Drill and Blast Operations - Handling Explosives
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Mining IQ Editorial
Posted: 10/04/2012 12:00:00 AM EDT | 0
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Posted: 10/04/2012 12:00:00 AM EDT | 0
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In July 2010, five miners were described as being "lucky to be alive" after the explosive charge they were laying at the Drayton open class coal mine near Newcastle, Australia exploded when they were just meters away.
Five charges had been laid out as part of standard procedure, overseen by two supervisors and the mine manager, when one failed to detonate.
Jenny Ward, a spokesperson for the Department of Primary Industries, explained to the local newspaper the Newcastle Herald it was standard procedure for miners to approach the charge after ten seconds, which those at Drayton did.
Ward went on to claim that regulations had been devised in such a way which meant these incidents were highly unlikely, and such a technical fault was rare.
However, even though mining will never be completely risk free, are mining regulations as tight as they need to be to ensure that when these rare incidents occur – as they seem to have been doing more frequently than usual recently – injury is avoided?
Explosives Regulations
With around 60 percent of Australia's exploration – and around 10 percent of global exploration – Western Australia understands the importance of ensuring strict regulations are in place around the handling of explosives.
In 2010, it said 37 incidents involving explosives were reported to the Department of Minerals and Petroleum, exactly the same number as in 2009. However, the department asserted this was a positive thing, as it meant more companies were reporting both the incidents which had taken place and near misses.
The wide ranging nature of the incidents reported led the department to conclude there were no areas which it needed to specifically address through enforcement or education.
However, it did acknowledge: "Of some concern is the number of incidents involving losses of detonators or boosters. Mine sites are expected to improve their reconciliation processes to eliminate this problem."
It is perhaps worth noting the "expectation" of the mine site to do this, rather than the addition or enforcement of regulations to combat the issue.
Even though this is only one small region, its sheer size makes it a reasonable example, particularly in assessing how safety standards are holding up with huge levels of growth taking place.
"The total number of incidents reported has risen over time due to a range of factors, but one key reason is that companies now have a greater understanding of reporting responsibilities," Resources Safety's Director of Dangerous Goods Safety Philip Hine said.
New Measures
However, international standards do not always live up to those in Australia, and this is likely to become an increasing concern for the industry as it moves into new areas – in particular in Africa.
Last year South Africa took steps to address this, with the introduction of new standards for the handling of explosives, which were intended to bring the explosives industry in the country up to international standards, Mining Weekly reported.
Perhaps tellingly, despite the country's long history in mining, it is only now these guidelines are being introduced at a national level.
South African National Standard (Sans) 551 code covers the approval tests needed for explosives used within the country, where previously regulation had been lacking.
BME production director Dawie Mynhardt told the news provider why the time to develop these standards, which the industry has been calling for since 2006, has now come.
"In the past, the industry had only one major player. This has changed over the years with a number of companies supplying explosives to the mining industry?"
"These companies would often adopt international best practices governing the industry, but there was no guarantee that the same practices were used," he explained.
It's clear from the two different scenarios in Australia and South Africa, even countries which have long established mining industries can take different approaches to the regulations governing the handling of explosives.
The question for the future is perhaps not if these are tight enough, but if enough reporting is taking place and harmonisation is such that the industry has a clear picture of where it can improve and continue to grow, while meeting its health and safety requirements.
Sources:
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