Underground mining operations across the world pose a series of risks to the health of workers. Because of the use of different mechanical equipment and the danger of working in dusty, loud and hazardous environments, having a proper safety plan is an essential piece to any mining site.
70% of the mining accidents that occur in the United States are related to the use of heavy equipment or machinery. Most of the time, accident inspections determine that the top cited reasons for the accident will come down to a lack of safety training, disruptions in communication, a lack of machine guarding, poor electrical wiring or a lack of lockout or tagout precautions on equipment.
Automated mining techniques, engineering and improvements to safety plans have all improved the status of accidents in mining sites across the USA but a proper checklist needs to be used to ensure your safety plan can stack up. Check your safety plan and ensure it keeps the following factors in mind:
Communications:
Inspect and test all communications at the start of every shift.
Fall protection:
Make sure proper harnesses and belts are being used in situations where there is a faul risk.
Check in and check out:
Proper worker identification needs to occur to keep track of employees and manage employees during emergencies.
Ventilation:
Proper ventilation concerns and alarm systems need to be put into place to detect irregular levels of CO and other gasses that could be present.
Routine maintenance:
Equipment needs to be regularly inspected and maintained. Keep up with regular equipment checks and ensure that all operators are tagging out faulty equipment.
Illumination:
Minimum illumination of 5 foot candles are needed in every shaft. 10 foot candles must be provided in any area of scaling, drilling or mucking. Inspect all lamps regularly and ensure illumination can persist.
If you could use support for your mining safety plan, contact us today.
This post was written by Justin Tidd, Director at Becker Mining Communications! For over 15 years, Becker Communications has been the industry’s leader in increasingly more sophisticated electrical mining communication systems. As they expanded into surface mining, railroads, and tunneling they added wireless communication systems, handheld radios, tagging and tracking systems, as well as gas monitoring. Click here to learn more!
