Analysis of Injuries in the Ghanaian Mining Industry and Priority Areas for Research

The Future of Mine Safety: A Comprehensive Review of Anti-Collision Systems Based on Computer Vision in Underground Mines

Underground mining operations present critical safety hazards due to limited visibility and blind areas, which can lead to collisions between mobile machines and vehicles or persons, causing accidents and fatalities. This paper aims to survey the existing literature on anti-collision systems based on computer vision for pedestrian detection in underground mines, categorize them based on the types of sensors used, and evaluate their effectiveness in deep underground environments. A systematic review of the literature was conducted following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines to identify relevant research work on anti-collision systems for underground mining. The selected studies were analyzed and categorized based on the types of sensors used and their advantages and limitations in deep underground environments. This study provides an overview of the anti-collision systems used in underground mining, including cameras and lidar sensors, and their effectiveness in detecting pedestrians in deep underground environments. Anti-collision systems based on computer vision are effective in reducing accidents and fatalities in underground mining operations. However, their performance is influenced by factors, such as lighting conditions, sensor placement, and sensor range. The findings of this study have significant implications for the mining industry and could help improve safety in underground mining operations. This review and analysis of existing anti-collision systems can guide mining companies in selecting the most suitable system for their specific needs, ultimately reducing the risk of accidents and fatalities.

Analysis of Mining-Related Injuries in Chinese Coal Mines and Related Risk Factors: A Statistical Research Study Based on a Meta-Analysis

Background and Objectives: Coal mine injuries commonly occur, affecting both the safety and health of miners, and the normal operation of the coal mine. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore the regularity of injury and injury-related risk factors in coal mines in China so as to establish a scientific basis for reducing the incidence and promoting the prevention and control of injuries. Methods: A meta-analysis of casualty cases and injury-related risk factors from 1956 to 2017 in China was conducted utilizing data from six databases, including CNKI, Web of Science, PubMed, Medline, Embase, and Wanfang data. Summary estimates were obtained using random effects models. Results: There were statistically significant variations in coal mine accident types, types of work, injury sites, age, experience, months, and shifts (p < 0.001). Eight types of accidents were susceptible to the risk of injury, and the greatest risk was presented by roof-related accidents (odds ratio (OR) = 0.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.32−0.6). Coal miners and drillers were at a greater risk of injury (OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.35−0.44; OR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.17−0.26, respectively). The extremities and the soft tissues of the skin were at the greatest risk of injury (OR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.3−0.58; OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.1−0.48, respectively). Compared with other ages, miners aged 21−30 were at a greater risk of injury (21−30 years, OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.42−0.47; 31−40 years, OR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.25−0.32; <20 years, OR = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.03−0.23; >40 years, OR = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.09−0.25). Compared with other miners, those with 6−10 years of experience were at a greater risk of injury (6−10 years, OR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.25−0.32; 2−5 years, OR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.25−0.41; <1 year, OR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.08−0.33; >11 years, OR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.17−0.27). During the months of July to September, the risk of injury was elevated (7−9th months, OR = 0.32, 95% CI = 0.25−0.39; 10−12th months, OR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.16−0.31; 1st−3rd months, OR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.16−0.28; 4−6th months, OR = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.16−0.27). In the three-shift work system, the risk of injury was higher during night shifts (22:00−06:00, OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.3−0.56; 14:00−22:00, OR = 0.3, 95% CI = 0.23−0.27; 06:00−14:00, OR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.18−0.35). Conclusions: The results of this research study reveal that coal mine injuries are prevalent among coal miners. These injuries are often related to the age, experience, months of work, and the three-shift work system of miners.

