How Hiv Aids Affect The Mining Industry Commerce Essay

How Hiv Aids discover The Mining Industry medico EssayThe purpose of this paper is to examine the prompts that human immunodeficiency virus/ aid whoremaster rent on the minelaying perseverance in s fall outhern or so Africa. I aim to look at how does human immunodeficiency virus/ assist doctors to the minelaying industry. My final stage is to show that human immunodeficiency virus/ support has its direct and indirect refer on the business and that it plays a major role in the business environment to daytime.I looked at individual mine companies, iodine that I sharpensed on throughout the paper was Anglo Ameri female genital organ, I also looked at the large-scaleger picture and researched on how it would affect the country and the mining industry. The first conformation of this project was to look at how human immunodeficiency virus/ support affects the labour tack, and how it affects your profitability, than I moved onto to a greater extent indirect affect which were what other impacts it has and hence last its impact on the economy.I found out that most of in the south Africas mine histrions argon human immunodeficiency virus confirming and this has a negative operation on the industry as they examine mettlesome expenditure receiv commensurate to providing wellness cargon, benefits and directing and that the mining industry is experiencing a spill in revenue as efficiency and productiveness is reduced cod to workers macrocosm ill and weak. This paper shows that the education and support of the workers is vital to prevent the human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS reckon from increasing and threatening their workforce. If companies cave in strong policies in place they could lessen the impact human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS has on their gild. cry count 244Contents PageIntroductionFor a lodge to be successful they must demonstrate a militant advantage, for Afri apprize companies, most of them already keep a competitive adv antage as at that place is a profuse supply of inexpensive, and productive labour. Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired resistant Deficiency Syndrome most comm solo distinguish to us as human immunodeficiency virus and AIDS atomic result 18 one of the of import causes of deaths in Africa. The percentage of give pile has steadily appendd throughout the old age and this transmission rate does non estimatem to be stopping. The transmission rate of southeasterly Afri potbellys is more(prenominal) or less 28% of the people that go into the clinics1. This statistic is not including the whole population so the total percentage of South Africans is unknown to us.I distinguishable to focus on the Mining Industry in South Africa has it has recently had a spotlight shone upon it from having a high HIV workforce, to unemployed workers firing into bedraggled mines in the hope of generating an income for their family. There is an abundance of mining companies in South Afr ica, it holds nearly 90% of the platinum metals of the Earth, 80% of the Manganese 73% of the Chrome, 45% of the Vanadium, and 41% of the Earths Gold.2Miners atomic number 18 usu anyy migrant workers who atomic number 18 away from their family. They are housed in same-sex hostels. These miners are frequently visit prostitutes to escape from their tough farm outs. These visits to prostitutes convey the mine workers vulnerable to HIV.I shall be concentrating for the purpose of this essay in the first place the effect of the financial, economical and motivational effect HIV has on the workplace. By only focusing on one industry it helps me narrow through with(p) the research area and thus I can focus oft more deeply into each of the factors I shall be exploring in this essay.I will respond to my research question How does HIV/AIDS Affect the Mining Industry? by looking at the specific components that w contactethorn be modify and see how these components are abnormal or ho w or so components are not modify at all.Why I admit this topicI choose this topic as it is something that is relevant to me. I am living in South Africa and am confronted ein truth day with new articles, new figures about HIV/AIDS. This interested me and I began to find about what impact this has to a business, I was interested to know more, know the deeper consequences and benefits that this HIV epidemic has on and business, on an industry. I then decided that choosing the mining industry would be great, there is this highlight on the mining industry and it is also an industry that beseechs you to save a strong workforce that can push back the severe conditions. With these two really prominent things in South Africa, I can up with my research question.How is the Labour come forth AffectedFor a business to be successful they would need a constant supply of learn workers that are capable to do the job to the best of their ability. Companies that require a workforce that i s fully trained, they seem HIV as a problem. It requires a huge quantity of time to train a new employee and the be to the federation are great to so this.The highest prevalence of HIV is for the age group of 30-34 years of age, with the age groups 25-29 and 35-39 not too far behind3. These age groups are the groups that are entry the workforce or are already working. This is not a salutary thing for a business as this suggests that their workforce and their future supply of workforce are most likely going to be affected by HIV.The mining sector is very labour intensive, mechanisation is onerous in mining which results in mining having to concord a big labour force. Most mine workers tend to be young males, which is the main age category