Flyrock generation and social impact mitigation in local quarrying

Abstract

Quarrying industry in Sri Lanka has expanded widely due to the rapid increase in the demand for basic of quarries are materia] in the construction industry. Thus, large number operating throughout the country. Major concerns related to these activities are the social impact and the impact on workers' health and safety. While blasting is carried out, blasted rock fragments could be projected out of the set boundaries (flyrock) and is a threat to human safety. Although precautionary and mitigation techniques have been in use for many years, impacts on workers safety and health have not shown any resulting reduction. This study focusses on raw measures many strategies to control flyrock and introducing controllable parameters (e.g. powder factor) based on past reports of accidents and related engineering parameters. Three different areas were selected based on the availability of data, considering consequences, distances and the powder factor for the study. Accordingly, collected data was tabulated for ease of analysis and buffer the distance for focused area was calculated statistically. Relationship of area of hazardous zones with different explosive charge was determined using statistical tools correlation co-efficient and R square and allowable powder factor for calculated buffer zone was determined based on statistical data. Recommendations and conclusions were made based on the calculated data.