers’ sick leave compensation ...................................................................... 26
Figure 24 Severity of workplace accidents.......................................................................... 27
Figure 25 Socialisation of OSH protocol among workers ..................................................... 27
Figure 26 Protocol to protect workers from retaliation ........................................................ 28
Figure 27 Protocols to guarantee workers’ right to protect themselves against OSH risks ... 28
List of tables
Table 1 Most frequently cited health and safety issues in mine processing operations ....... 5
Table 2 Chemicals used in mining and processing minerals ............................................... 6
Table 3 Workplace altitude.............................................................................................. 15
Table 4 Workers’ exposure to chemicals at work ............................................................. 16
Table 5 Causes of workplace accidents, according to surveyed workers in focus
countries ............................................................................................................ 24
Table 6 Programmes by employers to promote the health of workers .............................. 29
Table 7 General definitions set in Decree Law No. 16998 ................................................. 34
Abbreviations
ANFO Ammonium nitrate and fuel oil
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility
C176 ILO Safety and Health in Mines Convention
No. 176
IDB Inter-American Development Bank
ILO International Labour Organization
IMVO-metaalsector Dutch International Responsible Business
Agreement for the Metals Sector
masl Meters above sea level
MSD Musculoskeletal Disorders
OSH Occupational Safety and Health
PPE Personal Protective Equipment
RBC Responsible Business Conduct
RLS Restless Leg Syndrome
SAS Sleep Apnoea Syndrome
SINTRAMINERGÉTICA National Union of Mining, Petrochemical,
Agrofuel and Energy Industry Workers

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Introduction
When AngloAmerican announced it would leave El Cerrejón, a coal mine in northeast Colombia, in
December 2020,1 mine workers had been striking for about 90 days, demanding not to apply the
“death shift”.2 The dead shift implied the reduction from four to three daily shifts and the increase
from 15 successive days of work to 21 days. The intense pace of work led to the workers’
increased physical and psychological exhaustion, which put them at greater risk of accidents in the
mine. The reduction of working shifts also left about 25% of the workforce unemployed. The
company and its partners Glencore and BHP Billiton justified the change in working shifts by
arguing a need to reduce costs and remain competitive, an argument that could not be sustained
in view of the increasing coal prices of the past years.3
This is just one example of how mining companies often prioritise profit over the health and safety
of their employees. Labour rights violations in the mining sector are not uncommon, with workers
worldwide reporting excessive working hours, unsafe working conditions, and lack of basic health
provisions next to the low salaries, anti-union violence, outsourcing, child labour, degrading
treatment, violence, discrimination, and racism.4 All over the world, labour rights violations
specially affect women. For instance, female mine workers report inadequate personal protective
equipment (PPE) and the inability to take maternity leave or shorter days to breastfeed due to the
pressure of production targets.5 Moreover, women's participation in the labour market brings with
it an extension of the working day. In this context, most women workers maintain their unpaid role
as care givers, while also working as paid employees. The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated this
situation for women employed in the mining sector (including Latin America).6
Downstream companies sourcing minerals from these supply chains have been under increasing
scrutiny for failing to sufficiently address their suppliers' human and labour rights abuses. In
response to calls by trade unions, conscious consumers, and other civil society groups, many
companies have publicly committed to the various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives
that exist to improve workers' labour conditions in upstream segments of the mineral supply chain.
One such initiative is the Dutch International Responsible Business Conduct agreement for the
metal sector (covenant internationaal maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen voor de
metaalsector, IMVO-metaalsector), a partnership between businesses, trade associations,
government, trade unions, and NGOs.
The IMVO-metaalsector is embedded in the Dutch International Responsible Business Conduct
agreement founded on the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER)
recommendation in 2016 as a means to concentrate stakeholders’ efforts to combat human and
labour rights abuses.7 In addition to engaging companies and other stakeholders in a constant
dialogue to improve their performance regarding international responsible business conduct in line
with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the IMVO-metaalsector helps the metals
sector to comply with the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation, which entered into force in 2021 and
obliges large importers to investigate the source of their raw materials.8
As part of its growing emphasis on labour rights in supply chains, CNV Internationaal started
developing activities in the mining value chain in its 2017-2020 Trade Unions for Social Dialogue
programme. In this context, CNV Internationaal began participating in the IMVO-metaalsector in
2019. Since then, CNV Internationaal and its partners in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia have
investigated hidden risks and labour rights issues in the mineral value chains of these countries. In
particular, CNV Internationaal has developed a new platform, the Labour Rights Observatory for a
Just Transition, through which insights are shared with investors, businesses, and governments to
promote due diligence and corporate responsibility in the minerals supply chain. Currently, the
Observatory focuses on coal mining in Colombia, but soon the focus will expand to mineral mining
in Peru and Bolivia.

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This research aims to consolidate the evidence base of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)
risks in the mining sector in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru and to increase understanding of what
these risks mean for the Due Diligence obligations of downstream companies in the Netherlands
members of the IMVO-Metaalsector. The study relies on a combination of primary and secondary
data. Primary data sources include the voices of 367 mine workers (of which 35 worked in Bolivia,
129 in Colombia, and 203 in Peru) obtained through CNV Internationaal’s participatory digital
monitoring for the mining sector in 2022 (see Appendix 1 for more details on the methodology
applied for data collection). In addition, 17 key informants representing trade unions, health sector,
government and mining companies/sector associations in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru were
interviewed to inform this research (see Appendix 2). Secondary sources include reports by trade
unions, NGOs, company policies and publications, and media articles. Based on the findings, this
report seeks to make recommendations on how members of the IMVO-Metaalsector can work
together to improve the occupational safety and health of workers in countries supplying minerals
to the Netherlands.
Chapter 1 summarises OSH risks in the mining sector in general, while Chapter 1.3.3 focuses on
these risks from the perspective of workers in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. Chapter 3 synthesises
the factors that sustain the current OSH situation in the mining sector of the focus countries,
including legislative frameworks, barriers to implementation, and enforcement. Lastly, Chapter 4
provides conclusions and recommendations to inform the efforts of CNV Internationaal and IMVO-
Metaalsector members to address OSH risks in the mining sector in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru.

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1
Occupational Safety and Health risks in
mining
Worldwide, mine sector workers experience excessive workloads and are exposed to
situations that jeopardise their health and safety to meet their employers’ production
targets. This situation constitutes a breach of workers’ right to a safe and healthy work
environment and affects vulnerable groups such as women and subcontracted workers in
particular ways. This chapter provides a review of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)
risks in the mining sector.

1.1 Increasing demand for minerals and impacts on workers

The mining sector ranks among the most dangerous sectors for workers, accounting for an array
of physical and psychosocial risks that, if not mitigated, can lead to disease, injury, or death.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), in 2015, mining employed less than one
percent of the global workforce. Yet, it was responsible for eight percent of fatal workplace
accidents.9 Although there are no recent global estimates of deadly accidents in the mining sector,
available data show that the rate of fatal accidents in mining is either increasing or remaining the
same. In the USA, for example, the rate of fatal accidents in the mining sector increased from 9.77
accidents to 16.15 accidents per million hours worked between 2016 and 2021.10 And in Australia,
the average yearly fatality rate in mining remained at 2.4 between 2000 and 2019.11 It is likely that
the rate of fatal accidents in mining in developing countries is much higher than that of the USA
and Australia, as the majority of mining accidents not only occur in developing countries, but also
are on the rise.12
But it is not only the high rate of fatal accidents that makes mining a hazardous sector. According
to the global trade union federation IndustriALL, occupational diseases kill more mine workers
than accidents,13 and the rate of occupational diseases and injuries is also increasing globally.14
With the wealth of knowledge accumulated over centuries about the risks of mining, the advanced
technology, and a myriad of voluntary initiatives and legislative frameworks to safeguard mine
workers’ health and safety, one may ask: Why is mining still so dangerous for workers? Human and
labour rights advocates claim that mining remains a hazardous sector because, often, pressures to
drive up profit and reduce costs stand on the way of mining companies fulfilling their OSH
obligations.15
While the pressure on mining to make a profit at all costs is part and parcel of the global economic
system,16 it goes against the three pillars of Corporate Sustainability, namely the environment,
social equity, and economic development.17 This model not only compromises the mining sector’s
ability to meet investors’ and consumers’ increasing demand for sustainable supply chains, but
also to increase productivity and attract the talent necessary to remain competitive.18 Moreover,
this profit-at-all-costs model underscores the unequal footing on which communities and workers
stand in relation to mining companies.

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For example, in Peru, the intensification of mining activities has been accompanied by fear in
mostly impoverished communities that mining projects will contaminate the land and water that
sustain their lives.19 But because mining is an important source of income for the country,20 the
Peruvian government tends to criminalise social protests.21 Also, there are reports of mining
companies using private security forces, violating human rights, and exacerbating social stress
and tensions.22
Likewise, the case of Cerrejón workers in Colombia and the “dead shift” illustrates a global trend
where the circadian rhythmsi of night-shift workers are disrupted and fatigue is triggered by
extended shifts and overtime. Again, the pressure to maximise the productivity of mining
operations is driven by a combination of increasing demand for minerals and the expectation of
high returns by shareholders.23 If well, the implementation of fatigue risk management in mining
has been increasing in the past decade, it largely remains focussed on the symptoms and not on
the causes of those risks.24

1.2 Mining impacts on workers’ health and safety

The ILO already recognised in 1999 the risks faced by miners in mine processing operations with
regard to OSH.25 Although this particular research was focused on small-scale mining, the ILO
authors noted that formal, large-scale mining can be just as dangerous for workers as small-scale
mining, despite the reputation offered by a more formalised setting: “A combination of lack of
resources, lack of or non-application of safety regulations, lack of awareness, illiteracy, lack of
training, inadequate equipment and remote location all point to the likelihood of there being more
accidents in many small-scale mining operations than in larger, more formal, more public mines. On
the other hand, the nature of small-scale mining (low level of mechanization, low intensity of
operation) means that some of the risks can be lower than in large, formal mines.”26

Table 1 Most frequently cited health and safety issues in mine processing operations
Occupational safety issues Occupational health issues
Causes of accidents: Worker health risks:
• rock falls; subsidence •
exposure to silica dust (silicosis) and coal dust
• lack of ventilation (pneumoconiosis); can cause permanent lung
• explosions damage
• lack of knowledge; lack of training; violation of • exposure to mercury and other chemicals
regulations • effects of noise and vibration
• obsolete and poorly maintained equipment • effects of poor ventilation (heat, humidity, lack of
oxygen)
Types of accidents: trips or falls (at the same level, • effects of over-exertion, inadequate workspace
or from one level to another); being hit by machinery and inappropriate equipment
or a moving object (including rocks, stone chips,
tools); effects of cave-ins or rock falls (e.g., Community health risks: poor sanitation and lack of
fractures, sprains, contusions). clean water, malaria, typhoid, dysentery,
tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases
(including AIDS), malnutrition and substance abuse.
Source: Scott, D. F., Grayson, L. R. (2003), Selected Health Issues in Mining; CDC (n.d.), “Inputs: Occupational Safety and Health Risks,
online: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/mining/risks.html, viewed in October 2022.

The plethora of occupational safety and health issues in the mining industry (Table 1) highlights
the importance of identifying and mitigating risks for workers. The following subsections take a
closer look at those risks.

i Circadian rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioural changes in the human body that follow a 24-hour cycle.

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1.2.1 Exposure to chemicals
Across the world, mining workers are frequently exposed to chemicals, heavy metals, and other
potentially harmful substances that can spill on the skin and clothes, splash in the eyes, or be
breathed in as fumes. Moreover, many of those chemicals can cause fires, explosions, or release
of toxic gases, thereby also jeopardising the health and safety of mining workers (Table 2 ).

