A recent visit by a team of partners including the International Labor Organization (ILO), Labour Department of Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), Minerals Commission, the Ghana National Association of Small-scale Miners (GNASSM) and Social Mobilization Partners against Child Labor (SOMOPAC) to mining sites in the Central and Ashanti regions reveals poor and hazardous working conditions of artisanal and small scale gold miners.
These miners operate without any safety gears. They use their bare hands and expose their skin to the harmful chemicals involved in the process.
Mercury, is an extremely toxic chemical which has devastating effects on its users, causing damage to the brains, kidneys and lungs. One’s eye sight can be lost through the use of mercury. By exposing yourself to mercury, you are in effect exposing yourself to terrible health risks, in extreme cases, cancer. This, is the risk every small scale gold miner faces in their everyday work.
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