THE horrific incident where four employees were burnt with molten steel lava could have been avoided.
This is according to the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), which put the blame straight on SA Steel Mills.
Numsa said the company failed to keep the workplace safe after several workers nearly died in a terrifying accident.
“Numsa is deeply concerned about the well-being of workers at SA Steel Mills following a horrific accident around 6.30am on Thursday, 19 October, where four employees were burnt with molten steel lava,” said Numsa general spokesman Irvin Jim.
He said the union was alerted to the accident by the regional secretary of Sedibeng, Kabelo Ramokhathali.
Jim said they sent a union health and safety official to the scene, and he informed the Department of Employment and Labour (DoEL) of the incident.
“We must state that by the time we had informed the DoEL, SA Steel Mills had not yet informed the department of the incident,” claimed Jim.
He pointed out that the inspector of the DoEL arrived at the scene around midday to conduct an inspection.
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He said upon arriving at the scene of the incident, two employees had been hospitalised and were in a critical condition.
“Two others were treated with normal first aid by first responders and sent home. Numsa insisted that the other two were taken to hospital where they were treated overnight for burns and kept for observation,” Jim said.
According to the union, management claimed that the accident was because of a cooling water pump which tripped, causing the molten steel not to run through the mould, and it splashed outside the mould and caused serious burn injuries to the operators who were mending the process.
“This is not the first time that SA Steel Mills has had accidents, and Numsa is on record for exposing the management of this company for consistently failing to act to ensure that proper health and safety protocols are followed. In the last incident, a worker died, and the owner, Rafik Mohamed, was inhumane in his response to the incident,” said Jim.
He alleged that Mohamed refused to allow workers to take time off to deal with the trauma and properly mourn their colleague's death.
“Mohamed behaved like a slave owner and demanded that workers return to work immediately or face dismissal,” Jim said.
“We condemn SA Steel Mills for putting profits ahead of safety! It's clear that worker safety is not prioritised at SA Steel Mills, and this is putting the lives of workers at risk. We're calling on the DoEL to take the issues of SA Steel Mills seriously and intervene decisively. Otherwise, there will be more unnecessary deaths,” Jim added.
