Table 7 Psychosocial Hazards

In addition to biological hazards the miners’ health is deteriorated by psychosocial hazards [46]. The quality of life is negatively affected [46, 63]. It is of great importance to recognize that those benefiting from mining are situated in the Global North and consistently externalize environmental and health risks and costs to countries in the Global South intensifying these psychosocial hazards.

A variety of biopsychosocial hazards increase morbidity and mortality rates among miners. A lack of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) regulations worsens the exposure and the consequences of exposure [64]. Psychosocial hazards include a decline in biodiversity and a displacement of indigenous communities. Prostitution, criminal activities, violence, and substance abuse are frequently observed in the mining setting. The lack of healthcare facilities and efforts to formalize health insurance and social security mechanisms, as well as the present informal or illegal employment situations contribute to hazardous living and working conditions. Women, in the role of workers, caretakers and mothers, are exposed to a variety of risks in mining settings. Child labor is a main risk factor for children living in mining communities [65, 66].

Miners, their families and the communities they live in, are exposed to prostitution, violence, criminal activities and substance abuse [46].

Coltan mines, almost exclusively found in the east of the DRC, are often at the center of violent conflicts; militia groups control these territories exploiting workers. These blood minerals are mostly exported, highlighting a responsibility of the internationals to ensure sustainable, transparent and non-violent extraction of coltan [67]. The requirement to only export resources labeled ‘conflict-free’ to counteract violence and war was implemented for Congolese minerals. This ban, however, is criticized sharply for lowering the income and, thereby, worsening the conditions of miners in geographically remote areas, where control and, therefore, labeling is impossible. Secondly, strain is put on public authorities in a politically unstable setting where powers and legitimacy are not easily defined and production remains informal to a great majority [68]. Tin, tantalum, and tungsten (3 T minerals), as well as other minerals, are still part of the armed conflict in the DRC today. Notably, however, these are not a cause but a symptom of instability, conflict and poverty [69].

These arguments strongly relate to current formalization efforts. Top-down formalization efforts, in an environment where most employment is informal, frequently worsen living and working conditions of employees. Livelihoods that depend on the income from ASM are put under pressure by an increase of legitimacy to cooperate mines. A combination of bottom-up and top-down efforts has to be found [68].

A lack of provision, financing and regulation of healthcare services leads to insufficient availability of healthcare facilities and, due to the absence of insurance schemes, to non-affordable services. Nevertheless, this relates to the informality of most of the mining sector: Not only are health insurance schemes missing, but the lack of formal employment contracts, and financial and social protection also pose a great uncertainty to individuals, with an ever-present fear of catastrophic losses [65, 66, 70].