mgmt321 final report on chilean miners of 2000 words

8/7/2019 mgmt321 final report on chilean miners of 2000 words

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Trapped Chilean Miners- a case for occupational

health and safety

The case- description of the accident

On 5th

August around lunch hour a mine near the northern town of

Copiapo collapsed with 32 Chileans and 1 Bolivian miners being

trapped in San Jose private mine. Many miners thought that the

survival of those trapped miners will be nothing less than a miracleas there were high chances of trapped miners ending themselves in

disaster zone if they struggle to come out themselves. After 17 days

the 33 trapped miners were found alive when a note from one the

trapped miner got on surface. The joy of trapped miners family knew

no bounds when this news travelled to their ears, but the issue was

not resolved then, the miners were still in the mine and the

undersecretary of mining Pablo Wagner said that it was a long

procedure to dig a hole deep enough to bring up the trapped miners

and would not take less than 3 months. CODELCO Andina mine

another state owned mine in Los Andes was sending machinery to

San Jose private mine to dig a 2.2 feet wide chimney type hole in

order to bring the trapped miners out as the probe that made

contact with the trapped miners was relatively very narrow. Once

the path through which the trapped miners will be helped to

resurface is made secured, the next focus would be to provide food,

water and medicine. The officials tried to establish a communication

network with the trapped miners and their families in order to boost

their spirit and help them remain composed. The situation was surely

not out of danger due to occurrence of frequent cave-ins. A group of


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rescue workers were also blocked due to a fall of a mammoth rock

blocking their route completely and thus the authorities had to

withdraw from their effort as the mine came to an unstable state.

The reasons and causes of the accident

It is quite valid for a human brain to think of a question that requires

the reasons and causes of the accident.

We always prefer to follow prevention is better than cure and it was

good to experience that Chile government cured the accident and its

victim very professionally but we should focus on the strategies to

avoid those accidents to happen again. As we celebrate the miners

safe and successful return, lets lighten the issue of the safety for

mines in Chile, labour rights and the expected dangers of an export-

oriented development strategy. These are important issues which

must not be ignored at any cost.

"Los 33" was discovered in late August, but Chile government which

is famous for their incredible development pace, a good economic

growth rate and a stable country found their miners after almost 2weeks. If they would have failed to detect them after 2 weeks the

trapped miners would have died due to lack of technicals resources

and that is the worst scenario a country may face.

Many commentators such as international trade unions have

disclosed Chiles failure to approve International Labour Organisation

(ILO) principles on health and safety in mines and failure to draw

attention to the aftermath of inappropriate workplace safetystandards across the country. According to the Inter Press Service, in

2009 alone Chile had a total of 191,685 workplace accidents,

including 443 deaths.


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Carmon Espinoza, chairman of the Chilean NGO Programa de

Economia del Trabajo (Labour Economy Program) stated in late

august that in Chile job insecurities mean miners "for logical reasons

pay greater attention to keeping their jobs than to work safety".

The San Jos mine does not have good reputation in these few years

as dozen of lives have been lost in there and hence it has become a

tragedy for any miner working there.

Blgica Ramrez who is the sister-in-law for one of the trapped

miners, said that workers did try to raise their concerns to the

management but always gets a cold shoulder from the authorities,

"The mine was in precarious condition and they [the miners] always

told the bosses, but the only thing they cared about was production,"

she said.

In early September, a Guardian report displayed that "the dangers

were so well known that locals called its miners 'the kamikazes'." The

owners cannot be left for open breathing as the owner of the San

Jose mine new the risk and hence all his miners were employed on a

salary 30% higher than average, which clearly shows that the job

required extraordinary sacrifices.

Other reporters further argued that factors like rapid economic

growth and emphasizing on an export oriented development

strategy can very much be patterned for being a cause.

Jean Paul Tarud, Chile ambassador in Abu Dhabi told Gulf-News on

an interview that It was known that the owner of the mine had notfollowed safety regulations but that it was the tight legal framework

of Chile which played an important role in saving the miners.

"The inspections had found some tunnels unfit for operation and had

asked the owner to reinforce them before operating them. He


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however failed to do so and had sent in the miners, who agreed to

work because they are paid on a day-to day basis," Tarud explained.

"People are not known to survive mining accidents. But the steel-

reinforced shelters that are required by our legal system, and thesupplies of food, water and oxygen in them is what saved these

workers," he added.

How was the situation handled and how workers were rescued

After being trapped underground for more than 2 months the

officials finally announced a day on 10th

of October when the rescueoperation will start. The announcement was made immediately after

engineers completed constructing a 622-metre-deep shaft which will

go straight down through to the emergency shelter where the men

were supposedly sheltered since the August 5 collapse of the gold

and copper mine in northern Chile. Mining Minister Laurence

Golborne told reporters that they are willing to set a start date near

Wednesday for the rescue operation as the shaft needed time tostabilize. Almost a day and a half would be required to reinforce the

exit shaft encased with 96 meters of steel piping and it would be

done overnight. Apart from that, an additional 48 hours was needed

to setup the metal cage and the complex pulley system for lowering

it to the miners and lifting out one at a time. The shaft was designed

in a way that only one person could fit in and when the shaft will be

brought pulled it would make around ten circles within its axis.

The first group of miners to exit would be those who are physically

fit, followed by a group considered the weakest due to chronic

health problems like high blood pressure or lung ailments, and

ending with another group of the stronger ones, officials said.