Table 2 Chemicals used in mining and processing minerals

Chemical substance Use in mining Effects on human health
Cyanide Separation of gold from ore Cyanide is deadly when swallowed. Exposure to
low doses over a long time may cause goitre (a
swelling in the throat which can also be caused by
malnutrition).
Sulfuric acid Toxic chemical used in Contact with sulfuric acid can cause burns,
copper mining. It is also a blindness, and death.
by-product of many kinds of
mining, mixing with water
and heavy metals to form
acid mine drainage.
Nitric acid Used to produce explosives Nitric acid causes irritation to the eyes, skin, and
in mining, including ANFO. mucous membrane; it can also cause delayed
pulmonary edema, pneumonitis (inflammation of
lung tissue), bronchitis (inflammation of the
bronchi caused by an infection), and dental
erosion.
ANFO (ammonium Used in blasting tunnels in Ammonium nitrate causes irritation and burns in
nitrate and fuel oil) coal mining, quarrying, and nose, throat and lung, methemoglobinemia (blood
metal mining. disorder) with headache, fatigue, and blue colour to
the skin and lips. Prolonged exposure can cause
cancer. ANFO emits toxic fumes when detonated.
Mercury Mined on its own and used When burned off to collect the gold, mercury turns
to separate gold from ore. to a gas that can be breathed in by anyone nearby.
Mercury can also become a gas if it is spilled or left
in an open container. Breathing in mercury fumes is
very dangerous. Mercury is also dangerous if it is
absorbed through the skin or eaten when it passes
from someone’s hands to food.
Lead Often found with copper, Exposure to high levels of lead may
silver and zinc cause anaemia, weakness, and kidney and brain
damage. Very high lead exposure can cause death.
Uranium Mined on its own Uranium releases harmful radiation that causes
cancer, skin diseases, and other serious health
problems.
Acetylene Welding and soldering Contact with acetylene can cause frostbite.
Exposure can cause headache, dizziness, vertigo,
and fainting.
Fumes from gasoline Fuel used to power vehicles Health effects from exposure to asphalt fumes
and diesel fuel and mining equipment include headache, skin rash, sensitization, fatigue,
reduced appetite, throat and eye irritation, cough,
and skin cancer
Source: Adapted from Hesperian Health Guides (2008), Chemicals Used in Mining, In Hesperian Health Guides (Eds): A Community guide
to Environmental Health, pp. 485-486.

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1.2.2 Occupational diseases
Occupational diseases affect the lives of mining sector workers, regardless of whether they work
in open cast or underground mines. Underground mining workers are frequently exposed to
airborne hazards, including fumes from fuel used to power vehicles and mining equipment, coal
and silica dust, and at times, asbestos. These substances are known to cause cancer in the lungs,
bladder, and other parts of the body. Long-term exposure to coal and silica dust may onset lung
cancer, silicosis (scarring and stiffening of the lungs), pneumoconiosis (or black coal disease, a
group of lung diseases caused by inhaling coal and other types of dust), chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD) or kidney disease.27
Another common occupational disease in mining is tinnitus (i.e., the perception of sound when no
corresponding external sound is present) and hyperacusis (temporary or permanent hearing loss).
Mining workers are routinely exposed to loud noises derived from drilling, heavy machinery, and
explosions. Hearing loss results from faulty or lack of ear protection.28
Likewise, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a major affliction of mining workers. MSDs are
defined as soft tissueii disorders and surrounding structures that are not related to an acute or
immediate event (such as a slip or fall). MSDs occur most often in the neck, shoulders, elbows,
wrists, and lower back. They are associated with various occupational hazards, including physical
workloads such as awkward posture, manual material handling, vibration, and psychosocial
factors.29

1.2.3 Accidents
Injuries from heavy machinery are one of the two main types of accidents in mining. These injuries
are a result of poor traffic management at the workplace. The risks of working with heavy
machinery include being struck or run over, being crushed, falling off tall equipment or driving into
unmarked or unguarded holes in the ground.30 The other main type of mining accident are injuries
resulting from errors, omissions and miscalculations when unleashing the explosions needed to
break massive volumes of rock. Blast or explosive injuries can result from fly rock, misfires and
toxic fumes and occur when explosive materials used in mining are not stored, handled, or
transported in a safe manner.31

1.2.4 Biological hazards

Depending on the location where mining operations are found, workers can be at risk of tropical
and vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya, leptospirosis (a bacterial
disease affecting kidneys and liver) ancylostomiasis (a disease caused by hookworm Ancylostoma
duodenale), and legionnaires’ disease (a form of atypical pneumonia that can be contracted by
aspirating water contaminated with the Legionella bacteria). The risk of contracting these diseases
increases with poor sanitation. Ancylostomiases thrives in underground mines, where high levels
of dissolved mineral salts in the loamy soil encourage parasitic growth. The high temperature and
humidity in underground mines allow worms flourish.32 While improvements in sanitisation
including eradication of rats have lowered the occurrence of leptospirosis and ancylostomiasis in
mines, these biological hazards prevail outside the developed world. Regular microbiological
analysis of water used in cooling towers at the mine site is necessary to detect Legionella
contamination or high concentrations of other heterotrophic microorganisms.33

ii Soft tissue refers to muscle, fat, fibrous tissue, blood vessels, or other supporting tissue of the human body.

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1.3 Occupational Safety and Health issues in mining in focus countries

1.3.1 Bolivia
Bolivia is the world’s sixth largest producer of zinc and tin, and the eighth largest producer of
silver.34 The Bolivian mining sector employs workers in both small-scale and large mines. Workers
at small-scale mines are organised in cooperatives that supply minerals to larger mines (which are
operated by multinational companies such as Trafigura and Santa Cruz Silver Mining). All mines
are administered by the Bolivian State, regardless of whether the mine is run by a cooperative or a
multinational mining company.35
Due to the poor working conditions in most of Bolivia’s mines, workers are exposed to significant
OSH risks such as silicosis and rheumatism.36 The initial stage of silicosis, a lung disease caused
by prolonged inhalation of silica dust, has very mild symptoms. According to the Director of the
Occupational Safety Unit at the National Health Fund, Boris Inca, by the time the symptoms
develop – tiredness, coughing, lack of appetite – the disease is already in its advanced stages.37 It
has also been noted that while the disease is usually prevalent among individuals who have
worked in the mines for 20-25 years, it is now even diagnosed among children below 15 years of
age.38
Cerro Rico is a silver mine in Potosí, Bolivia, exploited both by a subsidiary of Coeur Mining and
miners’ cooperatives. About 70% of the 14,000 cooperative workers at the Cerro Rico mine do not
receive health insurance or pension benefits, and the cooperatives routinely flout basic safety
laws.39 Miners working at Cerro Rico are exposed to toxic gases, the risk of mines collapsing or
even electrocution due to use of outdated machinery and tools.40 Estimates indicate that Bolivians
employed at small-scale mines run by cooperatives suffer three fatalities and 15 serious injuries
each month. This fatality rate is 90% higher than that faced by miners in industrialised countries.41

1.3.2 Colombia
Colombia is the largest coal miner on the Latin American continent, making up for 81% of the
continent’s output.42 In 2019, a survey conducted by members of the National Union of Mining,
Petrochemical, Agrofuel and Energy Industry Workers (SINTRAMINERGÉTICA), found that the
majority of workers’ health concerns were associated with the musculoskeletal system, which is
one of the leading causes of occupational morbidity (see box 1). Likewise, a cross-sectional study
of workers in the Guachetá coal mines found that the most frequently reported health problems
were related to musculoskeletal (pain in back and limbs) and respiratory and hearing disorders.43
Between 2005 to 2019, there were approximately 1,395 fatalities and 765 injuries reported in
Colombia’s coal mines.44 While these figures concern primarily underground coal mines,
explosions in open-cast mines (which are the types of mines in which this project focuses) are not
exempted from this kind of accidents. More than 25% of the fatalities are due to explosions: “Their
occurrence results from low awareness regarding methane-related risks among the mining
communities, insufficient technical expertise with respect to ventilation, incomplete regulation, and
unsatisfactory execution of the existing rules on mining safety.” 45 In August 2021, the accumulation
of methane caused an explosion at an underground coal mine claiming 12 lives.46 The year before,
a similar accident claimed the lives of at least 11 miners,47 and in March 2023, another accident
killed 21 coal workers in Sutatausa, a town north of Colombia’s capital, Bogotá.48

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The health and safety risks for mine workers also include exhaustion, spinal fatigue, and lack of
dust control. Long shifts, coupled with tedious commutes through rough roads, causes serious
spinal injuries, particularly among heavy equipment operators. At El Cerrejón, for example, United
Mine Workers of America (UMWA) representatives who visited the mine in 2012 found that on top
of 12-hour workdays, workers spent between 8 and 10 hours commuting to and from work. They
also reported that to deal with chronic worker fatigue, the mine owners planned to install lasers to
flash the eyes of heavy equipment operators when slow blinking was detected..49
Communities around these coal mines are also affected. For instance, communities living near El
Cerrejón, the largest open pit mine in Latin America, suffer from health issues like headaches,
respiratory discomfort, dry cough, and vision problems due to the 24-hour operations.50 Ill health of
family members living in mining communities is a source of stress for mining workers as it
disrupts the family’s economy, who face the costs of healthcare and medicines. It also adds to the
workload of female workers, who are expected to tend to ill family members, as part of their unpaid
care work.

Box 1. Health and safety of mine workers affiliated to SINTRAMINERGÉTICA

In Colombia, members of SINTRAMINERGÉTICA conducted an internal survey in June 2019 on
occupational diseases and accidents. Two hundred thirty workers, including 225 men and five women,
participated in the study in different positions in the mining production chain. The workers were
employed in two of the five concessions of La Jagua mine (Department of Cesar, in northern Colombia)
that, until September 2021, belonged to Prodeco, a subsidiary of Glencore.
The workers surveyed were asked whether they had suffered from occupational illnesses or accidents.
The data showed that 87% of the workers indicated that they suffered from one to five pathologies, 10%
from six to 10 pathologies, 2% from 16 to 20 pathologies, and 1% indicated that they suffered from 21
pathologies. In this context, six of the ten top pathologies the surveyed SINTRAMINERGÉTICA workers
suffered were musculoskeletal disorders (Graph 1).

The workers surveyed were also asked whether the origin of the pathologies they suffered had been
recognised as an occupational disease by the Occupational Risks Insurance Company (ARL) or private
Health Care Providers (EPS). Fifty-one per cent indicated that they did not receive such recognition, while
the rest did. In this context, 40% of the workers indicated that their pathologies classified as occupational
diseases, 36% as common diseases, and 24% as occupational accidents. Further, the surveyed workers
were asked whether they had notified their employer about their health conditions, to which 76% said they
did, while 24% did not.

Source: SINTRAMINERGÉTICA Members with support from CNV Internationaal.

Page | 9
1.3.3 Peru
According to Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines, the largest number of reported occupational
diseases are related to hyperacusis (hearing loss) and pneumoconiosis.51 In 2015, the Ministry
received 6,708 reports of occupational diseases related to mining, more than 90% of which were
noise-induced hearing loss or deafness.52 However, it is important to note that inadequate
mechanisms with regard to reporting could lead to inaccurate reporting, in both the number and
type of diseases. Worker fatigue is another occupational risk that could in turn, cause vehicular
and/or machinery accidents.53
In La Rinconada, a gold mining town in Peru, workers are employed under risky conditions with
accidents being commonplace. In the mines, miners are forced to breathe in dust particles that
cause silicosis, a terminal lung disease. Around 50-60% of post-mortems in the region found
silicosis to be the cause of death. Over the past decade, miners have begun wearing masks;
however, masks do not filter out all the particles and continue to expose workers to health risks. By
the same token, the mercury used to extract gold also poses significant risks for the miners,
potentially damaging their nervous system when inhaled or with skin contact.54
Moreover, the primary causes of accidents in small mines include rock falls and cavings, lack of
ventilation, improper use of explosives, lack of knowledge or information, and the use of old
machinery or equipment. The tunnels in the underground mines are very narrow and raise
ventilation concerns. The haphazard planning of tunnels can also lead to the fracturing of the mine
structures and result in caving.55
The figures presented above are an underestimation, as they do not account for the accidents
suffered by outsourced workers, who make up the bulk of the labour force in the Peruvian mining
sector. In this context, 72% of the 226,000 mining jobs in 2021 were conducted by outsourced
workers.56 Outsourcing is not only a strategy by the mining industry to cut costs but also an
enabling factor for labour rights breaches such as health and safety at work.57 It follows that the
rate of occupational diseases and accidents among Peruvian outsourced mining workers is twice
as high as that of direct workers.58

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2
Mining workers’ perspectives on their OSH
risk exposure in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru
The pressures of meeting deadlines and production goals affect Bolivia, Colombia, and
Peru mining sector workers. These pressures have a detrimental effect on workers’
psychological and physical state and can threaten their health and safety at work. Other
factors jeopardising workers’ health and safety include inadequate personal protective
equipment and high exposure to hazards. This chapter presents the results of an online
survey among mining sector workers in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru that captured their
perspectives on their exposure to Occupational Safety and Health risks at the workplace.

