1907 exposure to eliminating hazards) that is eventually achieved by improving technical capability, regulatory maturity, and safety culture. 5. UNDERGROUND MINING. RISK MEASURE MATRIX Measures used are categorized as primary and secondary. Primary measures reduce the risk of fatalities by controlling hazards. Secondary measures provide necessary supports for an effective implementation of the primary measure. The control intent of a measure reflects its functional safety goal to eliminate the risk through the removal of human exposure to a hazard; Prevent the occurrences of instability or hazardous interactions (your hazard) through providing safeguards against their occurrence and mitigate the consequences of a failure through controls or restrictions on the way hazards are handled (ICMM, 2023). The main sources of underground mining risk include Geotechnical risks; Interaction between mobile machinery and traffic; Environmental issues (ventilation/ gases/ fire); Use of explosives and blasting; Human and organizational factors. For the main geo-risks associated with mines, the respective measures and objectives are outlined in Tables 4 - 5. Due to having a hostile geology, primary support systems serve as controlling features in the absence of a secondary protection feature. Table 4 - Geotechnical risks (rockfall, collapse and rockburst control) Risk Primary measures Secondary measures Control intent Regions where critical FoG fall of ground (roof/walls) systematic bolting; high-strength mesh; shotcrete geotechnical mapping; inspections Prevent / Mitigate Africa, Latin America, Asia rockburst / seismic events dynamic support (energy-absorbing bolts & high-strength mesh; conservative design seismic monitoring; exclusion protocols Mitigate Africa (deep mines) progressive failure / convergence domain-based design; reinforcement upgrades instrumentation (convergence/extensometers) Prevent North America, Latin America post-blast instability rapid support installation; mechanised support re-entry timing rules Prevent Global Table 5 - Necessary controls for risk removal Risk Primary measures Control intent Regions where critical work under unsupported ground automated/robotic bolting; mechanised mesh & shotcrete Eliminate Australia, Canada, Chile inspection in unstable zones remote sensing (LiDAR, drones, scanners) Eliminate Australia, Europe high-risk repetitive tasks autonomous cycles; “people-light” mines Eliminate Australia The application of ground support is directly aligned with Critical Control Management principles and enables the effective enforcement of life-saving controls. Establishing an adequate installation and enforcing this via automation enables, timely and verifiable delivery without reliance on human behaviour, enabling digital traceability to confirm the control effectiveness and finally providing a transition of management of critical controls requirement (ICMM, 2015).
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