The Changing Landscape of Mining Health and Safety Issues

Worker health and safety have always been significant concerns in the mining industry. As mining equipment and techniques evolve and the focus of the industry changes, some issues have been resolved while new concerns appear. Understanding the current landscape of mining health and safety issues and how it can be expected to evolve with the industry is an important consideration for any modern mining company.

 

Mine Environments

As both necessity and the evolution of mining and conveying equipment allow miners to reach greater depths and explore more extreme environments, new concerns related to worker environmental safety have arisen. Today, mines can be dug much deeper and more extensively than in the past, while miners often work around larger and more complex equipment as they perform essential tasks. Some of the most common health and safety concerns associated with modern mine environments include the development of effective safety and emergency equipment able to sustain workers during accidents or disasters, as well as the treatment of injuries that occur in deep mines and the safe, swift conveyance of injured workers out of the mine. Today, remote observation of deep or extreme mine environments and better communications techniques are evolving to meet these needs to improve miner safety.

Mine Waste

The process of mining invariably creates many forms of waste. Managing mining waste properly is another important health and safety issue that concerns not only workers on the site itself, but humans, animals, and plant life in the mine’s local environment as well. Conveying equipment can be used to transport wastes as well as mining products, where it can be transported to a safer location for proper disposal. Furthermore, more efficient mining techniques and the evolution of alternative fuel vehicles and equipment allow mines to produce less general waste overall, reducing the environmental, health, and safety impact of mining practices.

Saguaro Conveyor Equipment, Inc. is a Tucson-based manufacturer of conveyors and other specialized mining equipment. You can learn more about our company and our dedication to excellence by calling 1 (800) 687-7072 or clicking through our website.

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