Safety & compliance Regulation
The Mine Health and Safety Act for mining contractors
Under the Mine Health and Safety Act the mine owner is the employer, even when a contractor does the mining. Contractor duties, appointments and reporting.
Contents 11 sections
Under the Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996 (MHSA), the “employer” is the mine owner, even when a contractor does all the mining. The Act names the holder of the prospecting permit or mining authorisation as the owner first. The contractor’s people are still “employees” under the Act and work inside the owner’s risk assessments, codes of practice, appointments and reporting system. A contractor starting on a mine needs its own records ready to fit into those.
Quotations are from the Act and regulations in the Mine Health and Safety Council’s consolidated booklet (MHSC, printed 2018, read 25 Sep 2026). The booklet’s Act text is updated to Government Gazette 32226 of 12 May 2009 and includes the Mine Health and Safety Amendment Act 74 of 2008.
Who the MHSA calls the employer
Section 102 is short on this point: “‘employer’ means an owner”. For a mine, the owner is first “the holder of a prospecting permit or mining authorisation”, then, if there is none, “the person for whom the activities … are undertaken, but excluding an independent contractor”, and last “the last person who worked the mine”.
The same section defines an employee as “any person who is employed or working at a mine”. A contractor’s operators, fitters and supervisors therefore fall inside the Act from the day they arrive.
Section 103 settles which safety law applies. The Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 “is not applicable to any matter in respect of which any provision of this Act is applicable”.
The owner’s duties that need the contractor’s input
On a contract mine, most of the owner’s duties depend on input from the contractor. The table lists the main ones.
| Section | The owner’s duty (Act wording, shortened) | What the contractor supplies |
|---|---|---|
| 2(1)(b) | Operate and maintain the mine so employees can work “without endangering the health and safety of themselves or of any other person” | Safe methods of work for its scope, and machines kept in safe condition |
| 5(1) | Provide “a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of employees” | Hazard information from its own activities |
| 7(1)(d), (e) | Consider each employee’s training before assigning a task; work under “the general supervision of a person trained to understand the hazards” | Training records and competent supervisors on every shift |
| 8 | A written health and safety policy and a description of “the organisation of work” | Its own organogram and reporting lines, fitted to the mine’s |
| 9(2), (3) | Codes of practice where the Chief Inspector of Mines requires them, written to the Chief Inspector’s guidelines | Procedures written to comply with the mine’s codes |
| 10(3), (4) | Train employees before they start and before significant changes, and “keep a record of all formal training” | Induction and training records per person |
| 11(1) to (3) | Identify hazards, assess and record risks, then eliminate, control at source, minimise and only then issue PPE | Task risk assessments for its scope, done with the mine’s method |
Section 7(1)(a) also requires the employer to “ensure that every employee complies with the requirements of this Act”. Contractor staff are employees under section 102, so that duty covers them too.
Appointments under the MHSA
The Act works through appointments, and making one does not relieve the person who made it of the duty.
- Section 3(1)(a): the employer appoints “one or more managers” for “the day to day management and operation of the mine”. Section 3(2): the appointment “does not relieve the employer of any duty”.
- Section 7(2) and 7(4): the employer, or a manager, “may appoint any person with qualifications as may be prescribed to perform any function” of the employer or manager. Sections 7(3) and 7(5) repeat that the appointment does not relieve the person who made it.
- Minerals Act regulation 2.13.2: on mines where machinery power does not exceed 2,500 kW, “all machinery shall be under the charge of a competent person or persons”. The manager appoints them “to the extent defined in every such person’s letter of appointment”. Regulation 2.13.8 requires these appointments to be reported in writing to the Principal Inspector of Mines “within three days”. Item 4 of Schedule 4 of the MHSA keeps these old regulations in force until they are repealed. The 2025 machinery amendments repealed Chapter 16 of them; Pay Dirt found no notice repealing regulation 2.13 on the DMPR’s list, read 25 Sep 2026.
