Page 236 - Advances In Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining

Engineered noise controls for 12

miner safety and environmental
responsibility ☆

Hugo E. Camargo, Amanda S. Azman, J. Shawn Peterson
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

12.1 Background

Despite more than 30years of noise exposure regulation (i.e., establishing and
enforcing permissible exposure limits (PELs)), noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL)
continues to be one of the most prevalent diseases in the mining industry. A recent
study conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH), in which over one million audiograms were analyzed, revealed that the min-
ing industry has the highest prevalence in hearing loss among all other industries sur-
veyed [1]. In fact, the mining sector has the highest prevalence of hazardous
workplace noise exposures (76%) among all industrial sectors [2]. Despite engineer-
ing and administrative controls implemented to reduce noise, miners continue to
exhibit a high prevalence (24%) of hearing difficulty [3]. Within the mining industry,
underground coal miners are particularly at risk of noise overexposure due to confined
environments in which they work and the close proximity of equipment operators to
the mining machines they run. As a result, underground coal miners have the highest
self-reported rate of hearing loss. In this context, there is a clear need to develop, eval-
uate, and implement effective noise controls for various pieces of equipment in order
to reduce noise-induced hearing loss in the mining industry.

12.2 Approaches to noise control

In general, there are three approaches to reduce noise exposure levels encountered by
miners: (1) controlling noise at the source by making physical changes that modify
and attenuate the noise generation mechanism, (2) implementing noise controls in
the transmission path between the noise source and the receiver; i.e., the miner,
and (3) implementing noise controls at the receiver; i.e., personal protective
equipment.

☆
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the
views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Mention of any company name, prod-
uct, or software does not constitute endorsement by NIOSH.
Advances in Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-101288-8.00011-0
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.