SOUTH AFRICA
Mining Sickness
2205
June 2002
SCRIPT: The Cast-offs
V/O 1
Its 5 am at kga- Mmpuru village in Steelpoort, Mpumalanga. These miners are off to work... at Vantech... a vanadium mine. Theyre lucky to have jobs in a part of our country where there is very little industry. They are also lucky to have their health.
Over the past two years almost half the workforce at the Vantech mine has been laid off. Most of them suffered from headaches, coughing and chest pains. Some were diagnosed with permanent asthma... even liver or kidney failure. The cause THEY say, is over-exposure to vanadium dust and fumes at the mine.
On this bus most of the men don't want to know about their health status. They're scared: being ill might cost them their job...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TITLE: THE CAST- OFFS
V/O 2:
In villages like this one at Mahlashi there is no infrastructure. Jobs are scarce in this part of the world. For those who don't work on the mines in the area, life passes slowly. They watch the sun rise and the sun go down. Alfred Komani is one of those who once had a job.... At Vantech mine. Then he became ill with asthma and soon afterwards was retrenched....
ups: Komani: They promised to pay half salary never got....
Ups: Komani learning
V/O 3:
For Alfred losing his job at Vantech was traumatic... Not only because he was ill, but because it meant that he might never find a job again. Jobs are so hard to come by that 45-year-old Alfred is now probably unemployed for life. The security of a permanent job at Vantech is gone and he has been reduced to poverty.
Komani: I have 8 kids, I buy sugar, mealie meal...and beg neighbours for food
V/O 4:
This boiling kettle is not for tea or morning pap... these are luxuries this family can't afford. The boiling kettle boils all day... and Alfred's family watch the steam rise - not knowing where or when their next meal will come from...
This family's struggle is not only about finding food but also with the illness that Alfred now has...
(Breath)
As a chronic asthmatic he needs at least one of these asthma pumps a month to help him breathe...
UPS: it makes me feel better
V/O 5:
Every month Alfred has to hike the 100 km's to Vantech's company doctor for an asthma refill. He can't afford the R40 taxi fare to take him there.
Ups Komani: the company doctor told me I have asthma
ups Komani: They threw me out!!!
Vantech workers with asthma symptoms are sent to Pretoria for a lung function test. This expensive and sophisticated test was demonstrated on me. An asthmatic lung takes much longer to blow out air... before the next breath...can be taken. Asthma is not detectable by x-ray... this test is the only way to find out whether you have asthma... and how far the disease has progressed.
Ups: Pedro...lung function test
Workers from Vantech call this the "red card test". They know it usually leads to retrenchment. They also call Dr. Irsigler the "goodbye" man - his findings usually signal the end of their jobs.
Ups Irsigler: connection between Vanadium and asthma
V/O7:
Vantech produces 20% of the world's vanadium. Vanadium is mined from rock and processed into flakes. It's used to strengthen steel and in the production of glass, inks and ceramics.
In the crushing and smelting process, potentially harmful gasses and dust are released...this dust and gas has no smell and is difficult to detect in the air.
Dr Irsigler has done a recent study on the link between vanadium and respiratory disease. He used a sample of 40 Vantech employees with symptoms of asthma.
ups: dr. Irsigler not 100% sure...
V/O 8:
Between 1998 and 2000, 160 Vantech workers were declared medically unfit to work. But the company does not agree with those who say workers were UNFAIRLY retrenched. The company has a "medical separation agreement" with the National Union of Mine workers. This allows them to legally pay-off workers when they become too ill to work.
Medical separation agreements are not uncommon at mines. But the question is: should diseases contracted in the work place be treated in the same way as an accidents in the workplace?
How ethical it is to make workers sign a pay-out agreement for a work related illness when it in fact means that they agree to their own retrenchment? (For many this also means battling with a life-long disease and hardly any prospect of ever finding a job again. )
UPS: lawyer...decision on rand and cents...
UPS: Union...lump some amounts.. bridge of agreement
V/O 8:
Three weeks into our investigation, Xtrata-Vantech still refused to comment on the record about these allegations. But the more we tried to include Vantech in this programme, the tighter the doors seemed to close on us. They also refused to let us film inside the mine.
So early one morning we boarded the bus taking workers to the mine. We wanted to see what safety measures they take to protect workers from dust and fumes. But, the closest we got to the inner workings of the mine was this change room, 2kms from the main mine... and the closest we got to understanding what goes on inside the mine was this report by the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs... released two weeks ago:
The report finds that over-exposure mainly to Vanadium did cause occupational diseases in some employees at Vantech. The report states:
1. Gravimetric or gas sampling showed that the highest exposure was 31 times higher than that allowed
2. Improper training was supplied to employees. Training syllabi for
supervisors werent even clear as to what training should be given.
3. In certain hazardous areas, engineering controls were ineffective.
4. Mine procedures were not complied with. This caused problems in the use and maintenance of so-called 3M respirators the company had introduced.
ups: union...Xtrata is not a South African company....
ups: lawyer... do not want to push health issues...