- Regulation 8.10.23.4 and 8.10.23.5: machine operators must be authorised in writing, first by “the responsible engineer” after a competency assessment, then by their supervisor, with their “duties, responsibilities, limitations and areas of operation”.
This is the route by which a contractor’s site manager, engineer or foreman can be given functions under the Act: the employer or a manager appoints them to a defined scope. Read the letter before you sign: it sets the functions and the area you are accepting.
What applies to the contractor’s own people
Section 22 binds “every employee at a mine, while at that mine”. Each person must take reasonable care of their own safety and that of others, and use protective equipment properly. They must also “report promptly to their immediate supervisor any situation which the employee believes presents a risk” and “comply with prescribed health and safety measures”.
Section 23(1) gives every employee “the right to leave any working place” where circumstances “with reasonable justification, appear to that employee to pose a serious danger”. The same right applies when the health and safety representative directs it, and it covers contractor staff.
No one may deduct from an employee’s wages for anything the employer must provide under the Act for their health and safety (section 24).
Plant hire firms have a further duty. Section 21(1)(a) covers anyone who “designs, manufactures, repairs, imports or supplies any article for use at a mine”. That person must ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that the article “is safe and without risk to health and safety when used properly”. It must also comply “with all the requirements in terms of this Act”. On the section’s wording, a machine hired out for use at a mine is supplied for use at a mine.
Health and safety representatives and committees
A mine with 20 or more employees “must have a health and safety representative for each shift at each designated working place” (section 25(1)). A mine with 100 or more employees must have one or more health and safety committees (section 25(2)). Contractor staff are employees under section 102, so on the wording of section 25 they count towards these thresholds. Under section 29, employees in a designated working place elect representatives “from among themselves”, and the employer appoints them.
Under section 30(1), a representative may direct an employee to leave a dangerous working place. They may also “inspect any relevant document which must be kept in terms of this Act”, which includes a contractor’s training files.
Reporting accidents and dangerous occurrences
The reporting duty is the employer’s. Regulation 23.6 requires “a system … whereby the employer is informed, as soon as is practicable after its occurrence, of any accident or dangerous occurrence”. The contractor’s job is to feed that system at once.
| What happened | Rule | Deadline to the Principal Inspector of Mines |
|---|---|---|
| Death; injury likely to be fatal; unconsciousness, heat illness, gassing, electric shock | Reg 23.1(a) to (c), 23.2(1) | “immediately by the quickest means available”, then SAMRASS 1 and 2 |
| Injury off work 14 days or more, or loss of a joint or permanent disability | Reg 23.1(d), 23.2(2) | Within three days, SAMRASS 1 and 2 |
| Injury that keeps the person off their normal work on the next calendar day | Reg 23.1(e), 23.2(4) | Monthly, SAMRASS 4 |
| Dangerous occurrence, including a self-propelled machine “running out of control”, a slope failure or an accidental detonation of explosives | Reg 23.4(l), (b), (o); 23.5 | Immediately, then SAMRASS 1 |
Section 11(5) adds the investigation. It starts within 10 days, and the report reaches the Principal Inspector of Mines and the health and safety committee within 30 days. Section 11(8) covers incidents where someone died, is likely to die or lost a limb. No one may then “disturb the site at which the incident occurred or remove any article or substance involved” without the Principal Inspector’s consent. The exceptions are preventing a further incident, recovering the injured or dead, and rescue. Tell your operators that the machine stays where it is.
Inspectors, section 54 and section 55
Section 50 lets an inspector “enter any mine at any time without warrant or notice”, question anyone, require any “plan, book or record” to be produced, and seize documents or machinery.
Section 54 is the stoppage power. It applies where “any occurrence, practice or condition at a mine endangers or may endanger the health or safety of any person”. The inspector may then order that operations “be halted”, or suspend an act or practice or set conditions on it. The inspector may also order the employer to fix the condition within a set period, or have people moved to safety. The instruction goes “to the employer or a person designated by the employer or, in their absence, the most senior employee available at the mine”. A halt under section 54(1)(a) stays in force until the Chief Inspector of Mines sets it aside or the instructions are complied with.
