Mining involves obtaining materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes or created in a factory. These metal and mineral reserves are located and extracted from the earth, all over the world. The valuable materials often form a mineralised package and frequently include metals, gemstones, rocks, silt, gravel and clay.
The mining of stones and precious metals goes as far back as pre-historic times. Nowadays, typical activities within the sector include production, trading and investment. Mineral mining is also used heavily in industry and tends to increase based on economic demand.
As safety in the workplace continues to be a real concern, modern practices as well as improved standards and procedures, have helped to increase the safety in mines.
However, when it comes to dust generation, most mining and mineral processing involves the accumulation of high volumes of abrasive dust particles, which can be problematic for both workers and their equipment. Common processes include drilling, blasting, excavating, crushing, grinding and cutting, which can all create excess airborne dust.
Without effective dust control in place, the equipment, the environment and the employees could all be at risk.
Mineral processing is a special method that involves the separation of metals or minerals from the waste material. This is achieved by shaking or washing the material to remove the sand or gravel before the rock is crushed to extract the mineral/metal.
This process creates vast amounts of mineral dust whilst vegetable dust is produced by different grain/plant drying processes like rice or tea for example.
Material handling methods required within the mineral, agricultural and mining sectors, such as product transfer, loading and emptying containers, product bagging and cleaning can also cause large amounts of dust. This is why it is imperative to have dust control measures in place and in particular if handling the following compounds:
Mining workers, in particular, can be exposed to dust particles that differ in chemical composition, such as lead, cadmium and arsenic, crystalline silica and asbestos.
The now improved implementation of controls should help to reduce workers’ exposure to dust and subsequently reduce if not eliminate related occupational diseases within the mining industry.
When it comes to removing dust, in contrast to using compressed air, which can be very dangerous, blower-driven air has been shown to provide a safer and highly effective means of removing fibres, dust and water from people, surfaces and environments.
By using blower-driven air, the JetBlack Safety range of personnel Cleaning Booths can provide a safer and more convenient solution for personnel clean-down. What’s more, the full product range has been designed as an easy-to-use alternative to compressed air, as the low pressure, high-velocity air produced poses no threat to the safety and can be directed at almost any part of the body. This gives organisations peace of mind and users a safer solution for all de-dusting operations.
The JetBlack Safety Cleaning Booth is particularly suited to agitating and removing metal particles and dust from employees’ work clothes; a process which typically takes no longer than 30 seconds. The dust is then safely extracted away from the user and collected in the HEPA H14 extractor.
Personnel Cleaning Booth applications include:
Jetblack US
Jetblack UK