--------------------------AD BREAK-------------------------------------
V/O 9:
Willa Duvenhage was a foreman at Vantech. After 28 years on the mines He too has lost his job due to illness. On the way to meet his family, we drove past his former workplace...
ups: Villa driving...talking about Vantech
That evening we were shocked to find out that Willa's two sons had ALSO been declared medically unfit to work and lost their jobs at Vantech. 21 and twenty seven respectively they too have the dreaded red card disease ... asthma.
ups: Willa and sons braai...talk baout the good days.
Today, all three Duvenhage men are unemployed. For them, as for all the other workers whove had to leave Vantech, retrenchment came as a shock. The life theyd known was suddenly ripped out from under them.
The pressures of two years of unemployment are huge... the family had to borrow money to prepare this meal for our visit. This is not even their house. After Willa was declared medically unfit to work, they were given just three days to leave their Vantech house. Today they live in a rondawel on Willa's brothers plot.
Tonight theyre joined by Julia Makofane and a former colleague. She used to be employed as a medical nurse at Vantech. She says that she was dismissed when she started speaking out about the dangers of Vanadium
ups: supper family talking...
V/O 10:
Its a day later. Alfred Komani and three of his neighbours at Mahlashi Village ALL once worked for Vantech. Today theyre getting ready to drive to Burgersfort. There they'll join other Vantech ex- workers in a support group organised by Julia.
Ups:Alfred... skorokoro
ups: komani's friend...talking about want to be paid money.
ups: Komani..this company is killing us.
These men are trying to put pressure on the mine... to compensate them properly. And they want Vantech to admit they robbed them of their health. Theyre seeking legal help from the National Union of Mineworkers with the help of a specialist occupational lawyer Richard Spoor.
Julia Makofane is the only woman at this meeting. The men trust her.
UPS: meeting...
V/O 11:
The men in the support group say the Vantech company doctor never explained their condition properly to them. We tried to get an interview with Dr Visser at his private practice in Lydenburg. He refused to speak to us on camera without Vantech's permission. Yet another closed door...
V/O 12:
Elias Phaswane is still a Vantech worker. He been diagnosed with chemical bronchitis. The worker's call this the yellow card... the last stage before the red card - asthma.
ups: Richard...can kill and mime workers...
V/O 13:
Elias Phaswane is 57 years old. He says he takes home R1000 a month. Hes worked at Vantech for nine years and was diagnosed with chemical bronchitis in 1994. He expects to be diagnosed with asthma soon.
ups: Phaswane...they have killed me anyway...
END
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Mining Sickness
2205
June 2002
SCRIPT: The Cast-offs
V/O 1
Its 5 am at kga- Mmpuru village in Steelpoort, Mpumalanga. These miners are off to work... at Vantech... a vanadium mine. Theyre lucky to have jobs in a part of our country where there is very little industry. They are also lucky to have their health.
Over the past two years almost half the workforce at the Vantech mine has been laid off. Most of them suffered from headaches, coughing and chest pains. Some were diagnosed with permanent asthma... even liver or kidney failure. The cause THEY say, is over-exposure to vanadium dust and fumes at the mine.
On this bus most of the men don't want to know about their health status. They're scared: being ill might cost them their job...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TITLE: THE CAST- OFFS
V/O 2:
In villages like this one at Mahlashi there is no infrastructure. Jobs are scarce in this part of the world. For those who don't work on the mines in the area, life passes slowly. They watch the sun rise and the sun go down. Alfred Komani is one of those who once had a job.... At Vantech mine. Then he became ill with asthma and soon afterwards was retrenched....
ups: Komani: They promised to pay half salary never got....
Ups: Komani learning
V/O 3:
For Alfred losing his job at Vantech was traumatic... Not only because he was ill, but because it meant that he might never find a job again. Jobs are so hard to come by that 45-year-old Alfred is now probably unemployed for life. The security of a permanent job at Vantech is gone and he has been reduced to poverty.
Komani: I have 8 kids, I buy sugar, mealie meal...and beg neighbours for food
V/O 4:
This boiling kettle is not for tea or morning pap... these are luxuries this family can't afford. The boiling kettle boils all day... and Alfred's family watch the steam rise - not knowing where or when their next meal will come from...
This family's struggle is not only about finding food but also with the illness that Alfred now has...
(Breath)
As a chronic asthmatic he needs at least one of these asthma pumps a month to help him breathe...
UPS: it makes me feel better
V/O 5:
Every month Alfred has to hike the 100 km's to Vantech's company doctor for an asthma refill. He can't afford the R40 taxi fare to take him there.
Ups Komani: the company doctor told me I have asthma
ups Komani: They threw me out!!!
Vantech workers with asthma symptoms are sent to Pretoria for a lung function test. This expensive and sophisticated test was demonstrated on me. An asthmatic lung takes much longer to blow out air... before the next breath...can be taken. Asthma is not detectable by x-ray... this test is the only way to find out whether you have asthma... and how far the disease has progressed.
