Real Time Dust Monitoring on Continuous Miner Leading Practice

This Leading Practice has enabled the underground colliery operations to proactively manage the coal dust risk during the coal cutting operations. Collieries are now able to continuously measure the dust levels and analyse the data on a real-time basis therefore enabling employees, especially the continuous miner and the shuttle car operators, to make effective and prompt decisions to prevent further employee exposure to coal dust, but also to better monitor the effectiveness and performance of coal dust critical controls at the point of generation or liberation (coal cutting). Furthermore, the practice allows the line supervision and management to investigate high dust incidents quicker and effect remedial actions as soon as possible. The practice has been received by the South African coal commodity sector as a ground-breaking practice which assists the industry’s aspirations towards the goal of zero harm and the elimination of occupational lung diseases.