12 - Engineered noise controls for miner safety and environmental responsibility

Abstract

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) continues to be one of the most prevalent diseases in the mining industry. Several factors contribute to the noise overexposure of miners, including confined workplace conditions, the utilization of heavy-duty mining equipment, and the proximity of machine operators to that equipment. In this context, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts research aimed at reducing the incidence of NIHL by developing noise controls for mining equipment, thereby lessening the level of exposure encountered by miners. To accomplish this task, experimental and computational state-of-the-art engineering tools are used to identify dominant noise sources and to explore different noise control approaches. This chapter provides an overview of these engineering tools, and presents three case studies where noise controls were developed and implemented into a longwall shearer, a roof bolter, and a continuous mining machine.