2.1 Occupational Safety and Health risks

Ensuring the health and safety of workers is the responsibility of employers. To fulfil this
responsibility, mining companies should periodically conduct systematic risk assessments. The
risks identified through these assessments should inform the planning and implementation of
short-term and long-term action plans that prioritise risk prevention above risk management and
control measures. In this context, the results of the interventions should be evaluated and followed
up. In doing this, psychosocial and general health issues should also be considered, along with the
safety risks and risks to health caused by physical, chemical, and biological agents.59
This chapter presents the results of an online survey among mining sector workers in Bolivia,
Colombia, and Peru that captured their perspectives on their exposure to Occupational Safety and
Health (OSH) risks at the workplace. The findings presented here correspond to the responses of
367 mining sector workers, of which 35 worked in Bolivia, 129 in Colombia, and 203 in Peru. Of the
367 workers, 355 self-identified as men, 11 as women, and one as LGBTQ+. The survey covered 14
mining companies, of which five were located in Bolivia, four in Colombia, and five in Peru. Of the
367 survey respondents, 289 were direct workers, and 78 were subcontracted workers. The
methods used for the online survey are explained in Appendix 1, including the demographic profile
of the survey respondents (e.g., gender, age, and ethnic background) and the different stages of
the mining process represented.
The types of risks presented here are grouped into five different categories: physical risks,
chemical and biological hazards, mechanical hazards, psychosocial risks, and ergonomic risks.
Moreover, this chapter presents the surveyed workers’ perceptions of their employers’
management of OSH risks. It focuses on gender-specific risks and risks for subcontracted
workers, a group of mining workers facing unequal treatment and longer working hours.60 The
survey results are complemented with information obtained through key informant interviews.

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2.1.1 Physical risks
The workers who participated in the digital survey were asked about their perceived exposure to
dust and particulate matter. Over three-quarters of them considered their exposure to be high, very
high, extremely high, or unbearably high (Figure 1). Disaggregated by stage of the productive
process, almost 90% of workers involved in excavating minerals reported high to unbearably high
exposure to dust and particulate matter. Echoing the perspectives of the surveyed workers, a
Peruvian union leader interviewed for this research said about the causes for the high exposure to
dust: “In the past, they used to give us respirators for dust, which were the most commonly available,
but they didn't protect us well against dust and gases. We don't have filters, especially for dust,
because the company only gives us two every two weeks, to save costs […] then there is the
ventilation problem. At some sites, ventilation is adequate, but at some sites, it is not.”

Figure 1 Workers’ perception of their exposure to dust and particulate matter

Normal
High 13%
28% I'm not
exposed to
dust and
particulate
matter
2%

Unbearable
5%
Very high
29% Extremely high
23%

Question: The exposure to dust and particulate matter at your workplace is:

Likewise, over two-thirds of the surveyed workers reported high to unbearably high exposure to
gases at work, and over two-thirds reported high to unbearably high exposure to fumes (Figure 2).
Moreover, forty-three per cent of the surveyed workers said bad to very bad ventilation at the
workplace. Another 31% reported “regular” (i.e., neither good nor bad) ventilation, and 26% reported
good or very good ventilation.
Broken down by the stage of the mining process, the workers’ perceptions are generally diverse,
with workers finding ventilation at the mine from very good to very bad (Figure 3). In this context, it
would be expected that Colombian respondents would not have major complaints about
ventilation at the workplace, given that coal extraction in the country is done in open-cast mines.
Yet, a few Colombian workers in the excavation segment complained about the very bad
ventilation at the worksite. By contrast, 65% of the Peruvian workers in the excavation segment
complained that ventilation at the workplace was bad or very bad.iii In the words of a Peruvian
union leader: “The most important risks that we have learned about from the colleagues we are
representing are, for example, the fact that there is no adequate ventilation in the mine shafts...”

iii The surveyed workers in Peru and Bolivia work in underground mines.

Page | 12
 Figure 2 Workers’ perception of their exposure to gases and fumes at work

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
Gases Fumes

Unbearable Extremely high Very high

High Normal I'm not exposed to fumes

Question: The exposure to gases/fumes at your workplace is:

Figure 3 Workers’ perceived quality of ventilation at the workplace

Other

Transport/Haulage

Refining

Processing

Mining

Administration/Services

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Very good Good Regular Bad Very bad

Question: The ventilation at your workplace is:

The surveyed workers were also asked about their perceived exposure to noise at work. Eighty-six
per cent of them indicated high to unbearable exposure to noise (53% high, 27% extremely high,
and 6% unbearable), 14% indicated normal exposure. Broken down by stage of the mining process,
workers in the refining segment reported only high or extremely high exposure to noise (Figure 4).
The key informants interviewed agreed that noise exposure was high in Bolivian, Colombian, and
Peruvian mines. In the words of a key informant from the health sector in Peru: “In the evaluations
we have been carrying out on mining workers, we made two important evaluations. One was the
evaluation of the presence of silicosis, through an X-ray of the lungs and its classification according
to ILO recommendations, and an evaluation of sensorineural hearing loss, through an audiometry […]
As an occupational disease, hearing loss is due to exposure to noise, which is very common in
mining, and which is not mitigated with appropriate measures.”

Page | 13
 Figure 4 Workers’ perceived exposure to noise at work

Other

Administration/services

Transport/haulage

Refining

Processing/transformation

Excavation

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Unbearable Extremely high High Normal

Question: The exposure to noise at your workplace is:

When asked about the temperature at their workplace, almost a third of the surveyed workers
reported normal temperatures. All other workers reported some type of thermal discomfort at
work, of which the majority related to high temperatures (Figure 5). Rapid changes from high to
low temperatures can impair physiological processes of the human body in various ways, while
also interacting with pre-existing conditions and chronic diseases, can result in damage to the
brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver.61 Temperature changes can also make tendons, muscles, and
scar tissue expand and contract, creating pain in joints affected by arthritis.62

Figure 5 Temperature at the workplace

Very low Extremely low

Normal
11% 1%
32%

Unbearable
(Very low)
0%

Unbearable
(Very high)
6%
High
24% Extremely high
12%
Very high
14%

Question: The temperature at your workplace is:

Page | 14
Extreme temperature changes are part and parcel of mining in Bolivia and Peru, where over 50% of
the surveyed workers work at altitudes between 3,600 and 5,000 metres above sea level (masl)iv
(Table 3). In this context, temperature extremes can range from 28 to 30 ℃ inside the mine (with
relative humidity up to 100%) and, depending on the location of the mine, between -1 and 18 ℃ at
elevations above 4,000 masl (with record low temperatures as low as -25 ℃).63 There is consensus
among the interviewed workers about the health effects of drastic temperature changes. In the
words of a Bolivian informant: “the deeper you go into the mine, the hotter it gets and if there is no
ventilation, it is much hotter and so if you are working in a hot area and when you leave for the day
you go out into the cold, then you feel the [change] every day from cold to hot and in these few years
that I have felt a big change in my knee […] it hurts after a while […] I didn't have a problem but then I
suddenly realised that I was in pain and my friend told me that it's that change from hot to cold and
from cold to hot every day.”

Table 3 Workplace altitude

Altitude (meters above sea % of survey
level) respondents working
at this altitude
Between 0 and 1500 23%
Between 1600 and 2500 4%
Between 2600 and 3500 3%
Between 3600 and 4500 32%
Between 4600 and 5000 26%
More than 5000 1%
Does not know 11%
Question: Altitude range above sea level of your workplace

Regarding the surveyed workers perception of lighting at their workplace, almost half (47%)
perceived this to be neither good nor bad, 30% good, 19% bad, 3% very bad, and1% very good.
Notably, almost three quarters of the workers in the excavation segment reported bad to very bad
lighting at the workplace. Most workers reporting good or very good lighting were conducting
administrative and service tasks, as well as workers in the transport/haulage stage of the
productive process (Figure 6).

iv Two workers from Colombia indicated working at this altitude range, which goes in contradiction with the type and
altitude range of coal mines in the country (coal mines in Colombia are open pits and the highest mine is found at an
altitude of 2,750 masl).

Page | 15
 Figure 6 Workers’ perception of lighting at their workplace

Other

Transport/Haulage

Refining

Processing/Transformation

Excavation

Administration/Services

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Very good Good Regular Bad Very bad

Question: The lighting at your workplace is:

2.1.2 Chemical and biological hazards

Over 75% of the surveyed workers indicated exposure to chemicals at work. The most frequently
cited chemical substances included oils and gases used for welding (Table 4). Acidic water was
frequently reported as part of the category “acids”. During an interview, a union representative from
Bolivia described the health problems that result from exposure to acidic water: “in some
underground mines, we have what we call “mine water” or acidic water, or in Bolivia we call it
“copajira water” […] I think this eye is a bit more damaged because copajira water is strong, you get a
little drop into the eye and it makes you cry and many colleagues have red eyes, they have a kind of
fleshiness in the eye.” The surveyed workers were also asked about their exposure to pathogenic
biological agents at work. Ninety per cent of them reported high (69%) to very high (21%) exposure,
while 10% reported normal workplace exposure to pathogenic biological agents.

Table 4 Workers’ exposure to chemicals at work

Type of chemical Frequency
Oils 42
Welding gases 20
Fuels (including diesel fuel) 18
ANFO 14
Other gases (including HFC for aircon) 12
Acids (including acidic water) 10
Ammonia and cleaning products 8
Other/unspecified 154
Did not answer 74
Does not know 15
Question: Do you come into contact with any chemicals in your work? Please describe

2.1.3 Mechanical hazards

Mechanised equipment can pose a significant safety risk for workers. In this context, periodic
maintenance of mechanical equipment, correctly planned and carried out, is essential to keep
machines reliable and the workplace safe. Two types of maintenance are essential for workplace
safety: preventive and corrective maintenance.

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 Figure 7 Workers’ perspectives on preventive maintenance of machinery at work

Bad
16%
Very bad
6%

There is no
Regular
preventive
57%
maintenance
1%

Very good
1%
Good
19%

Question: In the company where you work, the preventive maintenance of the machinery is:

Preventive maintenance is defined as “actions carried out at predetermined intervals or according

to prescribed criteria intended to reduce the probability of failure or the degradation of the
functioning of an item. In this case, actions are scheduled, proactive and intended to control the
deterioration process leading to failure of a system (e.g., replacement, lubrication, cleaning or
inspection).”64 When asked about their perception of the quality of preventive maintenance at their
workplace, more than half of the surveyed workers stated that maintenance was neither good nor
bad, and 20% said maintenance was good (Figure 7).

Figure 8 Workers’ perspectives on corrective maintenance of machinery at work

Bad Very
15% bad
4%

There is no
corrective
Regular maintenance
59% 1%

Very good
1%

Good
20%

Question: In the company where you work corrective maintenance of machinery is:

Corrective maintenance is defined as “actions intended to restore a system from a failed state to a
working state (e.g., repair or replacement of broken components). This type of maintenance is also
known as ‘reactive maintenance’ because the action is initiated when the unscheduled event of an
equipment failure occurs.”65 Against this background, less than 20% of the surveyed workers
considered the quality of corrective maintenance of machinery at work to be bad or very bad and
27% to be good or very good (Figure 8).

Page | 17
 Figure 9 Workers’ perception of the condition of machine guards at work

Bad Very bad

9% 2%

There are no
machine
Regular
guards
60%
2%

Very good
1%

Good
26%

Question: In the company where you work, machine guards are:

Machine guards avoid potential equipment hazards and injuries at the workplace. They protect
operators and other employees stationed near this equipment from the hazards of ingoing nip
points, rotating parts, sparks, and flying debris.66 In this context, the surveyed workers were asked
to share their perception of machine guards at work, and only a quarter reported these to be in
good or very good condition (Figure 9). According to a trade union leader from Colombia
interviewed for this research, some of the most frequent accidents happen in the electrical area.
Accidents in the mine area are not only limited to poorly maintained equipment, but also to poorly
maintained infrastructure. In this context, trucks falling to lower levels and derailment occur
commonly, due to the poor condition of roads.

2.1.4 Psychosocial risks

Psychosocial risks in the workplace are situations that may affect workers' psychological
response to their work and workplace conditions as well as their relationships with their
supervisors and colleagues. High workloads, tight deadlines can trigger these risks, and lack of
control of the work and working methods, as well as job insecurity, psychological and sexual
harassment, and third-party violence.67
Workers experience stress when psychosocial risks remain unattended, and the demands of their
job are excessive and greater than their capacity to cope with them. Prolonged stress on workers
can lead to mental health problems and the development of serious physical health problems such
as cardiovascular disease or musculoskeletal problems.68 Moreover, adverse psychosocial factors
at work have been linked to sleep problems.69 For example, a key informant from Colombia
reported that unions call psychosocial risks “silent risks” because workers tend not to speak about
the stress, depression, and anxiety issues they deal with. Against this background, this study has
used workers’ reported issues with sleep, workloads, stress levels, and access to quality health
care as indicators for psychosocial risks at work.
In terms of sleep duration among workers, 40% of survey respondents reported sleeping less than
six hours every day (Figure 10) and ten per cent of surveyed workers reported taking sleep
medication. Over a third of those workers are employed in excavation, and another third works in
the transport/haulage segment. When disaggregated by gender, data revealed that 39% of men
and 36% of women sleep less than six hours a day. The LGBTQ+ respondent reported sleeping less
than four hours every day.

Page | 18
 Figure 10 Sleep duration among workers

More than 8 Less than 4

hours hours
5% 9%

Between 4 and
Between 6 and 6 hours
8 hours 31%
55%

Question: How many hours do you sleep every day?

