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Monitoring and Evaluation of Whole-Body Vibration Exposure of Equipment Operators and Assessment of Associated Health Risk in An Indian Underground Pb-Zn Mine

Bibhuti Bhusan Mandal1 , Shivkumar Shrinarayan Prajapati2 * , Syed Aftab Hussain2 and Rahul Anup Mishra2

1 Department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, 721302 India

2 Department of Occupational Hygiene, National Institute of Miners Health (NIMH), Autonomous Body Under Ministry of Mines, Government of India, JNARDDC Campus, Amravati Road, Wadi Nagpur, 440023 India

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.13.3.13

Exposure to whole-body vibration (1-80 Hz) manifest in higher incidences of low back pain and other musculoskeletal disorders among the workforce in mining industry. The aim of the study was to determine the vibration intensity of twelve mining equipments which are regularly deployed in an underground mine and to evaluate the long term health risk of their operators as per ISO 2631-1:1997 guidelines. It was observed that the low profile dump trucks (LPDT) and load haul  dumpers (LHD) had x axis (front-back) as dominant axis of vibration. The operators of LPDTs and LHDs had moderate health risk considering frequency weighted root mean square (r.m.s.) acceleration values of vibration (0.46 – 1.01 m/s2) and corresponding daily exposure of about 6 hours in a shift. Operators of three equipments i.e. water sprinkler, utility vehicle and backfill material carrier had high health risk with z (vertical) as dominant axis of vibration. RMS acceleration values were comparatively high (1.30- 1.96 m/s2) even though their duration of exposure was less (2.5-5.0 hours). Motor grader operator had minimal health risk from vibration exposure while rest two operators of explosive and personnel carrier had moderate health risk. Additional assessment of health risk was carried out using total vibration dose values wherever applicable. High health risks were attributed to fast and harsh driving, poor seat condition and absence of independent seat suspension. Besides technical and operational modifications, training programs should be organised to improve the awareness of this hazard among miners in India.

Risk Assessment; Underground Mine Hazards; Vibration Monitoring; Whole-Body Vibration

Copy the following to cite this article:

Mandal B.B, Prajapati S. S, Hussain S. A, Mishra R. A. Monitoring and Evaluation of Whole-Body Vibration Exposure of Equipment Operators and Assessment of Associated Health Risk in An Indian Underground Pb-Zn Mine. Curr World Environ 2018;13(3). DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.13.3.13

Copy the following to cite this URL:

Mandal B.B, Prajapati S. S, Hussain S. A, Mishra R. A. Monitoring and Evaluation of Whole-Body Vibration Exposure of Equipment Operators and Assessment of Associated Health Risk in An Indian Underground Pb-Zn Mine. Curr World Environ 2018;13(3). Available from: https://bit.ly/2PQgXel

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