This paper assessed the impact of mining operations on the health of mining workers. Additionally, the challenges faced by mine workers due to health issues and provisions arranged by mines for workers’ healthcare were analysed from the social work and human rights perspectives. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a mineral-rich district of Odisha, India, by covering 257 households consisting of 296 mine workers of both public and private sector mines. The result showed mining operations had a critical negative environmental and occupational health impact on workers. Diseases like colds, cough, fever, bronchitis, jaundice, acute respiratory infection, gallbladder stone, blood pressure, skin disease, tuberculosis, and joint pain occurred frequently with greater intensity along with the deformity and death caused by mining accidents. Against the losses, the workers hardly receive compensation as mandated by Mining Act, 1952 and Director General of Mines Safety guidelines due to their lack of information, casual job contracts, poor implementation of mining law, lack of monitoring of mining activities by the government, and the profit-maximizing behaviour of the mines. In this context, the study followed the human rights and workers’ right principles and provisions of United Nations-Human Right Council, World Health Organization, International Labour Organization, and the Mining Act, 1952, and recommends a set of principles, i.e. employment of an adequate number of qualified health social workers/human right professionals both at micro and macro levels, and formulates an appropriate plan to ensure good health and well-being to mining workers. Additionally, strict implementation of mining laws, periodic social and environmental impact assessment, permanent job contracts to workers, social protection and security of workers, and creation of adequate health infrastructure in the mining locality is essential.

本文评估了采矿作业对采矿工人健康的影响。此外，还从社会工作和人权的角度分析了矿工因健康问题而面临的挑战以及矿山为工人医疗保健安排的规定。在印度奥里萨邦矿产资源丰富的地区进行了一项横断面研究，覆盖了 257 个家庭，其中包括公共和私营矿山的 296 名矿工。结果表明，采矿作业对工人的环境和职业健康产生了严重的负面影响。感冒、咳嗽、发热、支气管炎、黄疸、急性呼吸道感染、胆囊结石、血压、皮肤病、肺结核、关节痛等疾病频发且强度较大，矿难造成的畸形和死亡也较多。由于缺乏信息、临时工作合同、采矿法执行不力、政府对采矿活动缺乏监控，工人们很难获得 1952 年采矿法和矿山安全总监指南规定的赔偿，以及矿山的利润最大化行为。在此背景下，本研究遵循联合国人权理事会、世界卫生组织、国际劳工组织和1952年《采矿法》的人权和工人权利原则和规定，并建议了一套原则，即雇佣在微观和宏观层面配备足够数量的合格卫生社会工作者/人权专业人员，并制定适当的计划以确保采矿工人的良好健康和福祉。此外，