Sleep deprivation happens when workers do not sleep enough hours or when they sleep at the
wrong time of the day (e.g., night shift workers).70 Sleep deprivation is a risk factor for
microsleep.71 Microsleep is manifested as lapses in attention that can occur during complex tasks
such as driving or operating machinery.72 Microsleep can also be triggered by monotonous,
repetitive tasks, even in a person who is well rested.73 Against this background, surveyed workers
were asked whether they had experienced microsleep at work. Over a third of them indicated
having experienced microsleep at work (Figure 11). However, there is a possibility that microsleep
is underreported, given that almost half of the survey respondents do not get more than six hours
of sleep and that individuals afflicted by it do not always realise when microsleep episodes
occur.74

Figure 11 Microsleep at work

Has
experienced
microsleep at
work
37%

Has not
experienced
microsleep at
work
63%

Question: Have you experienced microsleep at work?

Surveyed workers were asked whether they had been diagnosed with sleep deprivation syndrome
(also known as sleep apnoea syndrome, SAS), restless leg syndrome (RLS), or daytime sleepiness
(narcolepsy). SAS is frequently comorbid with RLS, and both are associated with disturbed sleep.75
Only 15% of them indicated having been diagnosed with any of those conditions (Figure 12). In
thirty per cent of the diagnosed cases, the disease was formally recognised as occupational. In
this context, 12% of workers in the excavation segment, 42% of workers in the transport/haulage
segment, and 21% of workers conducting administrative tasks reported having been diagnosed
with apnoea, RLS, or narcolepsy.

Page | 19
 Figure 12 Apnoea, restless leg syndrome, or narcolepsy diagnoses among workers

Has been
diagnosed
15%

Has not been

diagnosed
85%

Question: Have you been diagnosed with sleep deprivation syndrome (apnoea), restless legs syndrome or daytime sleepiness
(narcolepsy)?

Survey respondents were also asked whether they had suffered from depression. Almost a quarter
of them reported having suffered from it, while only 26% of those workers (all male) had been
formally diagnosed with depression. Almost a quarter of male workers and less than 20% of
female workers reported having suffered from depression, but none of the latter had been formally
diagnosed with it. The LGBTQ+ respondent reported having suffered from depression too (Figure
13). It is notable that 58% of Afro-descendant workers and 35% of Indigenous workers reported
having suffered from depression. Only 24% of the cases formally diagnosed with depression were
recognised as an occupation disease, and only 15% of surveyed workers who reported suffering
from depression had received psychological or psychiatric care in the last year.

Figure 13 Depression rate among workers, disaggregated by gender

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
Woman and LGBTI+ Man

Has suffered from depression Has not suffered from depression

Question: Have you suffered from depression?

Page | 20
With regards to the workload of surveyed workers, more than half of them (57%) considered their
working day to be exhaustingly long, the rest (43%) considered their working day was not
exhaustingly long. This percentage is consistent across genders, stages of the productive process,
and ethnicity of survey respondents. By contrast, only one third of subcontracted workers
perceived their working day to be exhaustingly long, compared to direct workers, of whom almost
two thirds thought their working days were exhaustingly long (Figure 14). As stated earlier in this
section, heavy workloads can exacerbate psychosocial risks. In line with this, there is agreement
among the interviewed informants that heavy workloads are increasing the stress levels of
workers and jeopardising their safety at work. In the words of a Colombian union leader: “We have
had workers pensioned off due to mental problems caused by the risks related to work stress, shifts,
pressure, harassment at work. Nowadays all the trucks have a camera, and the worker is monitored
for the full 12 hours of his shift and if he moves 5 seconds away from the road, the system
immediately calls him and says, “What is wrong with you? Why are you looking the other way? This
type of pressure generates a tremendous mental problem, which we are already experiencing.”

Figure 14 Surveyed workers’ perceived workload

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
Direct worker Subcontractor

Working day exhaustingly long Working day not exhaustingly long

Question: Is your working day exhaustingly long?

The surveyed workers were also asked about their work-life balance and more than half of them
reported having a healthy work-life balance (Figure 15). Sixty-three per cent of female workers and
fifty-four percent of men reported having a healthy work-life balance. The LGBTQ+ respondent
reported not having a healthy work-life balance. Moreover, 87% of surveyed workers reported being
head of household. Disaggregated by gender, 87% of the male workers and 63% of female workers
reported being head of household. The LGBTQ+ respondent reported not being head of household.

Figure 15 Surveyed workers’ work-life balance

Does not
Has a healthy
have a
work-life
healthy work-
balance
life balance
54%
46%

Page | 21
 Question: Do you have a healthy work-life balance?

With relation to the frequency and length of rest, 58% of the surveyed workers reported not having
the autonomy to decide when to take a break during the working day. Moreover, over half of them
reported facing retaliation whenever they asked for a break outside the agreed working hours
(Figure 16). Almost 58% of all reports of retaliation were from Peru, followed by Colombia (38%)
and Bolivia (4%). Forty per cent of surveyed workers reported changes in their working hours
without a reasonable period of notice.

Figure 16 Permission to rest outside agreed working hours and retaliation by employers

Does not
know
27%
Faces
retaliation
when asking
for a break
Does not 55%
face
retaliation
when asing
for a break
18%

Question: If you ask for a break outside the agreed working hours, do you face retaliation from your employer? n = 213

The surveyed workers were asked whether they felt the way they were treated at work was fair.
Sixty-one per cent of them reported feeling unfairly treated at work, the rest (39) did not feel
unfairly treated at work. Also, over 50% of racialised workers reported feeling unfairly treated at
work. Notably, 63% of Afro-descendant workers felt unfairly treated at work. Disaggregated by
gender, almost two thirds of male workers (63%) reported feeling unfairly treated at work, while
36% of the women felt treated unfairly (Figure 17). Moreover, more than half of direct and
subcontracted workers felt treated unfairly at work. Broken down by country, 65% of the Bolivian
workers and 60% of the Peruvian workers felt treated unfairly at work. In Colombia, where no
subcontracted workers were surveyed, 64% of survey respondents felt unfairly treated.

Figure 17 Workers’ perception of their treatment at work

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
Woman and LGTBI+ Man

Yes No

Question: Do you feel the way you are treated at work is unfair?

Page | 22
2.1.5 Ergonomic risks
Ergonomic risks are situations at the workplace that cause wear and tear on the body and can
cause injury. These include repetition, awkward posture, forceful motion, stationary position, high
force exertion, repetition, vibration, extreme temperature, noise, and work stress.76 If not prevented,
ergonomic risks can cause musculoskeletal disorders (i.e., injuries and disorders that affect the
human body's movement or musculoskeletal system, including muscles, tendons, ligaments,
nerves, discs, and blood vessels, see Section 1.2.2.). In mining, outdoor, and underground work
environments exacerbate exposure to those risks, making this sector more challenging than other
industries.77
Against this background, the surveyed workers were asked how often they experienced discomfort,
malaise, or pain in different parts of their bodies. On average, 67% of the workers felt discomfort,
malaise, or pain in some part of their bodies at least sometimes. By contrast, on average, 11% of
the surveyed workers reported never experiencing pain, discomfort, or malaise in any part of their
bodies. The most frequent ailment was pain or discomfort in the lower back, with 76% of surveyed
workers experiencing it at least sometimes (Figure 18).

Figure 18 Frequency of workers’ pain in different body parts

Eyes 26 43 155 98 45

Feet 28 46 172 78 43

Hands 31 43 154 89 50

Lower limbs 41 45 156 83 42

Body part

Upper limbs 51 48 143 81 44

Lower back 73 59 150 57 28

Upper back 59 58 157 62 31

Neck 33 50 167 68 49

Head 23 33 185 83 43

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Percentage of surveyed workers

Always Almost always Sometimes Almost never Never

Question: Do you experience discomfort, malaise or pain in your head, neck, upper back, lower back, upper limbs, lower limbs, hands,
feet, or eyes?

Regarding workers’ access to healthcare at the workplace, 82% of surveyed workers reported the
presence of dedicated healthcare personnel at the company where they worked. In this context,
50% of the surveyed workers felt that the company's health personnel were not impartial when
attending their health complaints. They were also asked about the level of health and safety
protection in their workplace. Less than a quarter of the surveyed workers considered this to be
very good or good (Figure 19). Moreover, 57 of them reported not understanding the process that
must be followed for a disease to be considered occupational.

Page | 23
 Figure 19 Workers’ perceived level of health and safety protection at work
Very bad Very good
4% 1%

Bad
Good
12%
22%

Regular
61%

Question: What level of health and safety protection do you perceive from your work?

Figure 20 Workers’ perceived condition of their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Bad
6% Very
good
2%

I have not been

Regular
provided with
60%
adquate PPE
1%

Good
31%

Question: What is the condition of the personal protective equipment (PPE) provided by the company where you work?

The surveyed workers were also asked to rate the condition of the PPE they had been provided
with at the company where they worked. One third of them considered this to be in good or very
good condition, while four workers (1% of the total surveyed) reported not having been provided
with adequate PPE (Figure 20). All of the workers who reported not having adequate PPE were
men and three of them worked in the excavation segment, while one of them worked in the
transport/hauling segment. Moreover, 71% of the surveyed workers indicated that there had been
workplace accidents in the company where they worked in the past year. According to the workers,
the causes of those accidents were diverse, with poor labour conditions and lack of preventive
maintenance being the most common (Table 5).

Table 5 Causes of workplace accidents, according to surveyed workers in focus countries

Cause of accident Frequency
Poor labour conditions (including lack 35
of preventive maintenance)
Fatigue 30
Falls 22
Rock falls and collapse 20
Microsleep 9

Page | 24
 Pressure and harassment from 9
supervisors
Mismanagement and poor planning 9
Unspecified causes 8
Lack of concentration 7
Question: What were the causes of those accidents?

Likewise, the surveyed workers were asked whether there had been workplace accidents caused
by a bad safety protocol regarding PPEs. Fifty-four percent of the respondents indicated that there
had been workplace accidents caused by a bad safety protocol regarding PPEs. Twenty-three
percent did not know and 29% said there were no workplace accidents caused by a bad safety
protocol regarding PPEs. Broken down by stage of the mining process, all the workers in the
refining segment indicated that there had been workplace accidents caused by a bad safety
protocol regarding PPEs (Figure 21).

Figure 21 Workplace accidents caused by a bad safety protocol regarding PPEs

Other

Transport/Haulage

Refining

ProcesYesng/Transformation

Excavation

Administration/Services

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Yes No I don't know

Question: Have there been workplace accidents in the company caused by a bad safety protocol regarding PPEs?

Moreover, the most cited cause for PPE-related workplace accidents was inadequate PPE (47%),
followed by low quality of the PPE (26%), absence of PPE (15%), and unspecified causes (12%).
Almost half of the surveyed workers indicated that the company where they worked did not involve
workers when carrying out the investigation of occupational accidents (Figure 22). These findings
go in line with the opinion of a union leader from Peru: “In some cases, when there is an accident,
only the chief on duty and the supervisor go to the scene. They go, they check, and then, a day or two
later, depending on the seriousness of the accident, they call in the workers’ representatives. In this
part too, I have always instilled in my colleagues, who are the representatives, that this should not be
allowed. Because one thing is to investigate an accident right at the place where it took place, and
another thing when you make up your report, right?”

Page | 25
 Figure 22 Mining companies’ inclusion of workers in workplace accident investigations

The company
did not involve The company
workers in the involved
investigation workers in the
44% investigation
56%

Question: Did the company involve workers when carrying out the investigation of occupational accidents?

The surveyed workers were also asked whether they had had any occupational diseases or
accidents. The majority of workers (69%) had not had any occupational diseases or accidents.
From the workers who had had an occupational disease or accidents, 57% had been incapacitated
in the last year. In this context, less than a third of the surveyed workers indicated that their
employer paid workers’ compensation (Figure 23). While the same proportion of direct and
subcontracted workers reported that employers paid workers’ compensation (27%), half of the
subcontracted workers did not know whether workers’ compensation was paid, a higher
percentage compared to direct workers (41%).

Figure 23 Workers’ sick leave compensation

The company
I don't know pays workers'
43% compensation
28%

The company
does not pay
workers'
compensation
29%

Question: Does your employer pay workers' compensation?

Regarding the severity of accidents at the workplace, two thirds of workers indicated that these
were either disabling or fatal (Figure 24). In this context, 52% of the surveyed Peruvian workers
reported fatal accidents. The fatality rate reported by the surveyed workers was much lower in
Bolivia (16%) and Colombia (6%). By contrast, in Colombia, most of the accidents reported by
survey respondents were disabling (62%). Two thirds of accidents in Bolivia were either minor or
moderate. One third of the accidents reported by direct workers were fatal. Twenty-three percent
of subcontracted workers reported fatal accidents.

