Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB) on Thursday issued guidelines for a mandatory code of practise to companies in the mining sector.
Miners are now obligated to implement a code of practice that complies with “any relevant guidelines and instructions issued by [the] government”, it said.
These include putting mechanisms in place to protect health and safety of the employees at the site as well as establishing risk assessment mechanism to identify any risk or hazard to the safety and health in the mining activities
All mining companies are also asked to provide all workers with Personal protective equipment (PPE) and hygienic supplies, the statement said.
Since it has been noticed that every time the tunnel doesn’t have enough air, experts believe that this situation can cause the virus to remain inside the tunnel and this can spread the virus among the workers in case there is an infected person.
As part of prevention measures, mining companies have been asked to put adequate ventilation in the tunnel to avoid suffocation, it said.
Latest reports by the ministry of Health indicate that Rwanda has 397 confirmed cases of the virus including 271 recoveries and two fatalities across the country since the outbreak of the pandemic in last March.
CU/abj/APA