Abstract:
Trend analysis of occurrence of mine accidents was proposed to assess the
risks associated with occurrence of underground accidents and human health in
order to manage and control measures and support decision making. It provides the
right balance between different concerns, such as safety and costs. For this purpose,
information collected from Bogala graphite Lanka PLC located at Aruggammana in
Kegalle district, Sri Lanka, was used to manage the risks affecting the health and
safety of the miners. In order to categorize the data, various hazardous activities
were identified and classified under eleven categories: Scaling, Hammering,
Supporting, Lifting of weights, Drilling, Graphite transportation, Loading, Mucking,
Machine/tool operating, Machine/tool repairing. The ranking process is
accomplished by analyzing the past accident records. Further, four critical groups of
body parts with different illnesses were obtained. These groups were; eye, limbs,
back, head. From these groups, the most common injuries with the highest level of
occurrence are sprains, cuts, bruises and contusions. According to the results, the
proposed methodology can be a reliable technique for management of mine hazards
and coping with uncertainties affecting the health and safety of miners when
performance ratings are imprecise. The proposed recommendations can be
primarily designed to identify potential hazards and help in taking appropriate
measures to minimize or remove the risks before accidents occur in future mining
activities in Bogala mines.
Citation:
Karunarathne, K.V.P., Piyasena, D.T., Marino, I.J., Sarvakaran, S., Hemalal, P.V.A., & Dharmaratne, P.G.R. (2015). Critical analysis of safety aspects of an underground graphite mine with reference to Bogala mines. In P.V.A. Hemalal (Ed.), Proceedings of the 9th Annual ERE Research Conference on Earth Resources Management (pp. 15-21). Department of Earth Resources Engineering, University of Moratuwa.
