Hand & Skin Care for Mining in Namibia

Position and plumbing: Penetone serves the workshop and change-house wall dispensers where water finishes the job; Ardrojel — the waterless gel from the Ardrox stable — serves the pit, the field service truck and every position where the nearest tap is a kilometre of haul road away. Same soil, two logistics. Sites that stock only the water-rinse product discover their field crews washing in diesel, which is the habit the whole category exists to end.

Like every other PPE line: gloves matched to task (nitrile for oils and solvents, PVC gauntlets for acid work, general work gloves between), issue tracked by stores, replacement on condition rather than complaint. The payoff shows in two ledgers — end-of-shift cleaning time (gloved hands wash clean in one pass) and the clinic’s skin file. Namibian mines that run it as a tracked issue item, not a request line, see dermatitis presentations drop within a quarter.

Volume plumbing and bulk chemistry: 20 L Penetone dispensers at the dirty end, Chemkleen at every basin and shower rank (it is the bactericidal hand-and-body soap the sheet lists), and Antisep 100 at mess and office doors. Refill from drums on a logged round. A change-house that runs out of soap teaches a hundred workers per hour that hygiene is optional.

Provision first, then policy: contractors adopt the site’s habits when the site’s dispensers are everywhere and full — a clause in the contract helps, but an empty dispenser voids it in practice. Many Namibian sites now include hygiene provisions in contractor inductions with the locations mapped. Cernol’s part is the reliable supply line; a standing order sized to headcount keeps the map honest.