Section 55 deals with non-compliance. Where the inspector believes the employer “has failed to comply with any provision of this Act”, the inspector gives a written instruction with steps and a deadline. In the Inspectorate’s 2024/2025 annual report, its KwaZulu-Natal office recorded that “the screening of contractors for health and safety competence remains inadequate at several sites” (MHSI Annual Report 2024/2025, read 25 Sep 2026).
What is changing: the Amendment Bill [B10-2026]
None of the Bill is law. Its progress to 25 Sep 2026:
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| 14 Oct 2024 | Explanatory summary and notice of intention to introduce published in Government Gazette 51390 |
| 7 Apr 2026 | Bill [B10-2026] introduced in the National Assembly by the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources |
| 26 May 2026 | Department briefs the Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources |
| 23 Jul to 22 Aug 2026 | Committee invites written public comment, closing at 16:00 on 22 August |
| 11 Aug 2026 | Committee workshop on the Bill and its legislative programme |
| 25 Sep 2026 | Tracker status: “under consideration by the National Assembly”; no vote recorded |
Sources: Bill B10-2026, PMG bill tracker, call for comments, all read 25 Sep 2026.
Even after Parliament passes it and the President signs it, clause 37 says it takes effect “on a date to be determined by the President by proclamation in the Gazette”. Different sections may start on different dates.
Three proposals matter to contractors:
- Who is an employee. The current definition already covers “any person who is employed or working at a mine”. The Bill’s definition would name “any person working for an independent contractor” expressly.
- Who is the employer. Still the right holder; the fallback definition still excludes an independent contractor.
- Accountability and enforcement. Section 2A already makes the chief executive officer “take reasonable steps” to see that the employer’s functions are performed. The Bill would require every employer to appoint a chief executive officer who “must ensure” they are “properly performed”. It would also increase penalties and move the confirmation of section 54 halts from the Chief Inspector to the Principal Inspector of Mines.
What to do now: starting on a mine
Common questions
Is a mining contractor the employer under the Mine Health and Safety Act?
No. Section 102 defines the employer as the owner, which in the first place is the holder of the prospecting permit or mining authorisation, and the fallback owner definition expressly excludes an independent contractor. The contractor’s staff are still employees under the Act, because an employee is any person employed or working at a mine.
Can an inspector stop a contractor’s work under section 54?
Yes. Section 54 lets an inspector halt operations at a mine or part of a mine, or suspend an act or practice, whenever an occurrence, practice or condition endangers or may endanger anyone at the mine. The instruction goes to the employer, a person the employer designates or the most senior employee available, so a contractor’s supervisor can receive it.
Has the Mine Health and Safety Amendment Act been passed?
No. As at 25 Sep 2026 it is still a Bill. The Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill [B10-2026] was introduced in the National Assembly on 7 April 2026. The Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources took public comments until 22 August 2026, and the parliamentary tracker still lists the Bill as under consideration by the National Assembly. Once passed and signed, it takes effect only on a date the President proclaims in the Gazette.
Sources
- Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996 and Regulations, consolidated booklet, Mine Health and Safety Council, printed 2018, read 25 Sep 2026.
- Mine Health and Safety Regulations, consolidated to 26 June 2025, Law Explorer, read 25 Sep 2026 (used to confirm Chapter 23 is unamended).
- Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill [B 10-2026], as introduced, Parliament, read 25 Sep 2026.
- Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill (B10-2026): bill tracker, Parliamentary Monitoring Group, read 25 Sep 2026.
- Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill: call for comments, Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources, via Parliamentary Monitoring Group, read 25 Sep 2026.
- Guideline for a mandatory code of practice for trackless mobile machines, DMR 16/3/2/2-B2, Government Gazette 39228, 25 Sep 2015, read 25 Sep 2026.
- Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate Annual Report 2024/2025, Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, read 25 Sep 2026.
