Campaign Against Unsafe Blasting: Management responsibility (1)

#campaign_against_unsafeBlast

Brief Introduction

It's clear that unsafe blasting is the father of unwanted occurrences. This make all move in the wrong time give birth to the wrong event. All mining operations must be planned properly before in site action.

A look at explosive energy

 Explosive energy distribution is almost a stochastic  discrete event, the explosion and detonation energy can sometimes be unfamiliar if there is change in rock property stimulation and expectation. Let all blasting put needed factor of safety in place to account for unexpected entities. Rock Mass as a discountinous, heterogeneous, anisotropic and non elastic material host the ore, the unmine rock form the supporting body; damaging the supporting rock is a call to hazardous events. The energy generator is the explosive, but the explosive will always remain calm until the stimulating wave is in touch with it. As mining engineer in this new year, let all our relationship with explosive but in usage, storage and transportation give positive result.

THINGS TO DO

 Balance the rock properties with the explosive energy and make proper adjustment to the controllable parameters in order to ensure all intrinsic conditions had been handled. The blasting result greatly affect the mine management plans, it control the downstream operations and alter the productivity rate.

Both safety and profit must be considered when we are planning our blasting. The high powder factor affect mine cost per ton, and also produces unsafe conditions like, ground vibration, flyrock, over break, backbreak, ore grade dilution, noise, dust pollution to mention few. This year operation in the mine must be different completely.

 Generally, both Artisian and small scale miners (ASM) and Large scale miners (LSM) must put the safety of equipment, personnel and mother Earth into consideration.

 Giant miner advice to mine managers:

Dear mine manager, 

I understood all managers concern about profit and your interest in high production rate so as to meet up with the customer's demand. I am aware that all managers make use of all available managerial and leadership's skill and controlling techniques to ensure the mine operation cost is minimized. In fact, managers have decided to become the blasting engineer in other to reduce all blasting materials, supervise the loading and silent the professional mining because he will always say "This is not safe sir!". As good as profit, profit without safety is fraudulent.

Truly the wall has never fail since, despite the use of unquantifiable explosive charge. In fact, the bench wall is full of multiple joint sets and fracture but yet the mine is still producing. As fine as the state of your mine now because you are producing, do you know the mine slope will definitely fail one day!

 That the wall is standing does not assure the wall is stable!.

 Please, let not the management decision side line the place of safety. The profit is good, but please let the safety be first. 

The wall is dieing, the failure conditions might not be completely met, but you can imagine the wall standing and suddenly little vibration collapse all and cover the mine.

To support our campaign against unsafe blasting, all mine managers must ensure the management decision and blast proposal/design be thoroughly review and approval be granted base on safety first. All mine operators who consider anyone able to supervise to be more effective and efficient than competent Mining engineer is totally wrong! 

Mining engineer is needed to ensure the decision made about the blasting is right for the deposit at every Time. I know the company needs low paid employee but putting mining engineer aside to get electrical engineer or builder as mine manager is inppropriate. The rock behavior is not like current and voltage any way, rock is not cable but a DIANE material

Rock don't obey Kirchoff law at all, not all the release energy entrying a rock Mass node will get out at the same intensity, the heterogeneity of rock call for rock doctor who can diagnostically prescribe the right charge for the right explosion. 

Please dear management, give room for professional mining engineers to carry out there jobs. The mine is build base on plan, do your mine have any plan? The blasting conditions is check to prepare for the future events, do you have any post and preblast checking team?

No, we don't is probably the answer for more than 70% mine in Nigeria, maybe 50% for mines in other Africa countries.

What blasting team do you have? Do you call people who distribute explosive the blasting engineers? I bet you, those team  doesn't even understanding when the Earth is bleeding, when the fragmentation is good or poor, when their is misfire; that is not what Council that regulate engineering activities called Engineering team. Those are event oriented Team who don't show any concern about the aftermath effect. The real Team prepare a good design, implement and supervise the execution of the plan and also check the results from the plan to ensure good recommendation is drawn from it. Good blasting team also ensure all the mine is safe before, during and after blasting.

This is a call back to the real mining, when you fail to plan the mine, the mine will definitely experience premature closure. Let all manager reorganize their company policy, Safety management system and working structure.

The mine Team should be working with a clear blue print, not just work with the idea of getting the ore out by all means; whether safe or unsafe.

Decide to put safety first in year 2022!!!!

Fire in the Hole, charge in the rock, energy and waves within rock grains.

Happy mining

Say no to poor use of explosive

Say no to unwanted blasting event

Use explosive for peace and not for war

Let us mine the Earth safely

Thanks

Appreciate from Taiwo Blessing Olamide (Giant miner) goes to all mining engineers who ensure and see to the proper implementation of mining laws and regulations.

Let us mine the mine and not dig the ground.

Thanks to USA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA mining engineers. I salute your great work and practising.

Give zero tolerance for unsafe act and unsafe conditions.