Mine safety issues in quarry industry: case studies of recent fatal accidents in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Sri Lankan metal quarries supply almost all grades of aggregates throughout the country for the construction industry. But the future of these metal quarries may look bleak owing to the rise in the number of mine accidents being reported. The Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) is the main regulatory body that regulates the mineral industry, issues licenses to almost all quarries in Sri Lanka. When considering the industrial mining licenses, there are four types of mining licenses, i.e., type-A, type-B, type-C, and type-D, issued by the GSMB. Of the four types of categories, the multi borehole blasting method can be adopted for type-A and type-B category mining licenses, while the single borehole blasting method is adopted for the type C and type D categories. Of the two types of initiation methods majority of cases with regard to accidents being reported from the single borehole blasting method. But they were not properly documented earlier. However, with the dawn of the Mining Safety Unit, these cases were documented. Of the cases being documented, five cases, i.e., fatalities, occurred due to fly rock, falling to a lower level, collapsing rock overhang on to the people who work underneath it, burning of explosives, and unintentional blasting due to lightning were described in this paper for risk assessment. When these cases are analysed, it is observed that among the contributory factors, excessive face height and human negligence are the most predominant factors for these incidents. At the end, it is mentioned that how this method is unsafe and proposed a multi-hole blasting method under the guidance of a suitable person.