Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) plc has recorded a month-long, without experiencing injuries among its employees in January this year , the first-time that such a feat has been achieved in a company which employs 20 000 workers including over 9 000 contracted labour.
KCM management said in a press statement that the record was impressive considering that 70 percent of its workforce is involved in underground operations where the risk factor is high.
However, employees have ridiculed the impressive performance claiming that management was failing to address their affairs and improving the standard of the mine.
The mine is among the largest private-sector employer in Zambia, is owned by London-listed FTSE 100 mining and metals major Vedanta Resources, with operations in Chingola, Chililabombwe, Kitwe and Nampundwe.
A state-of-the-art smelter, two concentrators, refinery and tailings leach plant (TLP) are among its major assets, along with the multi-million dollar Konkola Deep Mining Project (KDMP) currently under development in Chililabombwe.
The statement says that the company-wide January safety record comes on the back of two recent impressive departmental performances.
It stated that last year, the 3 500 staff at the Nchanga Under-Ground (NUG) went on a six-month run without a lost-time injury while the Konkola underground team of 6 170, has just gone four months without lost time.
KCM recently became the first mining operation in Africa to be awarded three stars under the British Safety Council’s Five-Star rating system. It was the company’s first attempt at the rating which is one step away from the Sword of Honour, the ultimate accolade in global safety standards.
The statement reaffirmed that in 2009; the company was awarded the International Safety Award by the BSC and won the Zambia Federation of Employers’ top award for the Best Safety and Occupational Health Policy in Zambia.
The company also holds OHSAS 18001 certification for occupational health and safety and ISO 14001 for environmental management while the recently-commissioned Nchanga smelter was recently awarded ISO 9001-2008 certification at the first attempt.
But, despite the improvement in safety management, the scenario on the ground is different as Lusakatimes investigations at the mine revealed that the workforce was dissatisfied with the way management was handling the workers affairs.
The workers talked to revealed that the standards at the mine have drastically gone down as compared to the days when Anglo-America was still in operation.
They said management has only concentrated on the smelter, two concentrators and has foregone all the major activities that could ensure the smooth running of the mine.
The workers noted that Chingola town is now dirt and have dilapidated roads despite the huge profits that KCM is reaping and the company was failing to maintain the roads that even leads to its own mining plant.
Lusakatimes, have discovered that management especially those from the Indian origin built themselves a complex where they live while the Zambian workers were left to look for their own accommodation.
The workers disclosed that KCM top management also frustrated Augustine Seyuba who was the Corporate Affairs manager and resulted in his resignation a situation that saddened most employees who were happy with his management skills.
“The impression the outsiders get is that KCM is performing well when in fact performance have gone down. Yes they are making huge but management is not replacing any damaged equipment and relies on what it found,” they said.