Investigating the Effects of Personality on the Safety Behavior of Gold Mine Workers: A Moderated Mediation Approach

Based on prior research on the relationship between personality and safety behavior, we construct a moderated mediation model that tests the effects of each of the Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and neuroticism) on the safety behavior of gold miners in Ghana. The model included safety competency as a mediator between the five personality traits and safety behavior. Management commitment to safety was used as a moderator to test the strength of the mediation of safety competency. Data was collected from 344 individuals employed across six large-scale gold mining companies in Ghana using a questionnaire survey. Amos 26 was used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis. The hypotheses were tested using Hayes PROCESS macros models 4 and 7 on SPSS 26. Findings show that openness and extraversion have an insignificant direct influence on safety behavior. Neuroticism negatively affects safety behavior. In contrast, conscientiousness and agreeableness positively affect safety behavior. Mediation analysis revealed that safety competency partially mediates the relationships between (1) conscientiousness and safety behavior and (2) agreeableness and safety behavior. The relationship between extraversion and safety behavior is fully mediated by safety competency. Additionally, we discovered that management safety commitment has a significant conditional indirect effect (Index of moderated mediation = 0.168 95% CI = [0.122;0.222]) on the relationship between conscientiousness and safety behavior through safety competency. Management safety commitment also significantly moderated (Index of moderated mediation = 0.075 95% CI = [0.021;0.120]) the relationship between agreeableness and safety behavior through safety competency.

Use of Virtual Reality to Increase Awareness of Line-of-Sight Hazards around Industrial Equipment

Impaired operator line of sight has been implicated in several pedestrian–equipment accidents and fatalities in the mining industry. Existing training methods for conveying visibility information lack worker engagement and may be insufficient to capture the dynamic, three-dimensional nature of blind spots around industrial equipment. The present study utilized a custom virtual reality experience intended to shift the way in which visibility information is presented. Visibility knowledge, confidence levels and safe pedestrian behaviors around the load-haul-dump vehicle were examined among participants in control and experimental (virtual reality and conventional training) groups (n = 72). Results demonstrate that the virtual reality intervention was not effective for increasing visibility knowledge and safe pedestrian behaviors relative to controls, although the performances of the virtual reality and conventional training groups were comparable. A discrepancy was identified in the perceived versus actual visibility knowledge and safe pedestrian behaviors at the rear of the load-haul-dump vehicle among the virtual reality training group. The findings suggest poor knowledge transfer between the three-dimensional virtual reality experience and the two-dimensional visibility plot used. The work also speaks to the importance of emphasizing rear-facing visibility deficits around machinery within industry safety training materials.

Exploring Worker Experience as a Predictor of Routine and Non-routine Safety Performance Outcomes in the Mining Industry

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the role that individual factors play in health and safety (H&S) outcomes in the mining industry. Two surveys, one measuring self-reported routine safety performance and one measuring individual perceived competence in the non-routine knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) critical to emergency response, were administered to two samples of mineworkers in separate research studies over a 2-year period (N = 2,020 and 696, respectively). Eight demographic items were common to both surveys and their associations with each performance outcome were tested in response to a series of exploratory research questions. Significant relationships were found between both safety outcome variables and individual factors, including the length of experience in current job, current mine, and mining industry, as well as participant workgroup and work schedule. Notably, the length of experience in the mining industry was the only variable significantly associated with both routine and non-routine safety performance. This analysis suggests that individual factors such as length of job, industry, and mine experience are predictive of routine and/or non-routine safety performance outcomes in significant and sometimes unexpected ways.

Contributing effects of individual characteristics, behavioural and job-related factors on occurrence of mining-related injuries: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Occupational health and safety (OHS) is a complex system due to its three components, namely human, technological and organizational factors. The interplay between the three systems causes workplace accidents and, subsequently, injuries. The body of research currently available demonstrates a disparity in the focus on contributors that cause mining-related injuries beyond the presence of hazards.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this paper was to systematically review and synthesise peer-reviewed published studies that have investigated whether certain individual characteristics, behavioural factors and job-related factors predict mining-related injuries.

METHODS

Databases were searched and peer-reviewed publications from 2004 to 2020 were retrieved and analysed. Only 24 from 3073 identified articles were retained for review and synthesis following careful screening. Most identified studies were either cross-sectional or case-control studies, and they were rated as moderate-to-good quality.

