Investigation into the causes of accidents on scraper systems in the gold and platinum mining sectors

Abstract

Scraper winch cleaning is well known and widely used in the South African gold and platinum mines to clean the rock from underground stopes and gullies after the blast. However, there are risks and hazards associated with the design, installation and cleaning operations of the scraper winch systems that require identification. This research report identifies the risk and hazards associated with scraper winch systems that may lead to potential accidents in the gold and platinum sector. The research also suggest whether scraper winch systems are a major safety risk, and if the associated risk is a managerial and an operational issue, or whether further research is required to provide potential solutions to the identified risk.