The regional director for DuPont Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Carlman Moyo, said a culture of safety needs to start with top executives and stressed that mining houses could not continue to use the same practices they had been employing for decades. The recent spate of mining accidents should be a wake-up call for miners and governments around the world, according to Mr Moyo, who said safety practices in mines needed a clear shake up. Mr Moyo told The Times that recent accidents in West Virginia, US, China and South Africa show that current safety practices are not working. He said a number of safety measures focus exclusively on sustaining trapped miners long enough to rescue them, not on preventing underground explosions and disasters. US President Barack Obama said in an address about the recent West Virginian mining accident that safety precautions should be the primary focus of mining companies which often put business before the safety of staff.
