1. The owner, agent and manager of every mine shall-
(a) identify the hazards to health and safety of the persons employed at the mine to which they may be exposed while at work;
(b) assess the risks to health and safety to which employees may be exposed while they are at work;
(c) record the significant hazards identified and risks assessed;
(d) make those records available for inspection by the employees; and
(e) follow an appropriate process for identification of the hazards and assessment of risks.
2. The owner, agent and manager of every mine, after consulting the safety committee of the mine and Internal Safety Organization, shall determine all measures necessary to-
(a) eliminate any recorded risk;
(b) control the risk at source;
(c) minimize the risk; and
(d) in so far as the risk remains,
(i) provide for personal protective equipment; and
(ii) institute a program to monitor the risk to which employees may be exposed.
3. Based on the identified hazards and risks, the owner, agent and manager of every mine shall prepare an auditable document called “Safety Management Plan”, that forms part of the overall management and includes organizational structure, planning, activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining a safety and health policy of a company.
4. It shall be the duty of the owner, agent and manager to implement the measures determined necessary and contained in the Safety Management Plan for achieving the objectives set out in sub regulation (2) in the order in which the measures are listed in the said sub-regulation.
5. The Safety Management Plan shall contain-
(a) defined mine safety and health policy of the company;
(b) a plan to implement the policy;
(c) how the mine or mines intend to develop capabilities to achieve the policy;
(d) principal hazard management plans;
(e) standard operating procedures;
(f) ways to measure, monitor and evaluate performance of the safety management plan and to correct matters that do not conform with the safety management plan;
(g) a plan to regularly review and continually improve the safety management plan;
(h) a plan to review the safety management plan if significant changes occur; and
(i) details of involvement of mine workers in its development and application.
6. The owner, agent and manager of every mine shall periodically review the hazards identified and risks assessed, to determine whether further elimination, control and minimization of risk is possible and consult with the safety committee on review.
7. The owner, agent or manager of every mine shall submit a copy of the Safety Management Plan to the Regional Inspector who may, at any time by an order in writing, require such modifications in the plan as he may specify therein.
8. The owner, agent and manager of every mine shall be responsible for effective implementation of the Safety Management Plan.
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