Safety Precautions You Need to Pay Attention in Open-pit Mining

Open-pit mining is a process of removing the covering on the ore body to obtain the required minerals. Open-pit mining is a widely used mining method in mines at present. But during the construction process, there often occur such safety problems: slope collapse, water damage, object strikes, falling from height, vehicle damage, blasting damage, mechanical damage, electric shock damage, noise and dust, etc. These problems not only pose a threat to the personal safety of mine staff, but also affect the progress of the project. 

The following will propose corresponding safety management measures for each hidden danger. 

①  The mining and stripping operations must follow the principles of "simultaneous mining and stripping, stripping first" and "top-down mining in stages"

②  In the mining production process, if you encountered weak rocks or broken zones, the final slope angle of the steps should be slowed down, and the slope angle can be locally controlled within the allowable range of the natural angle of repose, and dangerous rocks should be processed or reinforcement measures should be taken in time.

③  Try to avoid mining in the rainy season or rainy days to prevent safety accidents of personnel and mechanical equipment caused by slope slide or collapse. In the event of a typhoon or heavy rain, the operation must be stopped immediately and the mobile equipment must be evacuated to a safe place.

④  Do a good job of re-greening the final slope in time to prevent soil erosion and prevent the occurrence of slope landslides and collapses.

①  Hydrogeological data files should be established throughout the whole mining process, water-proof and drainage measures should be formulated every year, and the implementation of the measures should be checked regularly.

②  Design to excavate drainage and intercepting ditches outside the stope and around the dump site, and excavate drainage ditches inside the final platform of the stope. The mine is required to establish a drainage system in strict accordance with the design requirements; the drainage facilities should be inspected regularly during the mine production process. Intact conditions, if damage is found, repairs should be carried out immediately; people should be sent to clean the drainage ditch in time to ensure that the drainage facilities are unblocked.

①  Strengthen the treatment of turquoise, pumice and dangerous stones on the side slope in the stope. After each blasting, the dangerous stones and pumice on the edge of the steps and the slope should be cleaned first to prevent the dangerous stones from falling and hurting people and machines. Simultaneous operation in the vertical direction is strictly prohibited.

②  When the operator enters the working surface, he must first conduct a safety inspection on the working surface. After removing the pumice and other dangerous objects, the operation can be carried out. During the operation, the floating and loose stones of the slope should be observed and checked at any time.

③  All workers in the stope must wear safety protection articles that meets safety requirements and wear them correctly.

①  Set up protective facilities at the edge of the work steps.

②  A safe and reliable pedestrian passage should be left in the open-pit.

③  Retaining walls (safety stacks) should be installed on the outside of the transportation road and the dumping site, and safety warning signs should be set.

①  The roadbed should be solid and reliable, and the road surface should be flat. Appropriate avoidance lanes should be set at the bends of hillside fills and fill sections with large slopes; protective barriers or car-retaining soil piles (safety stacks) should be set on the outside of the road. Drainage ditch should be excavated inside the road.

②  When the vehicle driving on the road in the mining area, the speed should be adopted, and the speed should be limited in sharp bends, steep slopes, and dangerous areas, and road signs and warning signs should be set.

③  Strengthen the road transportation safety management in the stope, regularly repair and maintain the transportation vehicles to ensure that the vehicles are in good condition.

①  Open-pit blasting operations must comply with the "Blasting Safety Regulations", and blasting operations in thunderstorms, foggy weather and nights are prohibited.

②  Conscientiously do a good job of fire warning to ensure the safety of blasting. Before the blasting work begins, the boundary of the danger zone must be determined, a sufficient safety distance must be ensured, and guard posts or obvious signs must be set up. Before blasting, a signal must be sent at the same time. After blasting, staffs must wait for the specified time before entering the blasting site. The warning signal can be relieved when safety is confirmed by inspection.

①  When the excavator is shoveled, the bucket is prohibited from passing over the vehicle cab; when the excavator is working, there must be no other operators within the excavator's gyration radius; the location of the operating room should minimize the operator's risk. The bucket should not hit the car side when loading, and the bucket unloading height should not exceed 0.5m, so as not to shock the driver and damage the vehicle.

②  Do a good job in the repair and maintenance of mechanical equipment to ensure that the equipment is in a good performance state during operation. 

③  The equipment should be overhauled when it is stopped, and there should be a special person to look after or set up a safety warning sign "under overhaul, no closing" beside the start switch.

①  The mine shall ensure that the power supply lines are erected in a standard manner, qualified switch gear is installed, and all electrical equipment shall be grounded strictly as required to avoid electric shock accidents. Relevant power supply operations must be operated by licensed electricians who have passed training.

②  In thunderstorm days, it is forbidden to work and stay on the steps of the stope. You should go indoors to avoid rain in time, close the windows, and do not touch indoor wires, water pipes and other metal objects to prevent lightning damage.

③  Formulate rules and regulations for electric safety in living quarters, publicize and educate employee on safety protection techniques such as electricity use and lightning protection, and improve their electric safety and lightning protection skills.

①  The mine should entrust the local health department to detect noise in the stope, and the noise level meets the requirements of the "Specification for the Design of Noise Control System in Industrial Enterprise ".

②  Protective facilities for workers, the key point is to wear ear protectors and helmets to avoid danger to themselves.

③  In view of the main occupational hazards (dust) in the mining field, wet rock drilling should be adopted. Before loading the rock, spray water on the mine pile to reduce dust in the process of shoveling and loading; install a fixed spray sprinkler on the main transportation road, or use artificial sprinkler for dust reduction, which can reduce the dust generated by the vehicle during transportation.

④  During the operation process, if the staff are frequently exposed to dust, they should do a good job of dust prevention and conduct regular inspections in accordance with the relevant national regulations to avoid harm to the health of staffs.

In summary, mining is the most basic industry in our country. With the development of globalization, the mining industry is also undergoing continuous reforms. In the process of vigorously developing mining, it is necessary to pay special attention to the implementation of mining safety management.

Mining enterprises should adhere to the principle of safe production, optimize mining technologies and methods, and save production costs for enterprises.

Enterprises also need to continuously cultivate the safety quality level of the team, focus on the accumulation of talents, ensure that the production technology of the enterprise keeps up with the times, ensure that the mining production work can be carried out safely, and reduce the mine accidents so as to avoid threats to people's lives and property.

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