The Australian Tunnelling Society has created an extensive array of resources for assisting the tunnelling industry to control exposure to crystalline silica.
The society formed an Air Quality Working Group (AQWG) in 2017 as an industry collaborative platform to enable the industry to work together to develop and implement health strategies in conjunction with regulatory efforts to improve occupational health outcomes.
The initial focus of the group has been on respirable crystalline silica (“silica dust”).
Over the past 12-months, the AQWG membership has worked to collectively produce reference material that currently does not exist in the tunnel construction industry’s body of knowledge.
This information is considered to benefit the wider tunnelling industry and therefore is now made freely available on the ATS website. This key body of knowledge may also benefit the mining industry with a key case study featuring a road header cabin exposure control.
- AQWG Part 1 of 12 – Background and Methodology
- AQWG Part 2 of 12 – ATS Good Practice
- AQWG Part 3 of 12 – Silica Dust Awareness Package
- AQWG Part 4 of 12 – Speakers Notes
- AQWG Part 5 of 12 – Design & Procurement Industry Considerations
- AQWG Part 6 of 12 – Scrubber System Case Study
- AQWG Part 7 of 12 – Ventilation during Tunnel Construction Industry Considerations
- AQWG Part 8 of 12 – Portal Misting System Case Study
- AQWG Part 9 of 12 – Roadheader Cabin Air Filtration Case Study
- AQWG Part 10 of 12 – RPE Industry Considerations
- AQWG Part 11 of 12 – Monitoring RCS Exposure Industry Considerations
- AQWG Part 12 of 12 – Health Monitoring Industry Considerations
This important work considers a range of benefits of control methods for exposure to crystalline silica. It can be accessed through the links above.
Read more Mining Safety News