that has been affected by HIV. These young males have to apply in physically demanding and dangerous work for up to 12 hours a day in hot, dusty conditions and are breaks are not very frequent, theses workers need to be physically capable an d up to full health to cope with this. Workers living with HIV may find these working conditions strenuous and they physically do not have the strength to cope in these difficult conditions. Mines require a work force of semi- delicate workers and also require highly-skilled workers a good deal(prenominal) as geologists and engineers, of one of these highly skilled workers were to be affected or be preoccupied to the unsoundness, their departure could disrupt operations greatly until a replacement is found for them. HIV also has an impact on the labour force of mining by having an outgrowth in mortality, for congressman more or less 60% of the mining workforce is aged between 30 and 44 years in 15 years this is predicted to fall to 10%4. This shows that the labour force for mining is be affected due to deaths connect to AIDS.How Profitability is AffectedHIV can affect a political party is possibly to ways to either increase its expenditures or it can locomote off rev enues. In the early stages of the HIV a company may bring the worker having an unexplained increase in absenteeism and the state worker and his or her family may have and increase in their health care personifys. about companies may choose to reimburse the worker for these greets or reconcile for a percentage of them. The productivity of the worker may devolve particularly when infections that are well known to effect HIV positive people start to attack the body such as tuberculosis.With that express, the companies may stay fresh an increase in diseases within their workforce as the contagious diseases are dissipate between the workforce. This would lead to workers having to take off more purge days and an increase in health care cost. Employees that have been place as HIV positive may be kept on working in the same emplacement, moved to a less demanding position or might even be fired, this all depends on the companys indemnity insurance policy to HIV positive worke rs.A prejudice of revenue is due to workers having to take leave due to illness or having to take leave due to family members being HIV positive or needing to attend a funeral. For illustration in north central Namibia it has been estimated that extension staff spend at least 10 percent of their time attending funerals.5Productivity is also affected as workers in poor health are no yearlong able to produce at the same levels to when they were good health. roughly 45% of South Africas mineworkers are HIV positive this has already reduced productivity in mines by 15%.6This intend that in the years to come mines would have to employ more workers, to keep up with the productivity level that they usually operate at to keep up their proceeds levels.The extent to employees living with HIV being kept on at a company depends on the type of work they do and the companies policy that are in place regarding this. For some companies the government or passel unions require that they supply benefit to HIV positive workers but some companies are able to not do this, and therefore the government of the workers family are made to provide the benefits.There are a number of ways in which a companys expenditures may increase due to having employees suffering from HIV. They could experience an increase in health care costs, which indicates that the company is being affected by HIV epidemic. Companies that have vested in private health insurance policies could have an increase in their premiums. Companies that have in-house health services such as clinics may have an increase in the need for their services. tally to the Chairman of Gold Fields, Christopher Thompson the HIV epidemic will cause the performance of gold to increase by R100 per ounce in the succeeding(prenominal) vi years.7Anglo American has made anti-retroviral therapy available to all of their employees that are HIV positive at the companys expense. This decision could greatly increase costs to the company and affect the profitability of the company.As more workers die of AIDS, businesses can have an increase in costs in terms of death benefits. Larger companies ofttimes offer death benefits to the family of the deceased worker. With the increase in HIV related to deaths companies have increased a big increase in costs and have had to find ways lessen the impact of these benefit costs. galore(postnominal) companies have lessened their financial contribution to the funeral, and some have unavoidable that funerals are only to take place on the weekend, to minimize the derive of time taken off of work. With such a high infection rate in mine workers together with the related incidence of illness and death means that mines loose between 5% and 10% of their workforce each year.8The cost of kick upstairsing and training new employees may be high. The cost of replacing an unskilled worker is usually very same, and these types of workers can usually be replaced within a week and the co st of replacing them is very small, especially when the area the company is located experiences a very high unemployment rate. But many companies require skilled experienced employees, these are such(prenominal) harder to recruit. Most of Africa has a shortage of skilled labour which makes recruiting a fit an appropriate candidate very difficult and positions can be left unfilled for weeks or even months. The training of the unskilled workers often doesnt cost the company ofttimes, can be done in-house and only takes a duo of days. However training of the skilled workers such as manager of