RESULTS

The review results showed that there is a diverging view in relation to risk factors that cause mining-related injuries. Some publications suggested that old age, male miners, married miners, less educated miners, less experienced miners, alcohol and drug usage, poor working conditions, poor management or supervision, job dissatisfaction and job stress predict injury events while other studies found contradictory relationships or insignificant statistical associations.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the fact that studied risk factors have been well-established in other industries, there is a significant gap in mining that needs further examination. It is imperative that health and safety intervention strategies are devised and implemented for vulnerable groups.

Occupational health and safety in mining: Predictive probabilities of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) use among artisanal goldminers in Ghana

Artisanal goldminers in Ghana are exposed to various levels and forms of health, safety and environmental threats. Without the required legislation and regulations, artisanal miners are responsible for their own health and safety at work. Consequently, understanding the probabilities of self-protection at work by artisanal goldminers is crucial. A cross-sectional survey of 500 artisanal goldminers was conducted to examine the probabilities of personal protective equipment use among artisanal goldminers in Ghana. The data was subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistics. Initial findings showed that personal protective equipment use among artisanal miners was 77.4%. Overall, higher probabilities of personal protective equipment use was observed among artisanal goldminers who work in good health and safety conditions as compared to artisanal miners who work in poor health and safety conditions. Also, personal protective equipment use was more probable among the highly educated artisanal goldminers, miners who regularly go for medical screening and the most experienced miners. Additionally, personal protective equipment use was more probable among artisanal miners who work in non-production departments and miners who work in the medium scale subsector. Inversely, personal protective equipment use was less probable among female artisanal miners and miners who earn more monthly income ($174 and above). To increase self-care and safety consciousness in artisanal mining, there is the need for a national occupational health and safety legislation in Ghana. Also, interventions and health promotion campaigns for better occupational conditions in artisanal mining should target and revise the health and safety related workplace programs and conditions.

Assessment of the effects of supervisor behaviour, safety motivation and perceived job insecurity on underground miner’s safety citizenship behaviour

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the effect of mining supervisor behaviour, safety motivation and perceived job insecurity on Ghanaian underground miner’s safety citizenship behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors proposed a conceptual framework that tested supervisor behaviour as an independent variable, safety motivation as a mediator variable, perceived job insecurity as a moderator variable and safety citizenship behaviour as a dependent variable. The authors tested the hypothesized relationships using 351 valid responses collected through a structured questionnaire using hierarchical regression analysis.

Findings

Results revealed that both components of supervisor behaviour significantly influenced safety motivation and safety citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, safety motivation could mediate the relationships between both components of supervisor behaviour and safety citizenship behaviour. Also, perceived job insecurity failed to moderate the relationship between safety motivation and safety citizenship behaviour.

Originality/value

This current study is vital for managerial practices. The complex conceptual framework also contributes to offering different ways of understanding how supervisors’ behaviours can catalyze improvement or worsen safety outcomes.

Awareness of occupational hazards, and attitudes and practices towards the use of personal protective equipment among informal woodworkers: the case of the Sokoban Wood Village in Ghana

We investigated the awareness of occupational hazards, and attitudes and practices towards the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) among informal woodworkers of the Sokoban Wood Village in Ghana. Structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data from 355 woodworkers and analysed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. The results showed that the workers are aware of PPE and knew about injuries they are exposed to. Most woodworkers had a positive attitude in terms of their perception on the necessity to use PPE but had a low frequency of PPE usage. Educational level, job type, length of service and marital status are the socio-demographic characteristics that significantly influence woodworkers' compliance with health and safety regulations. We recommend that institutions charged with enforcement of occupational health and safety regulations should extend their monitoring roles to informal workers and liaise with local companies to supply PPE to informal woodworkers at subsidized costs.

