Hazards of mining Mining is an ancient occupation, long recognized as being arduous and liable to hold potential for injury and disease. Mining is inherently dangerous both in terms of the risk it holds regarding accidents or ill health. Numerous hazards play a role in mining and need to be controlled in order to [...]
The MERP Guidelines for the mining industry state, “Management shall test procedures and evaluate performance of personnel in practice drills on a regular basis to develop and build upon a reliable response system. The ERP should include a plan for conducting and reviewing practice drills. Drills should cover all actions ranging from the moment [...]
Safety equipment such as mine safety lamps and personal self-rescuer emergency breathing equipment is normally stored and maintained in, and issued from and returned to, the lamp room. In the modern mining industry it is common knowledge that the lamp room has become much more than a provision base for equipment. Its scope [...]
When a mine operation compiles a safety strategy, where should it exert the most effort and investment of finance, HR resource, and time? Should it put in a double effort to ensure that the accident never happens? Or should it resort to the fact that ‘banking on never’ is not a viable option, rather [...]
An underground mine rescue team must be adequately staffed and equipped with all necessary equipment to comply with legislation and regulations. Click here to read the Mine Safety Handbook. A minimum necessary equipment list includes self-contained breathing apparatuses, together with Soda Sorb for canisters, spare oxygen cylinders, an oxygen pump or cascade system, and a [...]
In any potentially life-threatening industry in the world the primary goal of emergency response is the preservation of life. It would be extremely hard to prove ‘due diligence’ without submitting proof of an emergency response plan as well as evidence of the necessary training and equipment. One the other hand, the existence of such [...]
Researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conducted a study to learn about responses on-site during the first crucial moments of a mine emergency in order to further improve response. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/UserFiles/works/pdfs/asofm.pdf Recommendations from the study are focused on four key areas. [...]
Emergency preparedness plans are often referred to as disaster plans. However, the word disaster should not be the select reference. After all, the whole point of the plan is to eliminate the potential disaster. It can, in fact turn a potential disaster into a well managed situation with the least possible effect on the miners [...]
The physical and geographical complexity of tunnels in underground mines impairs the visibility of environment and operating assets, including human beings. Irrespective of the acuteness of locating mineral though proper mining design and planning, the hazards of the sub-terrestrial world remains unpredictable. This increases the vulnerability of the miners. In many cases, mine safety data [...]
Traditionally, a lamp room was defined as a room or building at the surface of a mine for charging, servicing, and issuing all cap, hand, and flame safety lamps. The lamp room was also known as a lamp cabin or a lamp station. But now, gone are the days of flame safety lamps. And [...]