Die implikasies van ISO 14001 vir die Suid-Afrikaanse mynbousektor

Abstract

The implications of ISO 14001 for the South African mining sector The increasing importance of environmental management in South Africa over the last few decades has given rise to relevant legislation regarding environmental impact and the management thereof. The Minerals Act (50/1991) was implemented in 1992 to regulate the mining sector. In terms of this Act, the submission of an environmental management programme report (EMPR) became a prerequisite for obtaining a prospecting permit or' mining authorisation. Upon acceptance of this report by the State and all interested and affected parties, the programme was approved and the environmental management programme (EMP), Section 6 of the EMPR, became legally binding. All EMPR's are compiled by means of an Aide-Memoire. However, the various role players in the private and mining sectors became increasingly critical of the Aide-Memoire and the EMPR. This can be ascribed to the perception that the EMP was originally intended to be a complete environmental management system (EMS), and not merely a document granting approved mining authorisation. As a result of problems such as these , the Aide-Memoire has been undergoing a revision process since 1997. Since South African environmental legislation does not provide any guidelines for environmental management systems, some of the larger mines have been implementing environmental management systems (EMS's) based on the internationally accepted ISO 14000 standard , since 1996. The South African version of this standard , SABS ISO 14000, is also committed to the principles of integration and continual improvement. Mines which only have an approved EMP in place are usually not capable of implementing integrated environmental management (IEM), and thus continue to cause damage to the environment. It is therefore necessary to determine the implications of an environmental management system such as ISO 14001 for the mining sector in South_ Africa , where only an EMP is legally required. On the basis of studies of relevant literature regarding environmental management in South Africa , two questionnaires were compiled to determine: 1. How an existing approved EMP can form part of integrated environmental management if there is no EMS within which the environmental impact can be managed. 2. How the existing approved EMP and the ISO 14001-based EMS can be integrated. 3. The advantages and disadvantages of the implementation and certification of an ISO 14001-based EMS for a working South African mine. The first questionnaire (for goal 1) was sent to randomly selected mines and quarries in South Africa . The second questionnaire (for goals 2 and 3) was sent to all mines that are either in the process of ISO 14000 certification or had already received ISO 14000 certification from the SABS by May 1999. The questionnaires consisted of open-ended, dichotomous and multiple-choice questions. The emphasis was placed on the open-ended questions in order to determine the different environmental managers' perceptions of the stated goals. These perceptions were analysed with the aid of the WINRELAN software package and GABEK, a semantic network methodology.

On the basis of the analysed information the fourth goal was achieved, namely to develop a model or models that could be used to determine the measures, strategic principles and related operational steps of an EMP-EMS integration. This gave rise to two main models and six supporting submodels, which were used to verify the three stated goals. The most important find ings regarding goals 1 to 3 are: 1. Model 2 indicates that existing approved EMP's can be used to successfully manage a mine within the context of its environment. However, it is necessary to develop an informal environmental management system to implement the principles of the EMP. 2. Model 1 makes it clear that the existing approved EMP and the ISO 14001-based EMS can be integrated, although subject to the following conditions: • amending the existing Aide-Memoire so that the EMP is based on IEM principles; • amending the existing Aide-Memoire so that the EMP will meet the requirements of the SASS ISO 14001 environmental management system; • developing an SASS ISO 14001 environmental management system that the EMP can implement according to IEM principles; • following IEM principles throughout in order to make successful management of the environment possible; • ensuring that all workers and management staff are committed to successful environmental management; and • implementing training and awareness programmes as part of the EMS in order to commit all workers and management staff to successful environmental management. 3. According to model 1, the greatest advantage of an ISO 14000-based EMS is that all workers and management staff are committed to successful environmental management and continual improvement of the environment. Model 2 stresses that an SASS ISO 14001-based EMS is not necessary for the implementation of successful environmental management at a mine with an approved EMP. It is regrettable that, owing to a shortage of information about environmental management systems, people do not realise the value of such a system. The two models and different submodels should make a contribution towards successful environmental management in the South African mining sector if they are used to test the new revised Aide-Memoire. These models have been introduced to the South African mining sector by means of relevant articles in appropriate mining and environmental magazines and journals, in order to communicate new perspectives for successful environmental management.