Development of a Conceptual Framework for Occupational Safety and Health in Palestinian Manufacturing Industries

The annual increase in the number of occupational accidents and diseases in the Palestinian manufacturing industries confirms a serious problem that threatens the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in such industries, with negative consequences in the society and economy. As the Palestinian OSH data are insufficient, tightwad, and with discrepancies in published data by different agencies, this study aimed to investigate the OSH status in the Palestinian manufacturing industries and determine the Palestinian OSH trends rates based on international practice in the EU and USA. Also, to shed light on the OSH situation in the manufacturing sector and warrant the inspection and monitoring of industries by the respective officials. The OSH data of 175 industrial establishments and 199 industrial employees was collected by meetings, interviews, and structured questionnaires for the period 2009-2016. The US and EU OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) formulas were used to calculate the OSH rates. The analysis showed that 32.30% of the industrial employees suffered from occupational injuries. The average injury rate was 7566 per 100,000 workers, indicating a low OSH level in the Palestinian manufacturing industries. The leather industry was found as the most dangerous in terms of OSH, with an average safety performance factor (SPF) of 145.6 off days/accident. Pearson's chi-square test (χ2) revealed a correlation between occupational accidents and injuries and the employees' commitment and lost working days. An OSH framework was developed based on safety and sustainable development pillars to assure effective enforcement of the OSH law and prevent future occupational accidents and diseases.

Estimating the mortality burden of large scale mining projects-Evidence from a prospective mortality surveillance study in Tanzania

We set up a mortality surveillance system around two of the largest gold mines in Tanzania between February 2019 and February 2020 to estimate the mortality impact of gold mines. Death circumstances were collected using a standardized verbal autopsy tool, and causes of death were assigned using the InSilicoVA algorithm. We compared cause-specific mortality fractions in mining communities with other subnational data as well as national estimates. Within mining communities, we estimated mortality risks of mining workers relative to other not working at mines. At the population level, mining communities had higher road-traffic injuries (RTI) (risk difference (RD): 3.1%, Confidence Interval (CI): 0.4%, 5.9%) and non-HIV infectious disease mortality (RD: 5.6%, CI: 0.8%, 10.3%), but lower burden of HIV mortality (RD: -5.9%, CI: -10.2%, -1.6%). Relative to non-miners living in the same communities, mining workers had over twice the mortality risk (relative risk (RR): 2.09, CI: 1.57, 2.79), with particularly large increases for death due to RTIs (RR: 14.26, CI: 4.95, 41.10) and other injuries (RR:10.10, CI: 3.40, 30.02). Our results shows that gold mines continue to be associated with a large mortality burden despite major efforts to ensure the safety in mining communities. Given that most of the additional mortality risk appears to be related to injuries programs targeting these specific risks seem most desirable.

Acoustic Safety Management at the Locksmith’s Workplace Mechanic-Repairman to Replace the Filter Material in the Technological Process of Obtaining of Apatite Concentrate

In this work, measures are being developed to reduce the noise level at the workplace of a mechanic-repairman to replace filter cloth. Based on the results of production control and a thorough assessment of working conditions, the source of noise was determined to be the VDN-17 fan. The analysis of Russian and foreign studies in the field of the negative impact of noise on the human health and methods of dealing with industrial noise has been carried out. As a result, a technical method of reducing negative impact of noise was selected and the acoustic efficiency of the muffler for the VDN-17 fan was calculated.

Predictive Modeling for Occupational Safety Outcomes and Days Away from Work Analysis in Mining Operations

