This article describes the latest advancements in technology to improve how mine operators can investigate and assess the respirable dust exposure of their workers. Recently, Unimin Corp. and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed the Helmet-CAM technology, a dust exposure assessment tool designed specifically for the mining industry. This assessment technique is performed by having a miner wear a small video recorder on his or her hardhat along with a real-time aerosol monitor that is housed in a backpack, on a safety belt, or safety vest and records the individual's respirable dust exposure at two-second intervals. After a miner performs his or her job while wearing the unit, the video and dust exposure data files are downloaded to a computer and then merged together using a NIOSH-developed computer software program called EVADE (Enhanced Video Analysis of Dust Exposure). By providing synchronized playback of the merged video footage and logged dust exposure data, the EVADE software allows for the assessment and identification of key work areas and processes, as well as work tasks that significantly impact a worker's personal respirable dust exposure. Background on Respirable Dust Sampling: The exposure of miners to respirable dust, especially respirable dust containing crystalline silica, has been an area of concern for decades, and the adoption of permissible exposure limits upon the creation of the 1977 Federal Mine Safety & Health Act only provided additional reasons to understand exposures and their sources.
Mining-industry; Employee-exposure; Monitors; Monitoring-systems; Air-contamination; Work-environment; Visual-images; Photographic-equipment; Computer-software; Headgear; Respirable-dust; Exposure-assessment; Equipment-design; Recording-systems; Aerosol-particles; Air-monitoring; Air-quality-monitoring; Automation; Miners; Dust-exposure; Dust-measurement; Dust-analysis; Silica-dusts