financing, selling is of a much higher cost to the company, they usually get trained outside of the company, and many go overseas for the training. One company says they nervus costs of $100000 to recruit and train a replacement for the managing director role.9It is estimated that in South Africa that every 100 natural deaths that occur in a year 88 are highly skilled workers and 176 skill ed workers will die of AIDS in the same year, it is also estimated that in the same year 308 semi-skilled and unskilled workers will die of AIDS.10What Other Impacts conkAnother impact that HIV/AIDS has on a company is that is can cast devour the morale of its employees, employees may feel de-motivated and not instinctive to work as efficiently. They see their colleagues and friends at work die before their eyes and they soon start to have a negative, defeatist situation towards their work as they see themselves in the same position as the deceased one.One indirect effect of all the leave that has been taken by employees is that the healthy workers have to work harder than usual to make up for the people on dour leave. In many companies workers are said to be working extra hours to make up for the time lost by the sick colleagues, however these healthy employees usually do not get paid over time and often feel overworked and exhausted. This could then reduce the quantity and quality of the final product as employees are stressed and de-motivated. The spread of HIV could lead to poor work relationships, they may not feel they are being supported by their company and their colleagues, that there are not enough care and prevention methods in place. Some workers may demand that employees that have been infected should be brush off when they learn about their attitude. There often a negative position and behavioural responses towards an HIV positive person when other workers learn the status of that person.A way for managers to address the indirect effects HIV has on their company is to generate a workplace policy that addresses the needs of an HIV positive person this policy promotes healthy relationships between all workers and levels of the hierarchy. Anglo American is one of the mining companies that is leading in the fight against HIV/AIDS, they have community outreach and strong policies to go on, Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive of Anglo American s aid Anglo Americans aim, as the Employer and Partner of Choice, is to effectively manage the impact of HIV/AIDS on our employees and to make a positive contribution towards minimising the social, economic and developmental consequences of this epidemic. Anglo Americans response reaches beyond its workforce, through community outreach HIV/AIDS programmes, to spread the application of good practice in a way which helps to corroborate community health systems.11By having strong aims like this the company is able to address some of the indirect effects that HIV has on their company and helps strengthen the moral of the workers as they feel like they are being taken care of and that they are an assets to the company. The Anglo American policy towards HIV/AIDS focuses on the some main things such asConfidentiality- the employee who has HIV has the rightlyfield to confidentiality and privacy. They are under no obligation to tell management about their HIV status.Non- Discrimination- Ang lo American does not tolerate unfair discrimination towards a person with HIV and take all the steps to respects their lordliness and break human rights. All employees that are part of the company, who know (or cipher they know) a workers HIV status are told of the requirements and responsibilities of disclosing this information to a tertiary party, and the consequences that could happen if they were to do this.Gender equality- Anglo American aims towards having equal gender relations. They clear that the empowerment of women is vital to successfully prevent the spread of HIV infection and enable women to cope with HIV/AIDS.Social Dialogue- Anglo American aims to build partnerships and alliances with their stakeholders so that they can develop a common vision and shared dodging with them.This policy they have is constantly updated with the ever changing environment that we hold water in. This strong policy as said before strengthens the employee relations as the company is se en to care for their employees and cares about their well being.Another effect HIV/AIDS can have on a business is that it can cause a decline in some products. Products known as luxury products could no longer be bought as much as previously, this is because with the employee acquiring sicker with HIV they no longer bring in that much income as previously, they are also experiencing an increase in their medical costs. This leaves them with no having enough money to buy those nonessential goods. This could not necessarily affect the mining industry, but it does affect their workers and their families. It means that they can no longer buy as many good as they previously could have. It also affects the businesses where the mine workers buy their goods from as they are no longer getting as much business from them as they would have before the worker had been infected.How HIV/AIDS is Affecting South African EconomiesHIV/AIDS can not only affect a company, but it can also affect the econo my. This could lead to people not wanting to dress in the country as they are seen to have a declining economy.The decline in the economy impacts two things sitement and trade. The investment is impacted by the uncertainty over the impact of HIV/AIDS causes reluctance from the investor. Investors are not sure how the ever growing HIV epidemic is going to affect the business and they start to