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 Figure 24 Severity of workplace accidents

Fatal I don't know

34% 1%

Minor
14%

Disabling Moderate
34% 17%

Question: The accidents reported in the last year were:

2.2 Management of OSH risks

The management OSH risks is a formal process for identifying hazards, evaluating and analysing
risks associated with those hazards. The main goal of OSH risk management is to take action to
eliminate the hazards or control the risks that cannot be eliminated to minimise injury and
occupational diseases. A key element of OSH risk management systems is the active participation
or involvement of workers.78
Against this background, the surveyed workers were asked whether there was an occupational
health and safety management system in place where they worked. Eighty-seven per cent of them
responded that there was an OSH management system in place. Over two thirds of the workers
reported that the OSH protocol had been socialised among workers (Figure 25). In this context,
80% workers thought the company had instated the protocol in response to its legal obligations.
Eleven per cent of workers thought setting up the OSH protocol had been the outcome of a
business decision, and 9% did not know why the company had introduced the protocol. The
workers were also asked whether there were workers, activities or locations not contemplated in
the OSH management system of the company where they worked. Over half of them (57%) did not
know, and 22 % believed there were workers, activities, or location not included in the OSH
management system.

Figure 25 Socialisation of OSH protocol among workers

I don't know
10%

The OSH
The OSH
protocol has
protocol has
not been
been
socialised
socialised
18%
72%

Question: Has the Occupational Health and Safety protocol been made available to workers?

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Most surveyed workers were positive about their companies’ implementation of the OSH
management system. In this context, 23% believed that the company ensured the continuous
improvement processes of the OSH management system; 19% believed their employer ensured
quality processes to identify hazards or ensured risk assessment. Twelve per cent believed the
company ensured continuous improvement processes of the occupational health and safety
management system, and the rest believed their employer did not guarantee any of the above.

Figure 26 Protocol to protect workers from retaliation

There is a
Does not know protocol to
31% protect workers
30%

There is no
protocol to
protect workers
39%

Question: In the company where you work, is there a protocol to protect workers from retaliation when they complain about working
conditions?

The workers were also asked whether the company where they worked had known processes for
reporting hazards or risk situations at work. Seventy-two per cent of them responded that the
company had such procedures. The rest of the workers said that their employer had not put a
process in place to report hazards or risk situations at work (14%) or did not know if this was the
case (14%). Likewise, almost 40% of workers stated that their company had no protocol to protect
workers from retaliation when they complained about working conditions (Figure 26). A company
representative interviewed for this project indicated that the company had yet to adopt any of the
main OSH standards (namely, OSHAS 18001, ISO 45001, 9001, 5001, or 37500), but that it was
NOSA-certified. In this context, the fact that NOSA has no publicly available whistle-blower
protection standards suggests the absence of this standard. It is also possible that existing
whistle-blower protection policies and protocols are not sufficiently socialised among workers.

Figure 27 Protocols to guarantee workers’ right to protect themselves against OSH risks

Does not
know There is a
28% protocol in
place
37%

There is no
protocol in
place
35%

Question: Does the company where you work have policies and processes to protect workers from exercising the right to leave work
when there is a risk of injury, illness, accident, or disease?

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The workers were asked whether the company they worked for had policies and processes in place
to protect workers from exercising the right to leave work when there was a risk of injury, illness,
accident, or disease. Almost 40% reported that the company they worked for had such protocols in
place (Figure 27). Most subcontracted workers (52%) reported that the company had no protocols
to guarantee workers’ right to protect themselves against OSH risks. By contrast, 30% of direct
workers reported the absence of such protocols. These findings do not necessarily prove the
absence of policies to protect workers’ rights to remove themselves from dangerous situations at
work, but they are certainly an indication that such policies are not sufficiently socialised among
workers. In line with this assertion, the US Department of State found that the Colombian law
generally protects workers’ rights to remove themselves from situations that endanger health or
safety without jeopardy to their employment, although some violations of this right were reported
during the year 2021.79
Almost half of the surveyed workers (48%) found that the companies they worked for did not have
good OSH practices for subcontractors. In this context, two-thirds of workers reported that
company they worked for did not have any voluntary health promotion programmes or services for
direct employees. Likewise, 71% of the workers reported that company where they worked did not
have voluntary health promotion programmes or services for outsourced workers. The range of
health promotion programmes for both direct and outsourced workers reported by the surveyed
workers is provided in Table 6.

Table 6 Programmes by employers to promote the health of workers

Type of programme For direct For outsourced
workers workers
Learning active breaks 92 74
Encourage the practice of sports 59 39
Providing healthy food 55 42
Reconciling work and family life 25 23
Other 1 2
Question: Which of the following programmes or services does the company where you work have for direct employee or direct
employee health promotion?
Note: The numbers above concern the number of times surveyed workers indicated the existence of health promotion programmes.

With regard to the companies’ obligation to report workplace accidents, the majority of surveyed
workers (45%) did not believe that the company where they worked reported accidents at work to
the competent authority. Among the workers that believed their employer did not report workplace
accidents, 40% were Colombian and 60% Peruvian. Notably, none of the Bolivian respondents
perceived that their employer did not report work accidents to the competent authority (responses
to this question in Bolivia were divided between workers who believed their employer reported
(69%) and those who did not know whether their employer reported (31%)).

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The high number of employees who did not believe their employer reported workplace accidents to
the competent authority is possibly explained by the lack of reliability of data pertaining workplace
safety. This lack of reliability is the result of the interplay of various causes, including insufficient
capacities to enforce labour inspections,80 or to enforce the compliance of reporting
responsibilities, among others. In the words of a trade union leader from Colombia with OSH
expertise: “The form [that needs to be filled to report accidents to FASECOLDA, the Federation of
Colombian Insurance Companies, a private instance in charge of aggregating data and reporting to
the Colombian Ministry of Labour] asks questions regarding the of cause of accident, if it occurred at
dawn, in the afternoon, at night, all that information. I have always asked them where [this
information] is kept and they say that it is archived. There could be a wealth of information that could
make the problem visible, which is not used because there is no single official information system,
the Ministry of Labour should be in charge of that, that is the first thing.”
This opinion is also shared by the Bolivian mining sector representative interviewed for this
research: “On the part of the Ministry, we see [their effort to aggregate and publish information on
workplace accidents] as very low, we have had no dissemination or recommendation from them,
[neither] have [they] been involved in serious accident investigations, for example in other areas, they
are very isolated, there is little communication and very low standard of investigation on their part.”
By contrast, the interviewed Peruvian government representative underscored that, from his point
of view, mining companies did not comply with their responsibilities to report workplace accidents.
At the same time, the informant conceded that: “[this situation] is linked to the weakness of the
labour administration bodies to enforce or eventually sanction non-compliance, or the weakness of
the labour administration, I think this is also related to this.”
The workers were also asked whether the health system at work met their expectations. Almost
two thirds of them (61%) found that the health system at work attended to their needs in a timely
manner. Thirty-six percent of workers responded that the health system did not tend to their needs,
and 3% said there was no health system at work.
Contrary to the results of this survey, there is consensus among the trade union representatives
interviewed for this research that mining companies in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru do not handle
workplace accidents properly. In the words of a union leader from Peru: “there have been reports
and many workers have died, as far as I can remember, from stomach cancer. About seven workers
have died from stomach cancer and a few who have quite serious digestive problems, which have not
been diagnosed, because the system itself is late in providing medical attention. For example, if the
worker wants to attend an appointment with a specialist [he] can only attend if he’s given unpaid
leave. But a worker who is disabled, who has economic hurdles, often tries to get an appointment
during his break, and often the doctor is not there. Therefore, the opportunity to get medical attention
in a timely manner is lost and these illnesses evolve in silence, often leading to death.”
Likewise, a trade union leader from Colombia explained that workplace accidents and injuries are
handled by public and private work insurance companies. According to the informant, whenever
there is an accident, these companies “look for a way to disqualify injuries as a result of a workplace
accident and look for ways to not compensate workers.”

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2.3 Gendered risks
This study captured the voices of 367 workers, of which roughly 3% were women and one LGBTQ+
respondent. While, undoubtfully, a larger effort is needed to reach out to more women, it is true
that less than 8% of the workers with formal employment in the Latin American mining sector are
women. According to IDB, the gender gap is also rife in leadership positions, where less than 17%
of executive and 1% of top management positions are filled by women.81 Likewise, women are
notably absent from field operations and only a few work as technicians and they tend to occupy
jobs in the administrative segment.82 These trends reflect the proportion of surveyed female
informants in the different segments of the productive process: almost 55% of the female
informants worked in the administration/services segment, 27% in excavation, and 18% in
processing. The LGBTQ+ respondent also worked in the processing segment. Statistics rarely
capture information on the participation of non-normative identities in the labour market and
therefore reporting on their experiences in the mining sector is important to increase the visibility
about the challenges they face to access their rights to a safe and healthy workplace.
Despite the masculinisation of the sector, this study found some differences between genders (i.e.,
women, men, and a LGBTQ+ respondent). For example, less than ten percent of the surveyed men
reported sleeping less than four hours a day, compared to 25% of the persons of women (including
the LGBTQ+ worker). About 60% of surveyed women and other found that their working day was
exhaustingly long, although only 36% stated feeling unfairly treated at work. While not significantly
different, a smaller percentage of men (55%) found their working day exhaustingly long. As stated
earlier, women engaged in paid employment see their workdays extend significant as they
maintain their unpaid job as care givers at home.
Further, one of the Colombian trade union leaders who informed this research denounced the lack
of gender disaggregated data concerning workplace accidents, which is compounded by the
failure of companies and governments to fulfil their obligation to report workplace accidents. In
the words of the informant: “For example, last year 513,857 accidents had occurred by December 31,
2021, a little more than half a million accidents at work, [there are] 10,799,000 workers. These
statistics are not broken down by sex, much less by age, they are broken down by economic sector.”
This situation constitutes a risk in which gender-disaggregated data is crucial to ensuring gender-
sensitive prevention and mitigation of workplace accidents affecting workers of each gender and
ultimately achieve equality between men and women in occupational safety and health.83

2.4 Risks for subcontracted workers

This study found that almost half of the surveyed workers did not think that companies they
worked for had good OSH practices for subcontractors. This assertion was made in the context of
the types and adequacy of programmes by companies to promote the health of workers. While this
could be interpreted as an indication that companies have not sufficiently socialised their policies
and programmes, a few studies have found that subcontracting agencies supplying workers to
mining operations in Latin America do not provide frequent or sufficient safety trainings.84 This
situation not only constitutes a unique risk for the health and safety of outsourced workers, but it
hinders the provision of occupational health services in the workplace and complicates auditing
services.
As stated earlier, more than half of the subcontracted workers reported that the company they
worked for had no protocols to guarantee their right to protect themselves against OSH risks. This
finding, together with the information provided by a Peruvian union leader interviewed for this
study, points to the possibility that subcontracted workers are more prone to retaliation when
making complaints about their working conditions. In the words of the informant: “There are many
outsourced workers in Peru who are being left aside […] many of them are not part of the [bipartite]
consultation processes on OSH […] they don’t get to give their opinion, they are only made to comply
[…] and when they want to unionise, their contract is ended and they are out of a job”.

Page | 31
By contrast, the mining sector representative from Peru stated that in their operations, “we have an
[OSH] committee as at each mining unit, each subcontractor that has more than 20 workers has its
own committee in the operations and there is a monthly safety meeting with these subcontractors.
[Moreover,] the [OSH] management system encompasses all our operational processes, but also
includes part of the management of the subcontracting company, that is, the subcontracting
company is aligned to our management system.” While there is merit in the mining company’s effort
to use the same standards for direct and subcontracted workers via the inclusion of
subcontracting agencies in the planning and monitoring of OSH management systems, the fact
that workers still report poor practices merits paying a closer look at possible loopholes in these
systems.

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3
Structural barriers to comprehensive
Occupational Safety and Health
Which factors influence the mining sectors’ OSH standards and complying with those
standards? In answering that question, this chapter looks at legal frameworks in
producing countries as well as the mining industry’s voluntary CSR initiatives that seek to
address OSH risks. Attention is paid to the limitations of those legal frameworks and
voluntary initiatives.
Legislation, together with resourceful supervision and control of implementation, is considered the
main foundation on which risk mitigation in mining should be based. The ILO Safety and Health in
Mines Convention No. 176, 1995 (C176) supports the development of such legislation. It states the
preventive and protective measures that should be undertaken by the employer to assess the risk
and address it in the following order of priority: eliminate or reduce the risk; control the risk at
source; minimise the risk by means that include the design of safe work systems; and, in so far as
the risk remains, provide for the use of personal protective equipment.85
When it comes to technical and organisational measures to improve mine safety and prevent
mining accidents, there are several guidelines and codes of practice. Apart from C176, two other
instruments serve as a point of reference to guide OSH measures the mining sector: the
Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935 (No. 45) and the Safety and Health in Mines
Recommendation, 1995 (No. 183).86 These instruments often serve as the bases for national
legislation and international voluntary initiatives on RBC.

