Ss29-03 Natural Resources Exploitation and Occupational Illness and Injury Under Colonial Rule: The Paradigm of the Belgian Congo

Introduction During Belgian colonial rule of the Congo (1908-1960), the private company Union Minière du Haut-Katanga (UMHK) had a monopoly on mineral extraction and processing in southern Katanga (northern part of the African Copperbelt). Thousands of workers were employed in underground and open cast mines, and in metallurgical plants producing copper, cobalt, uranium, and many other metals. Materials and Methods Non-systematic literature review and limited archival research. Results In the first decades, worker shortage represented a major difficulty for the mining industry. Men were forcefully recruited from surrounding or even faraway regions to work for three to six months; poor working and living conditions led to high mortality from dysentery and pneumonia. Later, efforts were made to improve hygiene in worker camps, built following the South African Orenstein model of dormitories. However, largely at the initiative of medical doctors, the UMHK took measures aimed at “stabilizing” the workforce. This consisted in building worker camps (“cités”) with family housing, improving food rations, providing medical care and schools. This “totalitarian” policy was conducted without worker participation; unions were forbidden. Nevertheless, organized forms of resistance did occur, including a violently repressed strike in December 1941. Occupational accidents and work-related diseases (including silicosis) were recorded, but little information is publicly available about their prevention, incidence, and management. Conclusions UMHK medical services focused on prevention and management of common diseases for mine workers and their families. The history of occupational safety and health in natural resource exploitation under Belgian colonial rule remains to be written.