Within the framework of the discussions of Regulatory Standard number 18, which establishes safety rules for the construction sector, the SITICOP-MG affiliate of the BWI presented a proposal for a standard that aims to improve the conditions of workers who operate the thousands of tailings dams that exist in Brazil.
The presentation of this proposal is part of a working plan that has been carried out by SITICOP-MG and BWI, since the collapse of the Fundão dam, operated by Samarco Minerações, which happened in November 2015, resulting in the death of 19 people, among them 14 workers of the construction sector. Among these measures are actions in the Brazilian courts and international articulations with the objective of guaranteeing the compensation of the victims of the accident and their families and prevent new ones from happening.
The proposal presented aims to solve the problems that workers and trade unions have been facing in dams throughout the country. It regulates the certification of the companies that operate the dams, the monitoring of the risks in the dams, the equipment to be used, the signs in the workplace, explosion procedures, measurement of pollutants, Internal Commissions for Accident Prevention (CIPAS in portuguese), union access and representation in the workplace.