become reluctant to invest as they are not sure if the company will succeed or not. Another thing is there had been a decrease in the amount and mixed bag of entrepreneurs people are not going out as much and starting their own company, this means that there is not as many projects to be invested in as there is not the variety and range that investors want in that country, so they then move to the next country looking for the next best thing to invest in. alike the general economic picture is impacting on investment some countries do not seem to be doing well and seem unstable this therefore would not be a wise country to invest in as the country could fall at any moment, think Zimbabwe, all people who invested in Zimbabwe mustve lost tonnes of money due to the country falling economically. This could affect the mining industry greatly, if no one is willing to invest in them then they lose vital financing. Mines are the ones being hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic investors are able to see this and predict the high labour turnover rate and the overall costs and losses the company experiences due to this. Investors would then be discouraged to invest in the company as the percentage of staff with HIV would only increase. They would also see the general economic picture of South Africa, and with the ceding back they could see that overall investing in mines in South Africa as an unwise decision due to all the factors.The trade in South Africa is impacted by the reduced production due to increased costs. With HIV epidemic growing companies are having greater costs tha n they have had in the past, they have to deal with factors like death benefits, providing health care and anti retroviral therapy and the recruitment and training of staff, this means that there is not as money available to buy the raw materials or employ as many staff as they have before, which leads to there being a decrease in the production levels. Another thing that impacts the trade is the decrease in workers with experience in the export markets. Skilled labour is much harder to recruit than unskilled labour positions can be left empty for ages. This means that it is difficult to find labour that has experience in export markets due to there being a lack of qualified labour. For the mining industry this means that its trade is being impacted by HIV, they are experiencing an increase in their costs due to all the factors above and because the work is demanding, they are also experiencing a decrease in efficiency which leads to the company not producing as much. They also loos e lots of workers due to the demanding work and often have positions left unfilled as they cannot find someone with the right experience.There has been much debate on whether or not the HIV/AIDS epidemic would affect the economy. A Kenyan analysis indicated that the HIV/AIDS epidemic would cause a significant impact, which predictions that HIV/AIDS would leave the Kenyan economy one sixth smaller than it would have been in the absence of HIV/AIDS.12A South African check suggest that by the 2010, the level of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) could be lower than 17 percent due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic era the level of per capita GDP could be lower than 7 percent. About half(prenominal) the decline is due to an increase in the amount government is using up on health care to do with HIV/AIDS and one third is due to the lower productivity levels.13ConclusionSouth African mining companies have the potential to have a great competitive advantage against all the other companies around the w orld. Businesses need to protect the workers that have not been infected by HIV and educate their workforce to ensure the number of HIV positive people does not increase much more. For the ones that have been infected the mining companies need to use the services they have on them and that they support the workers through this difficult time. The companies need to ensure that the impact of this is as less as possible.As we have seen HIV generally affects those that are at the prime working age, this means that the companies are greatly affected by this especially when skilled workers are needed or workers undergo an intensive training process. Therefore the loss of one of the workers can cause a business to lose some of its competitive edge.The increase in the HIV epidemic has lead companies to experience a loss in their profitability. This is due to an increase in their expenditures, such as sick leave, health care, funeral benefits, recruiting and training new employee and even p roviding anti retroviral therapy. Also their revenues have declined due to a decrease in efficiency and productivity as workers become ill and weak. Due to mining being such a demanding job, this has been one of the main problems they have experienced. There have also been more indirect ways in which the mining industry has been affected, such as de-motivation, poor work relationships. This great HIV epidemic may be slowly down investors wanting to invest new money into the mining industry. Also HIV/AIDS is said to be slowly down economic growth with is also turning investors away and cumbering the number of people willing to invest in South Africa.Overall, with still more than half the population not being affected by HIV, there is still a chance that we can turn this situation around and lessen the impact of this epidemic to the mining industry and to our country. With continuing education, handing out condoms mining companies can hopefully limit the spread of HIV or even reduce it. If they keep addressing the issue and commit to the cause, we can limit the affects of HIV/AIDS to the mining industry.