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According to the authorities if the rescue starts on Wednesday, all

the miners could be expected to be out and reunited with loved ones

by Friday. Trapped miners would be hoisted out one at a time and

the operation may take about 3 to 10 days. The miners at that time

were found to be trapped deep beneath the desert floor after a

partial collapse that blocked the mine exit, surviving longer than

anyone has before under similar situation.

The view of the workers- what they went through and what could

be the health effects on them

One of the miner told Reuters that almost every trapped miner was

mentally prepared for death and were just waiting for their last

breath when the authorities found there spot and gave them back aglimmer of hope.

Yonni Barrios 50 years of age said while fighting back his tears in an

interview taken after all the miners were resurfaced that they were

all trying to figure out the factor that was keeping them alive.

Barrios was the most senior of all being trapped under the gold and

copper mine and was the head of the team being trapped. When

coming out the mine with his fellow miners after 69 days Barrios said

that every miner used to ask him the exact time of help.

Trapped miners after being resurfaced had to go through medical

treatments as the primary health concern for all of them was no sun

exposure for almost 69 days. Barrios told the reporters that he finds


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it very difficult wearing shades throughout the daytime as the

sunlight pinches him and makes him feel as if somebody is poking his

eye.

Barrios and his co-workers when asked about the whole incidentthey said that they were caught in a cave-in on 5

thAugust and had to

go through a very strict diet for next 17 days and all their hopes were

drowned before being found.

Barrios said that they felt very frustrated deep inside because the

only thing that would killed them was hunger and he found it hard to

believe that starvation would be the cause of their death.

The authorities on the land were also very concerned about them

and they first driller the place just to provide necessary nutrition to

the miners and then their second drill was to pull the miners out.

Barrios said that his co-miners alongside with him didnt thought

mercy killing a way to end their pain and everyone fighted till their

last breath and rest as they say everything is destined.

"We never thought about that," said Barrios. "Everybody had

accepted that if we weren't rescued we were going to die. And that if

we had to die, then we had to die, and that was all that remained."

Compensation to the workers

The miners no longer came out as miners but they became super

heroes who fought for their survival, for their families and for the

world to set up a good example that nothing is impossible and one

shouldnt lose hope of their life in any condition. When not on land

they were celebrities and when they showed up to world they

became heroes. They were rewarded with both intrinsic and extrinsic


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compensation. Huge signing amount from the media channels for

their exclusive interview, offers from Hollywood, and publishers

offering them to write a book. Their courage and inner strength has

made other mining firms to give out attractive job offers for them.

Government also gave incentives and subsidies to the miners and

their families, miners are given fully paid holidays along with all-

expense paid tour around the world to divert their attention from

their disturbing past.

What can be learned from the case

Reading the Blog on the Reuters site, Stacy Torres, a PhD student at

New York University, pointed out the lack of safety standards

protecting the workers contributing majorly to Chiles success. She

argued that while holding the position as Latin America's economic

powerhouse for the past 20 years but even today Chile continues to

suffer from a high level of income inequality in the world. The

struggle of Chiles trapped miners has once again exposed the

human costs of such progress.

Chile is the world's largest producer of copper and is being trusted by

many. Chiles 4-5 % growth rate has largely summed up by copper

exports to Europe, United States, China and India. The government

considers Chile as a credible name for a prime investment

destination, and is proud of it as being the only country of Latin

America for achieving such a high economic growth rate.

Chiles poverty rate has dropped considerably low from 40% in 1990

to 14-15% but the unequal distribution of income in the country has

barely improved. As per the 2009 UN human development report, of

147 countries unfortunately Chile is the 19th most unequal state in

the world in terms of distribution of the country's wealth. Figures

from the report gives an idea that the richest 10% account for 40% of


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Chile's income and expenditures, while the poorest account for only

1.6%. Labour standards and rights are often sidelined by the Chiles

economists and they are the fundamental components of human

development.

A 2004 report from the UK's Department for International

Development argued that achieving the improvements in labour

standards is a vital task for any country to sustain competitive

advantage.

Though the ILO has reported that "more than 75% of the global

population do not enjoy a set of social guarantees that allow them to

deal with life's risks", it argues that the promotion not just of work,

but of "decent work" underpinned by rights and social protections,

including safeguards for income, health and safety is necessary for

the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger (MDG1).

The issues being discussed above is surely sidelined and hence Chile

is struggling to perform hundred percent.

Mining is one of the biggest industry and occupation in Chile in termsof monetary value as well and thousands of gold, copper, silver,

lithium, iron and magnesium mines are in operation around the

country.

The government after being aware of the media power is now

setting up an inspection team to root out the cause.

The diplomats have also assured the workers that the government

will surely be more careful and efficient for the safety of their

citizens. Inspectors will make sure that the emergency shelters which

played a vital role in the survival of the 33 miners will be

standardized but tunnels which have suffered damages due to


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February's 8.8 earthquake and its 237 aftershocks are first deemed

safe before being used again.

Conclusion

Conclusively, we have learned in our case that Chile is a very

developing nation ignoring the fact that it has a huge income gap.

And we learned how the miners where stuck in the mine for so long

but the government and authorities where successful to retrieve

them with safety. Additionally the main purpose of this report is to

prove the grave importance of occupational health and safety and

how it must be taken in to consideration by both employers and

employees. Every business every organization must place

occupational health and safety on its top priorities as it protects the

most precious asset of a firm, that is its people.

mgmt321 final report on chilean miners of 2000 words

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