Joel Santos highlights low work accident rates in Dominican mining

Santo Domingo.- Despite mining being the highest-risk sector for labor, the Dominican Republic continues to report low rates of workplace accidents and morbidity. This progress is attributed to the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), which has prioritized worker safety through comprehensive public policies. During the Fifth Congress of the Dominican Society of Occupational Risk Preventionists (Sodoprela), Minister Joel Santos outlined the initiatives the MEM has undertaken to protect workers, including the establishment of a specialized department for occupational health and safety. This unit has trained over a thousand miners and created the first emergency response brigade for artisanal larimar mining, with 28 trained responders for underground operations.

Santos emphasized the importance of building a strong safety culture, describing it as essential to sustainable development. He reaffirmed MEM’s commitment to partnerships with both national and international organizations to reinforce workplace safety standards. Highlighting the human element of labor safety, he reminded attendees that behind each worker is a life and a family, underlining the right of every individual to return home safely at the end of the day.

The congress, held June 10–11 at Sambil, features international experts discussing global standards, emergency response innovations, and best practices, with participation from representatives of OSHA, Barrick Gold, TEEX, and ASRI-TEEX, among others.