3.1 Legal frameworks and enforcement bodies in producing countries

The mechanism for enforcement of the provisions of occupational safety, health and welfare
statute in mines includes inspection of mines, inquiry into accidents, surveys, grant of permissions
and exemptions, and approvals, among others. The policies and governmental bodies of Bolivia,
Colombia, and Peru that embody this mechanism are analysed in the following sections.

3.1.1 Bolivia
Legal framework
Bolivia has not ratified the key ILO Conventions on OSH, including C155 - Occupational Safety and
Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) C176 - Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995, although it
has ratified C045 - Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935.87 However, Bolivia’s
constitution, through Article 46, expressly recognises the right to safety and health at work as a
fundamental human right: “To decent work, with industrial safety, hygiene and occupational health,
without discrimination, and with fair, equitable and satisfactory remuneration or salary, which
ensures for himself and his family a dignified existence. To a stable source of employment, under
equitable and satisfactory conditions.”88

Page | 33
In Bolivia, the main terms relating to workers' health and safety are legally defined in Decree Law
No. 16998 of 2 August 1979, approving the General Law on Hygiene, Occupational Safety and
Welfare. Article 4 of the Decree Law provides up to 20 definitions which contribute to a better
understanding of the law.89

Table 7 General definitions set in Decree Law No. 16998

Term Definition

Worker Any person who provides services to an employer for wages, salary or other
remuneration, including any apprentice or trainee working for pay or without
remuneration.
Industrial or The set of procedures and rules of a technical, legal and administrative nature,
occupational safety oriented to the protection of the worker, of the risks against their physical
integrity and its consequences, as well as to maintain the continuity of the
productive process and the intangibility of the assets of the workplace.
Industrial or A potential state of natural or artificial origin which may cause an occupational
occupational risk accident or disease.
Unsafe condition Any physical condition or absence of norm, capable of causing an accident.
Unsafe act Any unnecessary action and/or exposure of the worker to a risk which may
cause an accident.
Workplace accident Any unforeseen event that disrupts a work activity causing injury(ies) to the
worker and/or disruption to machinery, equipment, materials and productivity.
Injury Any bodily dysfunction or impairment caused by an accident or occupational
disease. Injuries can be minor, severe and fatal.
Minor injury A work-related injury that requires first aid or medical attention but does not
cause the worker to lose one or more working days.
Severe injury Any injury that results in incapacity for work, causing the worker to miss one or
more working days.
Fatal injury Any injury that causes death.
Investigation of an The methodical sequence that is observed in the study of an accident
accident from a period prior to its occurrence until the moment the exact causes and
circumstances contributing to the occurrence of the event have been
determined.
Safety statistics The result of the analysis and mathematical evaluation of data related to
occupational accidents and diseases conducted to obtain useful information
for research, planning and control of occupational health and safety activities.
Source: Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (n.d.), Ley General de Higiene y Seguridad Ocupacional y Bienestar. Ley (Decreto
Ley) (2-Agosto-1979) Vigente.

Moreover, three ministerial resolutions estipulate technical OSH norms:90

• Ministerial Resolution Nr. 387/17: Sets minimum levels of illumination at the workplace
(Technical Safety Norm (NTS) 001), minimal conditions of noise exposure (NTS 002), minimal
conditions to conduct work at a risky height (NTS 003), safety conditions for work on scaffolds
(NTS 005), safety conditions for demolition work (NTS 006), safety conditions for excavation
works (NTS 007), and safety conditions for work in confined spaces (NTS 008).
• Ministerial Resolution Nr. 1411/18: Sets the guidelines for occupational safety and health
programmes (NTS 009).
• Ministerial Resolution Nr. 612/20: Sets standards for nutrition and food at the workplace (NTS
011), hygiene services at the workplace (NTS 012), and ground transportation services for
commuting workers (NTS 013).

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Competent authorities
In Bolivia, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security is the highest institution in terms
of OSH matters. Its mission is to develop actions to promote and protect work, dignified
employment, the restitution of socio-labour and fundamental labour rights, recognised in favour of
workers.91 In this context, two dependencies of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social
Security are in charge of planning and enforcing OSH norms:
• General Directorate of Labour, Hygiene and Occupational Safety
The General Directorate of Labour, Hygiene and Occupational Safety supervises working
conditions and health and safety within the Bolivia’s establishments. The objectives pursued by
this body are to promote policies and actions to ensure adequate labour relations, ensuring
compliance and enforcement at the national level of labour and industrial safety legislation, as
well as international conventions on the subject.92
Among the attributions of the General Directorate of Labour, Hygiene and Occupational Safety,
the following stand out:93
• Comply with and enforce compliance with labour and social standards in the framework of
decent work.
• Promote policies for the prevention of occupational diseases and accidents at work, as well
as the dissemination of and compliance with labour, occupational safety and health
standards.
• Coordinate, elaborate and execute policies and programmes on occupational health and
safety, with public and private entities, through the National Institute of Occupational
Health.
• Plan, organise, direct, coordinate, coordinate, execute and control activities, technical and
operative tasks under the responsibility of its unit, complying with the established
management goals.
• To regulate the planning, organisation, direction and control of the activities of the
Departmental and Regional Labour Headquarters in relation to the attention to the
demands of workers and occupational health, referring to the payment of social benefits,
overtime and others, labour migration and presentation of payrolls and salaries, industrial
safety, accidents at work and others in the area of their competence.
• National Institute of Occupational Health
The National Institute of Occupational Health (INSO) is technical scientific body under the
supervision of the Ministry of Health, whose purpose is the analysis and study of OSH
conditions, as well as the promotion and support for their improvement, in accordance with its
regulations. INSO seeks to implement its structure and services throughout the national
territory, promoting research, epidemiological surveillance, and training, with dynamism,
productivity, and timeliness at the service of Bolivian workers.94
The main functions of INSO are:95
• To carry out training, information, research, study and dissemination of OSH activities;
• To draw up technical OSH standards, in coordination with related bodies;
• To elaborate the Technical Guides for the application of the Regulations derived from the
Law.
• Elaborate and supervise the protocols and procedures for pre-occupational and
occupational medical examinations, systematic and compulsory for workers, coordinating
with the Social Security management bodies;
• To provide technical advice to companies and public and private entities on OSH;
• To provide technical advice and the necessary expert collaboration with the Occupational
Health and Safety Inspectorate in its respective surveillance and control functions;

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 • To establish a system of registration of occupational accidents and diseases at the
national level;
• To implement a procedure for the statistical calculation of occupational accidents and
diseases valid for Bolivia; Any others that correspond to it for the promotion of OSH.
Barriers of Bolivian legislation to comprehensive OSH
Despite the number of provisions to protect workers’ right to workplace safety and health,
according to the US Department of Labour, Bolivia’s OSH legislation is not effectively enforced.
The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare’s General Directorate of Labour, Hygiene
and Occupational Safety is responsible for the protection on workers’ OSH, but has insufficient
funds and inspectorate capacity, and noncompliance is underreported. Workers in informal
employment enjoy even less protection.96

3.1.2 Colombia
Legal framework
Colombia has not ratified the key Conventions on OSH, including C155 - Occupational Safety and
Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) and C176 - Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995.97
In Colombia, occupational safety at mining sites is regulated through four policy instruments: Law
685 of 2001 or the Mining Code, as amended by Law 1382 of 2010; Decree 1335 of 1987 or the
Safety Regulations for Underground Workings, as amended by Decree 1886 of September 2015;
Decree 2222 of 1993 or the Health and Safety Regulations for Open Pit Mining; and Decree 035 of
1994 on mining safety provisions. These instruments regulate various aspects pertaining to the
operating conditions of mining operations in the country, including mine design, the atmospheric
conditions of underground mining, the use of equipment and means of transport, and the
responsibilities mining companies to ensure acceptable safety conditions in mining operations
(article 59 of the Mining Code), among other aspects.98 These instruments are currently
undergoing revisions and modifications.
There are also other technical and legal provisions defined by other ministerial portfolios, which
are related to workers' safety and are mandatory for the mining sector:99
• Resolution 2400 (of May 22, 1979): Establishes certain provisions on housing, health, and
safety in work establishments.
• Decree 2222 (of November 5, 1993): Issues regulations on hygiene and safety in opencast
mines.
• Decree 035 (of January 10, 1994): Lays down provisions in the field of mining safety.
• Decree 1295 (of June 22, 1994): determines the organisation and administration of the General
System of Occupational Risks.
• Decree 2090 (of July 28, 2003): Defines high-risk activities for the health of the worker and
modifies and indicates the conditions, requirements and benefits of the pension scheme for
workers who conduct these activities.
• Resolution 1401 (of May 14, 2007): Regulating the investigation of incidents and accidents at
work.
• Resolution 181467 (of September 7, 2011): Adopts a National Mining Safety Policy.
• Memorandum 18014 (of May 5, 2011): Sets guidelines pertaining mining safety.
• Decree 723 (of April 15, 2013): Regulates the affiliation to the General System of Labour Risks
of the persons linked through a formal contract of provision of services with public or private
entities or institutions or private entities or institutions and independent workers who work in
activities high-risk activities.
• Concept 201420001232321 (of July 29, 2014): States concerns related to mining accidents.
• Decree 1443 (of July 31, 2014): Lays down provisions for the implementation of the Safety and
Health and Safety Management System at Work (SG-SST).

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• Concept 20151200090901 (of April 10, 2015): Consultation on mining health and safety and
occupational health standards.
• Decree 1886 (of September 21, 2015): Establishes Safety Regulations for Underground Mine
Workings.
• Resolution 368 (oof May 26, 2016): Regulating the technical characteristics of self-rescuer
equipment underground mining personnel.
• Decree 052 (of January 12, 2017): Transition to the implementation of the Health and Safety
Management System.
• Resolution 1111 (of March 27, 2017): Defines the minimum standards of the management and
safety system at work for employers and contractors.
• Concept 20171200163811 (of April 4, 2017): Consultation on safety protocol.
• Technical Guidance (of July 1, 2017): Technical Implementation Guide of the SG-SST System
for Small-scale Mining.
• Guidance (of December 1, 2017): Safety Guide for Ventilation of Underground Mines.
• Resolution 1796 (of April 27, 2018): Updates the list of hazardous work activities.
• Concept 20181200266371 (of July 9, 2018): Concept on training of emergency brigades for
mining companies.
• Decree 1496 (of August 6, 2018): Adopts the national chemical safety system.
• Technical Guidance (of August 1, 2019): Technical Safety Guide for the Use and Handling of
Explosives
• Concept 20191200272691 (of November 11, 2019): Consultation related to compliance with
health and safety standards in Special Reserve Areasv applications.
Competent authorities
In addition to the legal framework above, a set of general norms have been developed to address
workplace safety risks and to realise workers’ right to occupational safety and health. In this
context, Decree 1295 of 1994 (as amended by Law 1562 of 2012), established the organisation
and administration of the General System of Professional Risks (Sistema General de Riesgos
Profesionales, SGRP), a set of public and private entities, rules and procedures designed to
prevent, protect, and care for workers from the effects of diseases and accidents that may occur
during or as a consequence of their work. 100
The SGRP is made up of the entities in charge of the Direction, Control and Surveillance of the
System: The Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the Ministry of Labour, the National Council
of Occupational Risks, the National Superintendence of Health and the Financial Superintendence
of Colombia; the public and private Occupational Risk Administrators (Administradoras de Riesgos
Ocupacionales, ARL); the employers; and the workers. The responsibilities of the SGRP are shared
between the company, the ARL, and the worker. In this context, the company affiliates workers to
the System, develops programmes for the prevention and control of occupational risks. The role of
the ARL is to advice and provide technical assistance to the company aiming at the development
of prevention programmes. It also tends to workers who have suffered accidents or occupational
diseases. The worker is responsible for caring for their health and complying with the OSH
standards set by their employer.101

v Special Reserve Areas are areas declared by Colombia’s National Mining Agency in favour of a mining community, in
a free area where there are traditional informal mining operations whose concession will only be granted to the same
community that has exercised the traditional mining activity, without prejudice to the mining titles in force (Law 685
of 2001, art. 31, modified by art. 147 of Decree 019 of 2012).

