STUDY ON WORKERS’ EXPOSURE TO INHALABLE WOOD DUSTS IN MINING INDUSTRY

References: 17th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2017, www.sgem.org, SGEM2017 Conference Proceedings, ISBN 978-619-7105-00-1 / ISSN 1314-2704, 29 June - 5 July, 2017, Vol. 17, Issue 13, 831-838 pp, DOI: 10.5593/sgem2017/13/S03.105

ABSTRACT

Jiu Valley represents one of the most important areas for coal mining in Romania, thus industrial development has generated a high level of health and safety at work issues.
At work places in mining industry, the staff of the woodworking workshops is exposed to various concentrations of dust, possibly leading, in time, to occupational illnesses. Thus, wood processed in mining units’ workshops is utilized for temporary support of coal faces, wrapping underground mining, insulation dams, ventilation doors, etc.
This paper addresses the risk assessment of workers’ exposure to soft wood dust (fir) during different technological procedures (grinding, automatic charging), by performing gravimetric and conimetric measurements of particle spread depending on grain size, being accomplished through Nucleu Program, developed with the support of the Ministry of Research and Innovation.
Illness risk was assessed by comparing the two results, depending on concentration levels found at each technological procedure (grinding, automatic charging), in order to perform an analysis of the effects that wood dust has on the health of workers in wood processing mining industry.

Keywords: exposure, worker, wood dust