Ups: Pedro...lung function test
Workers from Vantech call this the "red card test". They know it usually leads to retrenchment. They also call Dr. Irsigler the "goodbye" man - his findings usually signal the end of their jobs.
Ups Irsigler: connection between Vanadium and asthma
V/O7:
Vantech produces 20% of the world's vanadium. Vanadium is mined from rock and processed into flakes. It's used to strengthen steel and in the production of glass, inks and ceramics.
In the crushing and smelting process, potentially harmful gasses and dust are released...this dust and gas has no smell and is difficult to detect in the air.
Dr Irsigler has done a recent study on the link between vanadium and respiratory disease. He used a sample of 40 Vantech employees with symptoms of asthma.
ups: dr. Irsigler not 100% sure...
V/O 8:
Between 1998 and 2000, 160 Vantech workers were declared medically unfit to work. But the company does not agree with those who say workers were UNFAIRLY retrenched. The company has a "medical separation agreement" with the National Union of Mine workers. This allows them to legally pay-off workers when they become too ill to work.
Medical separation agreements are not uncommon at mines. But the question is: should diseases contracted in the work place be treated in the same way as an accidents in the workplace?
How ethical it is to make workers sign a pay-out agreement for a work related illness when it in fact means that they agree to their own retrenchment? (For many this also means battling with a life-long disease and hardly any prospect of ever finding a job again. )
UPS: lawyer...decision on rand and cents...
UPS: Union...lump some amounts.. bridge of agreement
V/O 8:
Three weeks into our investigation, Xtrata-Vantech still refused to comment on the record about these allegations. But the more we tried to include Vantech in this programme, the tighter the doors seemed to close on us. They also refused to let us film inside the mine.
So early one morning we boarded the bus taking workers to the mine. We wanted to see what safety measures they take to protect workers from dust and fumes. But, the closest we got to the inner workings of the mine was this change room, 2kms from the main mine... and the closest we got to understanding what goes on inside the mine was this report by the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs... released two weeks ago:
The report finds that over-exposure mainly to Vanadium did cause occupational diseases in some employees at Vantech. The report states:
1. Gravimetric or gas sampling showed that the highest exposure was 31 times higher than that allowed
2. Improper training was supplied to employees. Training syllabi for
supervisors werent even clear as to what training should be given.
3. In certain hazardous areas, engineering controls were ineffective.
4. Mine procedures were not complied with. This caused problems in the use and maintenance of so-called 3M respirators the company had introduced.
ups: union...Xtrata is not a South African company....
ups: lawyer... do not want to push health issues...
--------------------------AD BREAK-------------------------------------
V/O 9:
Willa Duvenhage was a foreman at Vantech. After 28 years on the mines He too has lost his job due to illness. On the way to meet his family, we drove past his former workplace...
ups: Villa driving...talking about Vantech
That evening we were shocked to find out that Willa's two sons had ALSO been declared medically unfit to work and lost their jobs at Vantech. 21 and twenty seven respectively they too have the dreaded red card disease ... asthma.
ups: Willa and sons braai...talk baout the good days.
Today, all three Duvenhage men are unemployed. For them, as for all the other workers whove had to leave Vantech, retrenchment came as a shock. The life theyd known was suddenly ripped out from under them.
The pressures of two years of unemployment are huge... the family had to borrow money to prepare this meal for our visit. This is not even their house. After Willa was declared medically unfit to work, they were given just three days to leave their Vantech house. Today they live in a rondawel on Willa's brothers plot.
Tonight theyre joined by Julia Makofane and a former colleague. She used to be employed as a medical nurse at Vantech. She says that she was dismissed when she started speaking out about the dangers of Vanadium
ups: supper family talking...
V/O 10:
Its a day later. Alfred Komani and three of his neighbours at Mahlashi Village ALL once worked for Vantech. Today theyre getting ready to drive to Burgersfort. There they'll join other Vantech ex- workers in a support group organised by Julia.
Ups:Alfred... skorokoro
ups: komani's friend...talking about want to be paid money.
ups: Komani..this company is killing us.
These men are trying to put pressure on the mine... to compensate them properly. And they want Vantech to admit they robbed them of their health. Theyre seeking legal help from the National Union of Mineworkers with the help of a specialist occupational lawyer Richard Spoor.
Julia Makofane is the only woman at this meeting. The men trust her.
UPS: meeting...
V/O 11:
The men in the support group say the Vantech company doctor never explained their condition properly to them. We tried to get an interview with Dr Visser at his private practice in Lydenburg. He refused to speak to us on camera without Vantech's permission. Yet another closed door...
V/O 12:
Elias Phaswane is still a Vantech worker. He been diagnosed with chemical bronchitis. The worker's call this the yellow card... the last stage before the red card - asthma.
ups: Richard...can kill and mime workers...
V/O 13:
Elias Phaswane is 57 years old. He says he takes home R1000 a month. Hes worked at Vantech for nine years and was diagnosed with chemical bronchitis in 1994. He expects to be diagnosed with asthma soon.
ups: Phaswane...they have killed me anyway...
END
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