Mining is known to be one of the most hazardous occupations in the world. Many serious accidents have occurred worldwide over the years in mining. Although there have been efforts to create a safer work environment for miners, the number of accidents occurring at the mining sites is still significant. Machine learning techniques and predictive analytics are becoming one of the leading resources to create safer work environments in the manufacturing and construction industries. These techniques are leveraged to generate actionable insights to improve decision-making. A large amount of mining safety-related data are available, and machine learning algorithms can be used to analyze the data. The use of machine learning techniques can significantly benefit the mining industry. Decision tree, random forest, and artificial neural networks were implemented to analyze the outcomes of mining accidents. These machine learning models were also used to predict days away from work. An accidents dataset provided by the Mine Safety and Health Administration was used to train the models. The models were trained separately on tabular data and narratives. The use of a synthetic data augmentation technique using word embedding was also investigated to tackle the data imbalance problem. Performance of all the models was compared with the performance of the traditional logistic regression model. The results show that models trained on narratives performed better than the models trained on structured/tabular data in predicting the outcome of the accident. The higher predictive power of the models trained on narratives led to the conclusion that the narratives have additional information relevant to the outcome of injury compared to the tabular entries. The models trained on tabular data had a lower mean squared error compared to the models trained on narratives while predicting the days away from work. The results highlight the importance of predictors, like shift start time, accident time, and mining experience in predicting the days away from work. It was found that the F1 score of all the underrepresented classes except one improved after the use of the data augmentation technique. This approach gave greater insight into the factors influencing the outcome of the accident and days away from work.

Analysis of fatal injuries in Serbian underground coal mines - 50 years review

The study presented here analyzes mining accidents and fatal injuries in Serbian underground coal mines over a period of 50 years, in order to assess the effectiveness of legislation changes in the overall safety of work environment. Two distinct periods, prior to 2000 and after 2000 were compared. The data from the period after 2000 were further analyzed to provide better understanding of the results. In order to assess the overall state of safety in Serbian mines, the data on fatal injuries were also compared to the international data. It was found that the legislative changes are more easily accepted by the common workers than by the mine management. Consequently, the key recommendation for the safety of coal mine companies in Serbia is the investment in the new technology. Additionally, mine management should be in the focus of the mining inspection with a stronger penal policy regarding mine safety neglect.

Optimization Model for Planning Set of Measures to Prevent Occupational Injuries in Machine-Building Enterprises

Criteria of occupational injuries potential risk in the machine-building industry are described in the article. Systemic analysis of the structure of the measures to prevent occupational injuries is given. Main tasks to reduce the risk of industrial injury at the machine-building enterprise are analysed. The methodology for optimal planning of accident prevention measures at the machine-building enterprise is described. A mathematical interpretation of the problem is given. The objective function is an argument of the maximum integral effectiveness for the set of planned measures to prevent occupational injuries. Constraint set of the optimization model describes the impossibility to exceed the allowable limit of cost, the feasibility and the possibility of implementing the measure’s plan reasoning from the technological and construction requirements of existing production engineering.

Incident Causal Factors and the Reasons for Conducting Investigations: A Study of Five Ghanaian Large-Scale Mines

Background: This research sought to understand the perspective of mineworkers regarding incident investigations, with the objective of identifying incident investigations improvement opportunities. First, through interviews, the research sought to identify the causal factors considered during investigations and the reasons for conducting investigations in the Ghanaian mining industry. Secondly, through questionnaire surveys, the study focused on understanding the extent to which a large sample of mineworkers considered the identified causal factors and investigation reasons relevant and applicable in their mine. Method: Data were collected from 41 participants through interviews and 659 respondents through surveys, and the data were analyzed through thematic, content, and statistical analyses, including descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and correlation analysis. Result: The interviews led to the identification of five and nine categories of incident causal factors and reasons for investigating incidents, respectively. The results suggested a focus on workers’ unsafe acts as the main incident causal factor and identifying the person who caused the incident as one of the major reasons for investigating incidents, as these two factors where the modal choice from both the interviews and survey across all five mines. The results further showed that concerning the accident causal factors and the reasons for investigating incidents, no significant difference was observed between the perspectives of mineworkers involved in investigations and mineworkers with no investigation responsibilities. Conclusion: It can be concluded from the results that talking to ordinary mineworkers does not generate innovative safety responses in this context, as the workers believe whatever they are taught, without critiquing it. Again, the focus on workers’ behavior as an accident causal factor is an indication of single-loop learning in contrast to double-loop learning, and its implication as well as opportunities to strengthen incident investigation focusing on improving organizational safety have been discussed.