The Chamber of Mines wants its newly established Health and Safety Conference to become a platform that extends beyond its membership to include non-member mines, emerging miners, and artisanal miners, as part of a broader effort to improve health and safety standards across Namibia’s mining industry.
The proposal follows concerns that while Chamber member companies have made significant progress in improving safety performance, fatal incidents outside the organisation continue to highlight the need to share knowledge and strengthen safety practices across the wider mining sector.
Introduced this year under the theme “Safety for a Resilient Tomorrow,” the inaugural Health and Safety Conference is part of the annual Mining Expo and Conference and is intended to become a permanent platform for collaboration among mining companies, regulators, technical experts, and safety professionals.
The initiative could have far-reaching implications beyond the Chamber’s membership.
According to the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy, Namibia has about 1,078 registered mining claims, while the ministry estimates that between 5,000 and 8,000 people are engaged in small-scale mining, many working in groups on individual claims.
Through its Small Scale Mining Division, the ministry provides technical assistance, training, laboratory services, mineral rights administration and support for cooperatives as part of efforts to formalise and strengthen the sector.
Against that backdrop, the Chamber’s proposal would enable non-member operations, emerging miners and artisanal miners to benefit from the safety knowledge, peer learning and best practices developed within Namibia’s established mining industry.
Responding to delegates during the conference, Barcelona Tsauses, chairperson of the Chamber’s Health and Safety Committee and executive vice president of Sinomine Tsumeb Smelter, said the Chamber has already begun to extend its expertise beyond its member companies.
She said mining statistics since 2020, including the current year, show that the industry has recorded five fatalities, with four of those fatalities occurring at non-Chamber mining operations.
“What we have done over the past few years is that we’ve worked with the Chief Inspector of Mines and we’ve actually offered our services as a Health and Safety Committee, where we’ve gone to non-Chamber sites as a committee to go and evaluate their safety management systems, their safety management practices, and to offer advice to them as well.
The same peer review type of cross-pollination we have offered to that sector as well,” Tsauses said.
She said the Chamber now wants to expand those efforts through the annual conference.
“I think what we would love to see is that more and more of those sessions can continue to happen for us to curb the fatalities. So that’s what we definitely are doing in that space. And also these platforms that we currently have today, this platform of the Safety Conference, it’s not just for Chamber sites. We hope to see even the non-Chamber sites, the emerging miners, the artisanal miners, to come and listen and to learn with us as we go throughout this day.”
The issue was raised during the discussion session by Precious Gowases, Health and Safety Superintendent at Navachab Gold Mine, who asked whether Chamber member companies could do more to influence safety performance across the wider mining industry rather than focusing only on their own operations.
Earlier, Chamber of Mines president George Botshiwe said that improving mine safety is a responsibility shared by the entire industry, regardless of membership in the Chamber.
Botshiwe said Chamber member companies have recorded a number of fatality-free years since 2004 through strong leadership, disciplined operational practices and deeply embedded safety cultures. However, he cautioned that fatal incidents at non-Chamber operations during 2025 and 2026 demonstrate that significant work remains to strengthen health and safety performance across the wider mining industry.
“Although these incidents did not occur at Chamber member operations, every loss of life resonates throughout the mining sector.
“They serve as a sobering reminder that safety extends beyond organisational boundaries and that the consequences of workplace incidents affect the entire industry, its employees, their families, and the communities we serve.”
Botshiwe said the Chamber’s Health and Safety Committee, working closely with the Office of the Chief Inspector of Mines, reviews serious incidents, including those at non-Chamber operations, to identify lessons that can be shared across the industry.
“For this reason, the Chamber’s Health and Safety Committee, in close cooperation with the Office of the Chief Inspector, actually reviews serious incidents, even at non-Chamber member operations, to identify lessons learned and share these across the industry.
“By fostering this culture of learning and continuous improvement, the committee helps strengthen safety systems and reinforces the principle that safeguarding lives is a responsibility shared by the entire mining community.”
Botshiwe said the Chamber intends the Health and Safety Conference to become a permanent annual platform where industry leaders, regulators, technical experts and safety professionals can exchange knowledge and strengthen their collective commitment to achieving zero harm.
Building on that vision, Tsauses encouraged non-Chamber operations, emerging miners and artisanal miners to participate in the conference, learn from the industry’s experience and contribute to improving safety standards across Namibia’s mining sector.
