To all our Christian clients – DustWatch CC wishes you all a blessed Christmas season.
Below are extracts from two papers concerning health and safety in the mining industry. Those who are interested can read further – please follow the links provided to the original articles.
injuries are 20–25% short of annual milestones and not all commodities show consistent improvement. Statistics on occupational health impacts are unavailable, but noise and respirable dust levels are known to be high in mines, with much work lying ahead to address exposures at source. Trends in regulating and addressing OHS hazards are discussed with reference to the notion of 'systemsthinking' and the targets.
Compared to their male counterparts, women in mining (WIM) have unique health and safety needs resulting from their anatomical and physiological makeup. Of equal ­importance is the fact that the International Labour Organization has classified women workers as "vulnerable workers" with special occupational health and safety needs 4, and WIM are no exception. This is compounded by the fact that there is a paucity of published data on occupational health and safety (OH&S) issues concerning WIM.
Air is lifeblood. Daily we inhale approximately 15.000 liter. Still, the air contains invisible pollutants, which vary in its composition and concentration depending on the location. Especially the respirable particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 µm (PM 2.5) were considered to be particularly dangerous.
According to a current study conducted by the Max Planck Society, worldwide 3.3 million people annually die prematurely due-to consequences of air pollution. In the European Union, the exposure with fine dust and ozone causes up to 180 000 deaths each year, of which alone 35 000 die in Germany. (Source) Various examinations have proven that dust polluted air indoor and outdoor damage the heart, lungs and brain resulting in an increased infarction and stroke risk and rising attacks of asthma. At the latest since the Volkswagen emission scandal and the fine dust alert in Stuttgart, the topic gained presence. It is a fact that the emission of fine dust and nitrogen oxide in exhaust gases is not entirely caused by road transport vehicles. Not only in Stuttgart, but also in other areas in Europe the particulate matter concentrations are too high. Also tyre abrasion on the roadway as well as aviation and railway related PM2.5 emissions contribute to a rising fine dust concentration in the environment. The promotion of small-scale firing plants in recent years intensified the problem and demonstrates nowadays its full impact. Biomass power plants and industrial incinerations were the main emitters of fine dust particles.
Comprehensible to everyone is that fine dust pollution rises in urban and suburban spaces, whereas in rural areas the values decrease.
To combat causes is more difficult than the responsible persons thought.
Weather-related influences adversely affect the measurement. Regulatory measuring stations, as required to gain reliable measuring values, are technically sophisticated and cost-intensive. Currently six regulatory measuring stations in Stuttgart were installed.
Through the compact fine dust sensor FDS 15 from Dr. Födisch Umweltmesstechnik AG, a smart fine dust measuring instrument enters now the market that determines the fine dust concentration (PM2.5) in a similar way. Previous trials in Germany and China correspond well to the regulatory measuring stations. Every two seconds, a measuring signal is transmitted to the receiver. Depending on the customers' requirements the determined values can be averaged over minutes or hours. Due to the continuous measuring principle, the values contain a high level of information density and have therefore also a great expressiveness.
For the full article, please follow the link provided.