Hearing loss is a neglected hazard for miners in South Africa
SOUTH Africa’s mining industry has long been an important part of the country’s economy. NOMFUNDO MOROE, Lecturer at the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of the Witwatersrand In 2020 alone, despite COVID-19, mining contributed R361.6 billion (almost 20 billion US dollars) towards South Africa’s gross domestic product, a share of over 8%. The industry employs 451,000 people. But despite its value and the regulations in place to protect workers, it has been criticised for a poor record of health and safety. The South African constitution guarantees workers’ right to an environment that is not harmful to their health…