Can Qualitas do occupational hygiene work on a gold mine?

Yes. Qualitas carries out occupational hygiene assessments on mines under the Mine Health and Safety Act, and Christo de Wet can hold the section 12(1) appointment for surface operations.

Why is silica the main concern on the goldfields?

The gold-bearing reefs are hosted in quartzite, which is almost pure silica. Crushing, milling and handling ore and dry tailings releases respirable crystalline silica, which causes silicosis and raises the risk of tuberculosis.

Do mining contractors need their own noise survey?

Yes. Each employer must assess its own employees' exposure. A contractor's workshop in town needs its own noise risk assessment, separate from the mine's.

OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE IN WELKOM AND VIRGINIA

Welkom, Virginia and Odendaalsrus sit on the Free State goldfields, where deep-level gold mines, tailings operations and a large base of mining contractors and engineering firms still drive the economy of Matjhabeng.

Qualitas carries out occupational hygiene surveys for these employers: silica and dust monitoring, noise surveys, heat stress surveys and welding fume monitoring.

REACH OUT

Worker cutting steel with an angle grinder as sparks fly

WHERE WE WORK AROUND WELKOM

Welkom

Virginia

Odendaalsrus

Allanridge

Hennenman

Theunissen

Gold mines and tailings operations. Qualitas carries out occupational hygiene assessments on mines under the Mine Health and Safety Act (29 of 1996), and can hold the section 12(1) occupational hygiene appointment for surface operations.

Mining contractors, engineering and rebuild workshops: welding fume, solvents, grinding dust and noise, under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Grain silos and agricultural co-operatives around Theunissen and Hennenman: grain dust and fumigants.

Transport, haulage and plant hire: diesel exhaust, noise and whole-body vibration.

THE HAZARDS WE MEASURE HERE

Respirable crystalline silica, welding and cutting fume, noise from compressors, mills and workshops, heat in surface plants and Free State summers, and grain dust and fumigants.

Interior of a large industrial warehouse with overhead cranes

INDUSTRIES WE SERVE

Foundry workers in protective gear pouring molten metal

WHY QUALITAS

Qualitas Occupational Consulting is a Department of Employment and Labour Approved Inspection Authority (AIA) and a SANAS-accredited (ISO/IEC 17020) inspection body for asbestos, lead, noise and hazardous chemical agents, and applies the same quality system to all its assessments.

Every assessment is led by Christo de Wet, an occupational hygienist registered with the Southern African Institute for Occupational Hygiene (SAIOH), with 15 years of experience.

We work nationwide, and Qualitas has also carried out assessments in Botswana and Kazakhstan. Travel is quoted upfront.

You receive a professional, audit-ready report that stands up to inspection by the Department of Employment and Labour.