Exploring the Mine Environment, Safety Risk and Occupational Health

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mineral resources play an important role in supporting world economic and social development. However, mining activity, especially in relation to underground mining, is considered to be one of the causes of the most accidents, fatalities, and diseases in the world. Every year, thousands of miners die in mining operations. There are several causes for the occurrence of accidents, including the release of toxic gases, collapses of mine openings, coaldust explosions, etc. In addition, mining activities also cause pollution to the surrounding environment, such as soil pollution, water pollution, air pollution, and so on. Mining can pollute the environment, which also poses a risk to human health. Therefore, in the process of mining, transportation, and storage, how to reduce the impact of mining activities on the surrounding environment and reduce the occurrence of accidents and occupational diseases is an urgent problem that needs to be solved. However, knowledge about the environmental, safety and health risks associated with mines is still limited. There is an immediate need to come up with good research methods and look into the above problems. This Special Issue aims to explore the latest developments on these issues and attempts to provide a comprehensive perspective. We invite researchers to contribute original research and articles as well as review articles in the scope of this Special Issue that introduce new technologies and solutions related to the field of mining health and safety. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Safety risk and occupational health in synergetic mining;
• Safe production and smart mining;
• Safe and sustainable mining technology;
• Smart, green mining;
• Mine safety monitoring;
• Safety issues in sustainable mine construction;
• New trends in safe mining;
• Environmental exposure and occupational contact;
• Mine safety and personnel health;
• Ecological survey and restoration of mining areas;
• Mine pollution remediation;
• Probabilistic techniques in mining safety;
• Mining safety and intelligent methodologies.

Dr. Chengyu Xie
Dr. Jian Zhou
Dr. Danial Jahed Armaghani
Prof. Dr. Qingfa Chen
Dr. Wei Pan
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Energies energies	3.2	5.5	2008	15.7 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ijerph	-	5.4	2004	22 Days	CHF 2500	Submit
Minerals minerals	2.5	3.9	2011	17 Days	CHF 2400	Submit
Mining mining	-	-	2021	18.9 Days	CHF 1000	Submit
Safety safety	1.9	3.3	2015	31.3 Days	CHF 1600	Submit

Published Papers (4 papers)

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All Energies IJERPH Minerals Mining Safety

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Open AccessArticle

Psychosocial Safety and Health Hazards and Their Impacts on Offshore Oil and Gas Workers

by

Emma D’Antoine

,

Janis Jansz

,

Ahmed Barifcani

,

Sherrilyn Shaw-Mills

,

Mark Harris

and

Christopher Lagat

Safety 2023, 9(3), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety9030056 - 15 Aug 2023

Viewed by 739

Abstract

The offshore oil and gas working environment is an inherently dangerous one, with risks posed to physical safety on a daily basis. One neglected field of research is the added psychosocial stressors present in this environment. This research examined the experiences of offshore [...] Read more.

The offshore oil and gas working environment is an inherently dangerous one, with risks posed to physical safety on a daily basis. One neglected field of research is the added psychosocial stressors present in this environment. This research examined the experiences of offshore oil and gas workers through one-on-one online interviews which were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were analyzed through the qualitative software NVivo, which generated themes and patterns for the responses given to questions that were developed through a focus group. The results of the analysis showed that multiple psychosocial stressors are present in this population, such as fear of speaking up, unsatisfactory company-provided facilities, work–life interference, work status, micromanaging, gender harassment and bullying. In addition, interviews identified that production and time pressures, along with fatigue, can influence accidents and mistakes. Climate factors also cause discomfort. However, these are managed according to best practices by organizations. Due to the timing of the study, COVID-19 was a significant stressor for some, but not all, employees. In conclusion, offshore oil and gas workers face multiple stressors in a dangerous environment that may lead to devastating consequences. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Exploring the Mine Environment, Safety Risk and Occupational Health)

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Open AccessArticle

Efficacy of Antivibration Gloves When Used with Electric Hammers of about 10 kg for Chiseling Limestone Rocks

by

Guido Alfaro Degan

,

Andrea Antonucci

and

Dario Lippiello

Safety 2023, 9(2), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety9020027 - 28 Apr 2023

Viewed by 947

Abstract

The ISO Standard 10819:2013 defines the method for evaluating the performances of antivibration (AV) gloves, but when used in real fields, the protection can be dissimilar to that labeled. This paper investigates the transmissibility, at the palm level, of three different types of [...] Read more.

