Resumen de A healthier future for mine workers
Industrial Minerals
The higher the level and the longer the exposure period to both noise and dust, the greater the risk of harm. This highlights the importance of having surveillance in place to monitor for noise and dust. This, in turn, elevates simple recognition of the issues into steps for positive action, where adverse effects can be detected early and further harm to health can be prevented. The danger and effects of dust and noise can be assessed through examining lagging or leading indicators.
A lagging indicator in this context is the monitoring and reporting on incidents that have already happened. Usually this is done at an annual, or in some cases more frequent, review of health and safety practices. The drawback of this in the case of noise and dust is that some level of damage - perhaps irreparable - may have already been caused. With common outcomes in the form of hearing loss from overexposure to noise and cancers resulting from overexposure to dust, acting on lagging indicators is insufficient - it would be like reacting to a potential trip hazard after the employee has already had an accident.
The latest noise dosimeters have convenience at front of mind and include wireless connectivity with an app to make noise monitoring and reporting as easy as possible, without disrupting the worker. In addition, the latest and most effective dosimeters such as the dBadge 2 feature a motion index to confirm that the device is being worn. Connectivity to mobile devices enables the person responsible for taking the noise measurement to not only monitor noise exposure, but to act upon noise level information in real time.
