Falls of Ground Action Plan (FoGAP)

Falls of Ground Action Plan (FoGAP)

Falls of Ground Action Plan (FoGAP)

At the CEO Zero Harm Forum in March 2021, mining leaders raised concern over the industry’s safety regression and the continued high proportion of mining fatalities linked to falls of ground.

Addressing Fall of Ground Fatalities

In 2020, fall of ground incidents accounted for 22 of the 60 mining fatalities in South Africa, representing 37% of the total. Similar figures were recorded in 2018 and 2019, highlighting a plateau in FoG safety performance.

Global benchmarking by the ICMM further revealed that half of its members’ fatalities occurred in South Africa, largely due to the country’s deep, high-stress mines. In response, the Minerals Council’s CEO Zero Harm Forum made FoG its key focus for 2021 and tasked the Rock Engineering Technical Committee, supported by SANIRE, with developing an action plan to eliminate FoG fatalities.