1. Copyright Resources Safety,Department of Mines and Petroleum
Fibrous minerals and dust – managing the risks Part 2 Dust management in drilling operations

2. Please read this before using presentation
This presentation is based on content presented at the Exploration Safety Roadshow held in December 2010
It is made available for non-commercial use (e.g. toolbox meetings) subject to the condition that the PowerPoint file is not altered without permission from Resources Safety
Supporting resources, such as brochures and posters, are available from Resources Safety
For resources, information or clarification, please contact:
or visit

3. Copyright Resources Safety,Department of Mines and Petroleum
Is this a problem?
What are the main hazards posed by dust?
Exposure
Visibility
Today we’ll focus on the exposure hazards

4. Copyright Resources Safety,Department of Mines and Petroleum
Definitions
Dust
Generic term
Range of potentially hazardous particulates
Nuisance dust
Dust with no inherent toxic profile
Excess can overload lungs
Dust : is a generic term for fine particles of material. It can include a range of potentially hazardous particulates
Nuisance Dust : Nuisance Dust is dust with no inherent toxic profile
However, excess nuisance dust can overload clearance mechanisms of the lung and/or the gaseous exchange areas of the lung (in other words; can result in serious breathing difficulties)

5. Copyright Resources Safety,Department of Mines and Petroleum
Other particulates
Harmful health effects
Silica – lung damage
Metal dusts
nickel – cancer
manganese – manganism
lead – damage to central nervous system, kidneys, blood cells
Other particulate with harmful health effects include:
Silica - can physically damage the lung (scarring; fibrosis) and can result in lung cancer.
Metal dusts - can be absorbed and transported to other regions of the body where they may result in systemic health effects; i.e. nickel – cancer; manganese – manganism; lead – damage to central nervous system; kidneys; blood cells

6. Copyright Resources Safety,Department of Mines and Petroleum
Latent health effects
Delayed
Onset of health effects following exposure
Insidious
Progressive and often irreversible changes to health
Most important concept to understand is that there is a delay between exposure and onset of health effects which can extend to decades.
Insidious, progressive often irreversible changes to health

7. Copyright Resources Safety,Department of Mines and Petroleum
Dust management
Regulatory focus on fibre and dust management in mining
Statutory obligation to manage dust emissions in drilling operations
Obligation to monitor exposures to atmospheric contaminants
Ensure exposures do not exceed occupational exposure standards (OES)
Important to note that Resources Safety is focussing on fibre and dust management throughout mining in general
There is statutory obligation to manage dust emissions in drilling operations
Similarly, there is an obligation to monitor exposures to atmospheric contaminants and to ensure that such exposures do not exceed occupational exposure standards (OES)

8. Copyright Resources Safety,Department of Mines and Petroleum
Dust emission points
Main emission points:
Collar and Tee pieces
Splitter
Cyclone

9. Copyright Resources Safety,Department of Mines and Petroleum
Controlling dust
Use water
Fog
Foam
Binders
Surfactants
Using the hierarchy of controls, the preference is for engineering controls before PPE
Eliminate – it’s the grinding that generates the dust, may be hard to eliminate!
Substitute – instead of RC use diamond
Engineering – add water to process, use wet drilling
Administrative controls – usual things like procedures, training. Most important to raise awareness of hazards
Limits on PPE
Fit testing (clean shaven policy for best fit)
Heat strain
Protection factor of 10. PPE typically works up to 10 x OES

10. Copyright Resources Safety,Department of Mines and Petroleum
Potential controls
Trialling of dust suppression agents (e.g. foam, fog)
Automated sampling
Sample conveyors
Remote operating controls
Operating cabins
Our focus is on education, information, consultation and moving on to a compliance phase
Future planning and design could include some of the controls listed here.
We are keen to see companies designing and implemented better controls.

11. Copyright Resources Safety,Department of Mines and Petroleum
Any questions?
For further information please contact:
Chris White  