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Affiliation to the SGRP is a Social Security insurance scheme whose purpose is to protect the
health of workers and address contingencies arising from working conditions. Workers affiliated to
the SGRL who suffer an accident at work, or an occupational disease are entitled to the recognition
of welfare benefits (health services) and economic benefits (financial recognition). Affiliation to
the SGRP is mandatory for dependent employees, retired workers reincorporated as dependent
workers, public servants, workers on a service contract with a duration of one month or more,
students undergoing a mandatory internship or students generating income for their educational
institution, self-employed workers who work in high-risk sectors, members of cooperatives, and
active members of the National First Response Subsystem (e.g., Colombian Civil Defence,
Colombian Red Cross, and Fire Brigades) 102
Colombia’s healthcare coverage system is called the Sistema General de Seguridad Social en
Salud (SGSSS) is universal (meaning that every person must be affiliated) and two-tiered. It
consists, on the one hand, of a mandatory public health insurance offered by several insurance
companies called Entidades Promotoras de Salud (Health Care Providing Entities, EPS).103 The
other tier is a free government subsidised healthcare system called SISBEN (System of
Identification of Social Programme Beneficiaries), which covers impoverished or homeless
Colombians.104 In addition to the public system, wealthier Colombians often purchase private
health insurance known as Prepagada.
EPS and SISBEN affiliates are entitled to the same benefits. The Compulsory Health Plan (Plan
Obligatorio de Salud, POS) establishes a single plan or package of services, consisting of
interventions aimed at health promotion, prevention, and medical and medical care, including
medicines, for affiliates and their families. The POS also includes monetary sick or maternity leave
benefits. EPS is financed through compulsory contributions from employers, salaried and self-
employed workers and pensioners. Participants contribute according to their contributory capacity.
SISBEN is financed through taxes and transfers from the Contributive Regime. The Colombian
State transfers a per capita payment for the delivery of the POS to the EPSs, according to the
number of affiliates in each EPS.105
Barriers of Colombian legislation to comprehensive OSH
In 2011, Colombia adopted the National Policy on Safety in Mining, seeking to mainstream safety
in mining operations using a preventive approach, increasing technical standards, fostering the
participation of all stakeholders, and consolidating a public information system on mining safety.
While the National Policy lays out activities that contribute to the achievement its objective, there
is no action plan to serve as a tool to follow up in terms of targets, responsible persons, and
deadlines.106
Moreover, according to the National Trade Union Academy of Colombia (Escuela Nacional
Sindical, ENS), the current safety regulations for open-pit mining workers are outdated and neglect
new risks (for example, COVID-19 and psychosocial risks exacerbated by rising costs of living) and
changes in work processes and new forms of production, including the prevalence of outsourcing.
In this context, ENS acknowledges the development of a preventive approach of recent years.
However, this approach continues to focus on damage prevention and risk mitigation but falls
short of championing decent and dignified conditions for the sector’s workers.107
Further, while Colombian law generally protects workers’ rights to remove themselves from
situations that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their employment, violations of this
right have been reported in recent years.108 Although the Ministry of Labour is in charge of
conducting inspections to ensure OSH standards are respected, the government has not hired
enough inspectors, the level of training of these inspectors was found to be below par, and the
failure to collect fines after penalties were assigned have failed to prevent health and safety
violations.109

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Lastly, reports of non-compliance by EPS have increased in recent years, which has spurred a
rigorous evaluation of 10 EPS that have failed to comply with basic financial and legal parameters.
In this context, the government has given seven years of opportunities and benefits to companies
in the social security health system to recover, but if they fail to do so by 2022, they will have to
exit the market, which would cause problems for the health system and for the affiliated people
who would have to switch to EPSs that do comply with the standard. In addition, a large amount of
the portfolio, which could exceed US$ 2 million is expected to be left up in the air, threatening the
stability of public hospitals.110 This shows the vulnerability of the country's social security health
system and its inability to guarantee the fundamental right to health (see Box 2 for data of access
to EPS of SINTRAMINERGETICA workers). Most of the EPS that would be liquidated are in the
subsidised regime.

Box 2. Health and safety of mine workers affiliated to SINTRAMINERGETICA

The results of a survey conducted by SINTRAMINERGETICA in June 2019 among 230 workers (including
225 men and five women) on occupational diseases and accidents. Two hundred thirty workers,
including 225 men and five women (for more information on the survey, see box 1), showed that 47% of
the workers reported being affiliated to Coomeva, 36% to Salud Total and 12% to Nueva EPS, and to a
lesser extent to the EPS of Famisanar, Sanitas, Medimás, Sanidad Militar and Suramericana. Since the
survey was conducted, Medimás was liquidated due to non-compliance and the remaining EPS are under
surveillance by the Health Superintendence for non-compliance too.
With regards to pension funds, 54% of the workers who responded to the survey were affiliated with
Colpensiones, 29% with Porvenir, 14% with Colfondos, 2% with Protección and 1% with BBVA Horizonte.

3.1.3 Peru
Legal framework
Peru has ratified ILO C176 - Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995, but has not ratified C155
- Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) nor C045 - Underground Work
(Women) Convention, 1935 (No. 45).111 The 2011 Occupational Safety and Health Law (Ley de
Salud y Seguridad en el Trabajo, Law 29783) specifies the responsibilities of all employers to offer
a safe and sanitary workplace. Particularly, the government establishes three levels of
responsibility: inspection and supervision by the government, prevention by the employer, and
participation of the worker. OSH regulation and implementation is supervised through joint
councils between the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Health.112
In addition to the general OSH legislation, Peru has promulgated specific legislative specific for the
mining sector:
• Occupational Safety and Health Regulations for the Mining Sector (2016, revised 2020):
Published by the Ministry of Energy and Mines as Supreme Decree 024-2016-EM (Modified by
Supreme Decree 023-2017-EM), approving a new Regulation on Occupational Safety and
Health in Mining. Its objective is to prevent dangerous incidents, occupational accidents, and
occupational diseases, and promote a culture of occupational risk prevention in mining. To this
end, it relies on the participation of workers, employers, and the State, who will ensure its
promotion, dissemination and compliance.113
• Directorial Resolution 005-2020-Inacal/DN: Sets the Peruvian Technical Standards on
respiratory protection devices, gloves for protection against hazardous chemicals and micro-
organisms, and medical materials are approved.114
• Law 31246: Modifies articles 49 and 60 of Occupational Safety and Health Law (Law 29783)
and lays out the responsibilities of employers to cover the costs of PPEs in accordance with
Peruvian technical standards as set out in Directorial Resolution 005-2020-Inacal/DN and the
costs of the necessary screening tests accredited by the National Health Authority.115

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• Supreme Decree No. 005-2012-TR approving the Regulation of Law 29783: Establishes the
obligation of a policy, organization, planning and implementation of the occupational safety
and health management system; the internal occupational safety and health regulations of
each organization; the rights and obligations of both employers and workers; the notification of
occupational accidents and occupational diseases in a work centre; the investigation of
occupational accidents, occupational diseases and dangerous incidents.116
Competent authorities
The Peruvian authorities in charge of enforcing OSH legislation are attached to two ministries: the
Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion (MTPE) and the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of
Labour and Employment Promotion (MTPE) operates through the Directorate of Occupational
Safety and Health and the National Council of Occupational Safety and Health (CONSSAT).117 The
Ministry of Health participates in occupational safety and health through the General Directorate of
Environmental Health and Food Safety and the National Centre for Occupational Health and
Environmental Protection for Health (Centro Nacional de Salud Ocupacional y Protección del
Ambiente para la Salud, CENSOPAS).
The Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health is the technical body of the Ministry of Labour.
This entity coordinates with other entities the design of standards, policies, and national plans in
this area. It also responds to inquiries from labour stakeholders and issues technical opinions on
the matter, as well as analysing and systematising regional and national information on
occupational safety and health.118
CONSSAT is a tripartite body that participates in designing, approving, and following national
policy in occupational safety and health. CONSSAT also promotes and fosters cooperation among
agencies and coordinates training for labour actors.119 In addition to the National Council, there are
regional OSH councils which, as the CONSSAT, are tripartite bodies that support the regional
labour and employment promotion directorates of the regional governments.120
The Ministry of Health is attached to the General Directorate of Environmental Health and Food
Safety. This entity assumes an operational role among the governing institutions, as it focuses
only on conducting the certification and authorisation process in occupational health matters.121
Likewise, the National Superintendence of Labour Inspection (SUNAFIL) is a public entity attached
to the MTPE in charge of labour inspection.122
Lastly, (CENSOPAS) is part of the National Institute of Health (INS) and is responsible for
conducting evaluations, research, and recommendations for the prevention of diseases and
damage to health, due to economic activities that may affect workers and the community.123
Barriers of Peruvian legislation to comprehensive OSH
One of the main barriers of Peruvian legislation to comprehensive OSH is that the government
bodies in charge of enforcing regulations are national in scope and do not focus on a specific
sector. In this context, the prevention of occupational risks in the mining sector does not have an
institution specialising in occupational safety and health.
Moreover, the Peruvian mining sector has underscored the existing barriers to improving the
effectiveness of norms in improving the OSH situation of the mining sector. In this context, the
mining sector stressed the insufficient number of professionals and the lack of clarity in their
accreditation, the reactive attitude towards accidents and the lack of alignment between sectoral
regulations, as well as weaknesses in the investigation of accidents and the diagnosis of
occupational diseases.124

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By the same token, the failure of existing policies regulating OSH in the Peruvian mining sector has
been linked to the way in which these policies fail to address the motivations that make workers
engage in dangerous situations at work. In this context, although existing policies focus on
prevention, they do not focus on creating a culture at the company level that values workers'
training and participation in OSH matters.125

3.2 Voluntary international sustainability initiatives and agreements

The increase of mining sector and supply chain initiatives of the past decade reflects the growing
number of sector-specific and cross-sectoral regulations and soft laws by international
organisations such as the UN and the OECD. This section provides an overview of the main
voluntary initiatives for the mining sector and their provisions regarding OSH.

3.2.1 The Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI)

the RMI provides due diligence guidance, tools, and resources to improve regulatory compliance
and support the responsible sourcing of minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas. It has
over 400 member companies, predominantly from mid and downstream manufacturing sectors
and brands, and publishes lists of processing sites for different minerals (both compliant and
‘eligible’).126
In 2021, the RMI launched an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standard to improve
working conditions in the mining sector. One of the four key elements of this standard is OSH. In
this context, the OSH provisions set by the RMI’s ESG standard seek to “address company hygiene,
safe operation of equipment, personal protection requirements and access to first aid and
canteens.”127
To qualify for RMI ESG certification, companies are expected to put in place an OSH policy. This
requires that the processor’s top management define and endorse an environmental policy that is
appropriate to the nature and scale of OSH hazards and risks to its activities, products and
services. It should also include a commitment to providing a safe and healthy working environment
and a commitment to participation (i.e., involving workers and workers’ representatives, in
decision-making processes regarding OSH).128

3.2.2 The European Partnership for Responsible Minerals (EPRM)

EPRM is a partnership of governments, supply chain actors and civil society organisations; the
EPRM advocates for responsible sourcing along minerals supply chains entering Europe.
Participating governments include Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and France. The EPRM
focuses on tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold (3TG).129 Both tin and gold are minerals mined in
Peruvian and Bolivian mines with supply links to the European market.130
The EPRM also provides support to mine sites in conflict-affected and high-risk areas worldwide,
including gold mines in Peru and Bolivia, and keeps the Due Diligence Hub, which provides access
to targeted information to improve companies' supply chain due diligence.131 Regarding resources
for EPRM members regarding OSH, the Due Diligence Hub has published the ICMM Good Practice
Guidance on Occupational Safety and Health and a few case studies with good OSH practices.
Information regarding how EPRM integrates OSH issues into its activities (i.e., awareness raising
at mine sites, capacity building of mines, and support for mid- and downstream companies) is not
publicly available.

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3.2.3 The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a global standard for the good
governance of oil, gas and mineral resources. It seeks to address the key governance issues in the
extractive sectors. The EITI standard is implemented in 55 countries worldwide. EITI member
countries commit to disclose information along the extractive industry value chain – from how
extraction rights are awarded, to how revenues make their way through government and how they
benefit the public. EITI members undergo a Validation at least every three years. The Validation is
a quality-assurance mechanism that assesses members’ performance towards meeting the EITI
standard. The Validation is assessed against the EITI Requirements.132
The EITI Requirements encompass the requirements for EITI implementation and form part of the
EITI Standard. Occupational safety and Health are not in the focus of the EITI Requirements, but
the terms “health and safety” are mentioned occasionally through some of its guidance notes,
including EITI Requirements 1.4, 2.4, 6.3, 7.1 and 7.4 (the latter four, on gender-responsive
implementation).

