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Mine Safety Engineer |
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Description Mining can be a dangerous career associated with many health and safety hazards. That is why mine safety engineers are such an important part of the mining industry. Without their safety programs and procedures, there would undoubtedly be more accidents than already occur. Mines are in open pits or deep underground, filled with dust, poor ventilation and toxic fumes, amongst other problems. Clearly, the goal of the mine safety engineer is to eliminate all safety and health risks; however this is no easy task. Mine safety engineers promote and enforce mine safety and health by developing mine safety standards, policies, guidelines and regulations. They use their knowledge of mine design and practices to ensure the safety of workers, they inspect walls and roof surfaces, test air samples and examine mining equipment for compliance with government safety regulations. Mine safety engineers are obliged to teach all miners safe working practices such as how to avoid back injury and proper entry and exit procedures. They must require that all workers wear proper safety protection clothing and equipment such as hard hats, goggles, gloves, safety lamps, steel-toe boots, safety belts, harnesses, and earmuffs or plugs for ear drum protection. Mine safety engineers must counsel employees on how to deal with heat stress, fatigue, cramps and hygiene issues related to heat, such as rashes or "prickly heat". They encourage drinking water and wearing oxygen and gas masks when working in areas that contain toxic gases and plants. They must also educate and try and prevent common illnesses amongst miners, such as pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (which also happens to be the longest word in the English language); a disease of the lungs caused by inhaling dust particles. Many miners lose their lungs from this preventable disease. Mine safety engineers must continually perform atmospheric tests and monitor the air flow, oxygen content, flammability rates and toxic contaminants in the air. Accordingly, too many accidents and deaths occur because of unsafe electrical wiring, unsteady ladders and vehicle accidents. Therefore, they must inspect and monitor areas such as brake systems on moving vehicles, gas and dust explosions, fires, electrocutions, and prevent workers from falling off ladders and elevated walkways. By supervising the safety levels of these potential problem areas, major and minor accidents and unnecessary deaths can be prevented. Mine safety engineers use traditional and computer-aided design (CAD) systems to design mining safety operations that analyze the effects and potential problems of certain safety methods. They are required to constantly update their skills and knowledge in order to keep up with technological advancements in the mining field. |
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Sources:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, http://www.bls.gov/ooh/ Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Employment Statistics, 2002, http://www.bls.gov/oes/2002/oes_nat.htm |
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