The ISO Standard 10819:2013 defines the method for evaluating the performances of antivibration (AV) gloves, but when used in real fields, the protection can be dissimilar to that labeled. This paper investigates the transmissibility, at the palm level, of three different types of AV gloves (air, gel, neoprene) and an ordinary leather glove, during the use of four similar electric hammers (average weight of 10 kg, and average impact energy of 18 J), in a limestone quarry plant. As the average triaxial transmissibility for all the hammers, results show very limited benefits in reducing the vibration (6%), with no significative differences among the different gloves. The working leather glove, instead, shows a transmissibility quite equal to the unit. Anyway, results can be different for the same glove when used among the different hammers, providing in some cases 19% of protection. Some differences can be found regarding the transmissibility through the three main axes for the same type of glove: the glove in gel seems to perform better in shear than in compression. The transmissibility in compression is around 20% higher than that provided by the manufacturers of the certified gloves. The usage of specific excitation curves during laboratory tests could help in providing a more accurate estimation of the transmissibility of the gloves when used with a specific tool. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Exploring the Mine Environment, Safety Risk and Occupational Health)

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Open AccessArticle

Effects of Ground Subsidence on Vegetation Chlorophyll Content in Semi-Arid Mining Area: From Leaf Scale to Canopy Scale

by

Xingchen Yang

,

Shaogang Lei

,

Yunxi Shi

and

Weizhong Wang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 493; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010493 - 28 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1037

Abstract

Ground subsidence is the main cause of vegetation degradation in mining areas. It is of great significance to study the effects of ground subsidence on vegetation. At present, few studies have analyzed the effects of ground subsidence on vegetation from different scales. However, [...] Read more.

Ground subsidence is the main cause of vegetation degradation in mining areas. It is of great significance to study the effects of ground subsidence on vegetation. At present, few studies have analyzed the effects of ground subsidence on vegetation from different scales. However, the conclusions on different scales may differ. In this experiment, chlorophyll content was used as an indicator of vegetation degradation. We conducted a long-term field survey in the Lijiahao coalfield in China. Based on field survey data and remote sensing images, we analyzed the effects of ground subsidence on chlorophyll content from two scales (leaf scale and canopy scale) and summarized the similarities and differences. We found that, regardless of leaf scale or canopy scale, the effects of subsidence on chlorophyll content have the following three characteristics: (1) mining had the least effect on chlorophyll content in the neutral area, followed by the compression area, and the greatest effect on chlorophyll content in the extension area; (2) subsidence had a slight effect on chlorophyll content of Caragana korshins, but a serious effect on chlorophyll content of Stipa baicalensis; (3) chlorophyll content was not immediately affected when the ground sank. It was the cumulative subsidence that affects chlorophyll content. The difference between leaf scale and canopy scale was that the chlorophyll content at canopy scale is more affected by mining. This means that when assessing vegetation degradation, the results obtained by remote sensing were more severe than those measured in the field. We believe that this is because the canopy chlorophyll content obtained by remote sensing is also affected by the plant canopy structure. We recommend that mining and ecological restoration should be carried out concurrently, and that ground fissures should be taken as the focus of ecological restoration. In addition, Caragana korshins ought to be widely planted. Most importantly, managers should assess the effects of ground subsidence on vegetation on different scales. However, managers need to be aware of differences at different scales. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Exploring the Mine Environment, Safety Risk and Occupational Health)

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Open AccessArticle

Research on the Dust Diffusion and Pollution Behaviour of Dynamic Tunneling in Header Excavators Based on Dynamic Mesh Technology and Field Measurement

by

Xi Chen

,

Hao Zhang

,

Shaocheng Ge

,

Cunbao Deng

,

Chaonan Fan

,

Guoliang Ma

and

Weichao Li

Energies 2022, 15(23), 8945; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15238945 - 26 Nov 2022

Viewed by 831

Abstract

In order to accurately characterize and evaluate dust particle diffusion in the dynamic tunneling process of a boring machine, this study considers the 31,116 main transport chute heaving face of the Lijiahao coal mine as a case study. A dynamic tunneling model is [...] Read more.

In order to accurately characterize and evaluate dust particle diffusion in the dynamic tunneling process of a boring machine, this study considers the 31,116 main transport chute heaving face of the Lijiahao coal mine as a case study. A dynamic tunneling model is developed considering the real dynamic tunneling state of the header, to carry out an in-depth analysis of the spatial and temporal evolution of wind flow and dust dispersion in the tunnel under dynamic excavation. In addition, the results were compared against the calculations of a static standard excavation model of a conventional header. Employing CFD analysis accompanied by field measurements, it was highlighted that the dynamic tunneling of the header leads to an increase in the pressure difference and the turbulent kinetic energy at the working face. Moreover, an increase in the number of vortices was reported, and a higher concentration of dust spreads more quickly along the return wind side wall to the return flow area. On the other hand, the high concentration of dust under the standard tunneling model was found to accumulate a lot on the return wind side. Simultaneously, as the distance between the pressurized air outlet and the working face increases, the average wind speed in the vortex-type wind flow area at the front of the tunnel decreases. When t = 60 s, the return flow area expands to a space of 8 m~24 m from the head, and the dust accumulated above the header spreads to the back of the header to form a high concentration dust region of more than 500 mg/m³. It was shown that the range of high-concentration dust clouds in the breathing zone decreases compared to the results of the standard tunneling model. Moreover, the dust concentration in the breathing zone of the driver is significantly lower than that reported by the standard tunneling model. Based on the results of the field test, the average error between the simulated and measured data of the dynamic tunneling model was calculated to be around 6.46%, thus demonstrating the model’s capability in describing the real working conditions of the heave tunnel. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Exploring the Mine Environment, Safety Risk and Occupational Health)

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