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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Dust, Disease and Labour at Havelock Asbestos Mine, Swaziland |
Author: | McCulloch, Jock |
Year: | 2005 |
Periodical: | Journal of Southern African Studies |
Volume: | 31 |
Issue: | 2 |
Period: | June |
Pages: | 251-266 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Swaziland - Eswatini |
Subjects: | mining asbestos occupational health Labor and Employment Health and Nutrition History and Exploration Development and Technology Economics and Trade Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) |
External link: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070500109425 |
Abstract: | The Havelock/Bulembu asbestos mine in Swaziland, which operated from 1939 until 2001, was a major employer and earner of foreign exchange. For most of its life the mine was owned and managed by the British conglomerate Turner & Newall. The miners of Havelock have recently failed in their efforts to bring a legal action in Britain against that company. Asbestos is a hazardous material and the attitude of management, the absence of trade unions or an effective regulatory authority meant that work conditions at Havelock were harsh. Using internal company correspondence and archival sources it is possible to identify the moment, four years after the mine opened, when Turner & Newall decided the health of its Swazi workforce was expendable. The article identifies the numerous ways in which T&N and its subsidiaries failed to comply with occupational health regulations in the UK, failed to warn employees of the dangers they faced, fought hard to frustrate legitimate claims for compensation, and suppressed medical evidence of risk. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract] |