3.2.4 The Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development
(IGF)
The IGF’s overarching objective is to enhance the capacities in participating countries to achieve
sustainable development objectives through good governance in the mining sector. This effort is
largely framed by its flagship Mining Policy Framework (MPF), which sets out concrete objectives
and processes for good governance, including occupational health and safety.133 Governmental
partners include the Netherlands, Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia.134
In terms of OSH, the MPF sets expectations for its members to ensure high standards, including
enforcing the acceptance of mining companies of their responsibility for the health and security of
their workers and fulfilling their mitigation and remediation obligations.135

3.2.5 International Council on Metals and Mining (ICMM)

The ICMM includes major mining companies and associated mining associations such as the
Colombian Mining Association (ACM), Euromines, and the Mining Engineer Institute of Peru (IIMP).
Other members are parent companies of mining operations in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru (such as
Glencore and Minsur, among other). Together, the members account for a third of the global
metals and mining industry,136 and all commit to the 10 ICMM principles and guidelines on human
rights and environmental protection, including OSH.
ICMM recognises OSH as one of its primary focuses for the mining industry. ICMM’s work in this
context aims to achieve breakthrough progress in eliminating harm and promoting operational and
technical innovations to eliminate fatalities and preventable injuries.137

3.2.6 Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA)

The IRMA is a multi-stakeholder initiative governed by labour unions, mining-affected communities,
environmental and social justice organisations, as well as mining companies and businesses that
buy mined materials. Its main activity is in developing and implementing a voluntary standard for
responsible mining, which includes criteria on OSH and refers to the ICMM Guidelines on
occupational health and safety.138

3.2.7 The International Finance corporation’s (IFC) Environmental and Social Performance
Standard and the Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) guidelines for mining.
These standards are not only applied to World Bank and IFC financed projects but also to publicly
supported export projects from OECD member states and to around 80 international private and
public banks committed to the Equator Principles.139

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3.2.8 The Minamata Convention on Mercury
The Minamata Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the
adverse effects of mercury. The Convention entered into force in 2017 and includes a ban on new
mercury mines, the phase-out of existing ones, the phase-out and phase-down of mercury use in a
number of products and processes, control measures on emissions to air and on releases to land
and water, and the regulation of the informal sector of artisanal and small-scale gold mining.140

3.2.9 Limitations of voluntary sustainability initiatives and agreements

The majority of mining companies in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru are members of voluntary
sustainability initiatives, either through their parent companies or through direct affiliation. These
companies and the countries where they operate have pledged to follow the requirements set by
those initiatives, including reporting on progress. While this has undoubtfully increased disclosure
of performance results, a lack of transparency in supply chains has been identified as a major
obstacle for downstream actors to assess responsible sourcing practices among their
suppliers.141
Many civil society organisations have criticised sustainability initiatives for the lack of
accountability mechanisms with truly transformative potential. In this context, civil society has
repeatedly emphasised that participating in sustainability initiatives is not sufficient for a company
to address its social and environmental risks.142
With regards to OSH, one of the main limitations of the sustainability initiatives shown here is that
they do not emphasise or altogether do not include considerations of workers’ safety and health in
their requirements or guidelines. This finding is in line with other assessments of mining industry
sustainability initiatives, which underscore that most of these initiatives focus on a risk-based
approach in supply chain management (particularly, human rights violations) and, to a lesser
extent, on occupational safety and health.143

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4
Conclusions and recommendations
This section presents conclusions drawn from the findings of the study and provides
recommendations for different stakeholders.

4.1 Conclusions
This report summarises the main OSH risks as perceived by the mining sector workers in Bolivia,
Colombia, and Peru that informed this research. Based on the results of the digital survey, mining
workers in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru perceive hold a mix of positive and negative views about the
OSH standards at their workplace.
On the one hand, a large proportion of the survey respondents considered that they were exposed
to high levels of dust and particulate matter, gases, and fumes. Likewise, a small number of
workers perceived the temperature at work to be normal (therefore pointing to a majority
experiencing thermal discomfort). By contrast, the majority of workers found illumination and the
condition and maintenance of machineries to be good or regular (i.e., neither good nor bad).
With regards to psychosocial risks, the surveyed workers reported conditions that could increase
the risk of workplace accidents if left unattended. For example, almost 40% of workers reported
sleeping 6 hours or less, and almost 40% also reported experiencing microsleep at work. In
Colombia, the incidence of microsleep is of particular concern, with 77% of respondents reporting
it. Moreover, while the apnoea, restless leg syndrome, narcolepsy, and depression rate reported by
the surveyed workers was relatively low, most of the workers who self-reported these conditions
had not been officially diagnosed with them. This is situation highlights the relation between the
profit-making model of mining companies in the mining sector and the inadequate management of
OSH risks, whereby the growing demand for minerals exacerbates psychosocial risks at work.
Avoiding that this demand negatively impacts the occupational safety and health of workers is not
only a moral obligation of employers, but also a measure to avoid poor overall business
performance, increased absenteeism and presenteeism (workers turning up for work when sick
and unable to function effectively) and increased accident and injury rates.144
While the majority of surveyed workers had not been involved in a workplace accident, those who
were involved in accidents reported these to be incapacitating. Moreover, two thirds of workers
reported accidents at the workplace in which they had not been involved to be either disabling or
fatal. In this context, the highest rate of fatal accidents was reported in Peru. It is possible that the
fact that surveyed workers had mostly not been involved in workplace accidents is due to the work
of trade unions raising awareness and advocating for sufficient attention by employers to OSH
risks. After all, the majority of surveyed workers were affiliated to trade unions in the mining
companies where the digital survey was deployed. This underscores the importance of workers’
unions in realising labour rights, including workers’ rights to a safe and healthy work environment.

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Moreover, over half of the surveyed workers reported facing retaliation when taking breaks outside
of the agreed resting times, and over 60% did not feel treated fairly at work. While there were no
relevant differences between the direct and subcontracted workers who did not feel treated fairly
at work, it is notable that almost two thirds of Afro-descendant workers felt treated unfairly but
most women felt fairly treated at work. Apart from pointing at the possibility of systemic racial
discrimination at work, this situation also constitutes an important OSH risk.
Regarding the mining companies’ management of OSH risks, despite of the fact that the majority
of surveyed workers indicated that OSH protocols had been socialised, still, almost a third of them
said that these were not socialised or were not aware whether these policies were socialised (see
2.2). This indicates that mining companies in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru need to overcome the lag
in OSH training among their employees.
Likewise, from the key informant interviews, there are indications that the competent authorities,
and, to a lesser extent, the companies, are not fulfilling their obligations to report workplace
accidents. when implementing process standardisation, together with job design, and behavioural
safety contribute to reducing accidents and incidents in the workplace and can be used in any
sector.
About the effectiveness of national legislation, overall, the regulatory frameworks for the mining
sector in Bolivia, Peru and Colombia do not seem to allocate targets, responsible persons and
deadlines to their intended objectives. Likewise, the lack of resources and capacities to enforce
those regulations challenge their effectiveness and impact.
Lastly, the current implementation of international regulations and voluntary mining sector
initiatives, only a few of them address OSH issues as part of their requirements or guidelines.
Instead, most voluntary initiatives take emphasis the prevention of human rights risks and to a
lesser extent of human rights breaches such as child labour. Neglecting OSH considerations
hinders the potential impact of such initiatives, especially since OSH risks are still rife in the mining
sector.145

4.2 Recommendations
Based on the conclusions above, the following recommendations are made:
• The competent authorities in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru should step up their efforts to to
enforce mining companies’ compliance with OSH regulations, including their accident reporting
responsibilities, as well as the adequate implementation of protocols and procedures, and
strengthen the bodies in charge of labour inspection In this context, competent authorities
must increase their involvement and guarantee workers’ participation in investigating severe
workplace accidents and following up on progress toward accident prevention and
compensation. Moreover, the competent authorities must increase their efforts to aggregate
and publish data related to workplace accidents and to collect and publish gender
disaggregated data and data disaggregated by sector and employment status of mining
employees (i.e., direct and outsourced workers).
• IMVO-metaalsector members and other Netherlands-based downstream buyers of minerals
mined in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru should engage with suppliers and governments in the
origin countries to find collective solutions and share not only best practices but also the
financial costs of addressing the most pressing OSH issues in the mineral supply chain. In
applying this shared responsibility model, workers’ unions, women, LGBTQ+ people, and
outsourced workers must be guaranteed a seat at the table.
• As much as possible, CNV Internationaal and its partners in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru should
increase efforts to include a more diverse and larger number of workers in the future iterations
of its participatory digital monitoring project. Particular attention should be paid to increasing
the participation of outsourced workers and women and LGBTQ+ people.

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• CNV Internationaal and its partners in Bolivia and Colombia, with the support of IMVO-
metaalsector members and other downstream buyers in the Netherlands should advocate for
the governments of Colombia and Bolivia to ratify the main ILO OSH Conventions that they
have not yet ratified.
• Mining sector companies in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru must increase their efforts to socialise
and implement policies and protocols and ensure that workers understand the purpose of
these policies, the benefits of complying with them, and the dangers of not observing them. In
this context, increasing worker training on these policies and protocols is critical. It is also
important to ensure that policies do not lead to discriminatory practices against workers with
occupational diseases. It is also recommended to review existing policies that adequately
address psychosocial risks arising from the pressures faced by workers in their social,
personal and work environment. If policies have not been implemented, prioritise their drafting
following the requirements and recommendations of relevant international standards and
national regulatory frameworks.
• In drafting policies and protocols, employers should involve unions to determine how
employers and workers can collectively implement and monitor these policies and protocols.
Some of the mining companies covered in this study already have joint OSH committees.
These companies could share best practices with their peers in an effort to improve the OSH
performance of the sector as a whole. National governments and other stakeholders, including
those downstream in the minerals value chain, could provide in-kind support to mainstream
these practices.

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Appendix 1 Methodology used for the digital survey
The opinions of workers in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru mining sectors were captured through an
online survey conducted in the context of CNV Internationaal’s participatory digital monitoring
between May and July 2022. The CNV Internationaal team in Latin America and the regional
coordination of participatory digital monitoring designed the survey. In addition, consultations
were held with union leaders in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru to identify questions of interest to the
unions and union leaders. The questions sought to collect baseline data for Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) that will be used for the first annual report of CNV Internationaal’s Labour Rights
Observatory for the Latin American mining sector, to be published in 2023.
The online survey consisted of general questions about the participants’ demographic
characteristics, followed by two main themes (Social Dialogue and Rights at Work) and several
sub-themes, including freedom of association, decent wages, occupational health and safety, child
labour, forced labour and gender. The survey contained cascading select questions with 123 basic
questions, of which 79 pertained to occupational safety and health issues. Moreover, the survey
characterised mineral mining in five stages: Administration/services, excavation,
processing/industrial transformation, refining, and transport/haulage. Moreover, survey
respondents were given the opportunity to mention other functions not captured in the survey
questionnaire.
The online survey also presented open-ended questions to explain the selected answers, which
allowed for contextualising or expanding on the workers’ responses. The survey was administered
using the KoBoToolbox platform and its KoBoCollect mobile application. The KoBoToolbox system
ensures the anonymity of respondents and secure data storage. Similarly, the names of the
companies for which the survey respondents worked were anonymised.
In total, 367 mine workers answered the survey. Of these, 35 worked in Bolivia, 129 in Colombia,
and 203 in Peru. The Peruvian and Bolivian surveyed workers were employed at operations mining
copper, lead, zinc, tin, gold, and silver. This project only surveyed Colombian workers employed in
coal mines. An overview of the respondents’ demographic profiles is provided in the tables below.

Companies and country of survey respondents

Country Nr of companies Nr of survey respondents

covered in the
study Men Women LGBTQ+* Total

Bolivia 5 33 2 35
Colombia 4 121 7 1 129
Peru 5 201 2 203
Total 14 355 11 1 367
* Although sexual orientation is different from gender identity, the questionnaire included an option for workers to indicate their LGBTQ+
status. In some companies, LGBTQ+ workers have self-organised to raise awareness of the they face in the workplace. The collection of
data disaggregated by sexual orientation and gender identity supports these efforts and responds to the ILO's call to collect reliable and
timely statistics on discrimination against LGBTQ+ workers in the workplace.
 Ethnic background of survey respondents

Ethnicity of Country
respondents
Bolivia Colombia Peru Total

Indigenous 14 10 29 53
Mixed ethnicity 20 81 172 273
Quechua 1 1 2
Afro-descendant 37 1 38
Caucasic 1 1
Total 35 129 203 367

Age range of survey respondents

Age range Country

Bolivia Colombia Peru Total

Between 18 and 25 1 1 2
Between 26 and 34 5 15 42 62
Between 35 and 44 17 47 94 158
Between 45 and 59 13 65 62 140
60 years or more 1 4 5
Total 35 129 203 367

Stage of the mining process and working relationship of surveyed workers

Stage of the mining process Bolivia Colombia Peru

DW OW DW OW DW OW
Total
Excavation 28 62 99 53 242
Transport/haulage 2 31 1 7 6 47
Administration/services 3 12 1 9 15 40
Processing/transformation 2 22 9 1 34
Refining 1 1 2
Other (Maintenance) 2 2
Total 35 127 2 127 76 367
DW = direct workers, OW = outsourced workers
Appendix 2 Profile of key informants interviewed

Stakeholder group Bolivia (M/F) Colombia (M/F) Peru (M/F) Total

Government 1M 1M
Trade union 3M 3 (2M/1F) 5M 11 (10M/1F)
Health sector 2M 2M
Mining company/sector 1M 1F 1F 3 (1M/2F)
association
Total 4 (4M/0F) 4 (2M/2F) 9 (8M/1F) 17 (14M/3F)