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Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act, 1973 (Act No. 78 of 1973)

Regulations

Regulations - 1973

4. Engagement and medical examinations of Black persons

 

4.1 No owner of a controlled mine or a controlled works and no contractor shall permit a Black person to perform risk work at a controlled mine or a controlled works or engage a Black person for such work, if he knows or has reason to suspect that such person is suffering from a compensatable disease (including tuberculosis) unless prior approval has been obtained from the director for the employment of such person.

 

4.2 No owner of a controlled mine or a controlled works or a contractor shall engage a Black person for work at or in connection with a controlled mine or a controlled works, unless such person has within a period of 30 days prior to the date on which he commenced undergone a medical examination which consisted of a medical and radiological examination and the medical examiner who performed such examination is of the opinion—
(a) that he is not suffering from a compensatable disease (including tuberculosis);
(b) that he is not suffering from an infectious disease;
(c) that he is not suffering from any disease or defect of the cardio-respiratory organs;
(d) that his sight and hearing are normal; and
(e) that he is physically fit for the work which was hired to perform:

Provided that—

(a) a Black person who is suffering from a compensatable disease other than tuberculosis, or who is considered by the examining medical practitioner to be suffering from inactive tuberculosis, may be engaged for work other than risk work;
(b) the director may authorise the employment in risk work of a Black person who has been found by the certification committee to be suffering from a compensatable disease (including tuberculosis) subject to any conditions which the director may consider necessary or advisable, except that in the case of a finding of tuberculosis the director, before such approval is granted, shall be satisfied that the tuberculosis has been cured.

[Regulation 4.2 amended by Government Notice No. R. 2711 of 1982]

 

4.3 An owner of a controlled mine or a controlled works or a contractor or an organization acting on behalf of such an owner or contractor, who recruits Black persons outside the Republic for work at or in connection with a controlled mine or a controlled works, shall cause such Black persons to be examined clinically and radiologically before they are brought to the Republic and no Black person shall be brought to the Republic unless he complies with the requirements prescribed under regulation 4.2: Provided that the secretary may, after consultation with the director and the Black affairs authority, on such conditions as he deems desirable, in writing grant exemption from the provisions of this regulation if he is satisfied—
(a) that the medical examination of Black persons who are recruited outside the Republic before they are brought to the Republic, is impracticable; and
(b) that the owner or contractor or organization concerned has made arrangements which are acceptable to the secretary, to ensure that such Black persons who, at a medical examination in the Republic in accordance with the provisions of regulation 4.2, are found unfit for work at or in connection with a controlled mine or controlled works, are forthwith returned to the country and place of recruitment at the cost of the owner or contractor for whose service such Black persons were recruited or at the cost of the recruiting organization.

 

4.4 If, at a medical examination under these regulations, a Black person who has been recruited by or on behalf of an owner of a controlled mine or a controlled works or a contractor in a district or area other than that in which the mine or works concerned is situated, is found unfit for work at or in connection with a controlled mine or a controlled works, such owner or contractor shall as soon as possible return such Black person to the place of recruitment and the cost involved in the return of such Black person shall be borne by such owner or contractor or the person or organization who performed the recruitment.

 

4.5 Whenever after the commencement of the Act, a mine or works becomes a controlled mine or a controlled works, the owner of such mine or works shall, within a period determined by the secretary after consultation with the director and notified in writing to such owner, cause every Black person whom he employs at such mine or works and who has not been medically examined within a period of 60 days immediately prior to a date specified in the notice, to be medically examined and such examination shall consist of a clinical and a radiological examination.

 

4.6 Every owner of a controlled mine or a controlled works or a contractor shall cause every Black person who performs work at or in connection with a controlled mine or a controlled works, to be medically examined not less than once in every period of nine months and such examination shall include a radiological examination: Provided that the director may, on written application by or on behalf of such owner or contractor, on such conditions as he deems desirable, in writing, extend the interval between such medical examinations to a maximum period of 18 months.

[Regulation 4.6 amended by Government Notice No. R. 2176 of 1977]

 

4.7 At a medical examination of a Black person under these regulations, the examining medical practitioner shall record his findings in a form which conforms to the form prescribed by regulation 8.

 

4.8 If at a medical examination of a Black person who is employed at or in connection with a controlled mine or a controlled works, such person is considered by the examining medical practitioner to be suffering from a compensatable disease (including tuberculosis), or if it is considered or suspected that a Black person whom the owner of a controlled mine or a controlled works or a contractor intends to engage for work at or in connection with a controlled mine or a controlled works, is suffering from such disease, such owner or contractor shall forthwith—
(a) if the Black person is employed, cease to employ him in risk work;
(b) submit to the director—
(i) a comprehensive report by the examining medical practitioner on the examination and any tests and observation performed by him;
(ii) an X-ray film of a size not less than 30 cm by 38 cm or such smaller size as agreed to in writing by the director, of the chest of the Black person which is acceptable to the director;
(iii) such information as he may possess in regard to the different types of work performed by the Black person at mines or works; and
(c) if it is considered or suspected that the Black person is suffering from tuberculosis which is infectious, take all reasonable measures to prevent him from making contact with other persons and report the case in writing to—
(i) the authority who has jurisdiction in regard to State health services in the area in which the examination was performed; and
(ii) if the Black person is in the area of another such authority, also to that other authority.

 

4.9 The director shall forthwith submit the report and X-ray film and information received by him under regulation 4.8 (b) to the certification committee: Provided that the director may in writing direct the owner or contractor concerned to perform such further examinations, tests and observations as he considers necessary or as the certification committee may require or to bring the Black person concerned to a place and at a time determined by him and notified in writing to such owner or contractor, in order to enable a medical practitioner authorized by the director to examine the Black person or to keep such person under observation.