Development and Field Evaluation of Noise Controls for Jumbo Drills

Details

• Personal Author:
  Alcorn L ; Camargo H ; Kim B ; Peterson S
• Description:
  Despite over thirty years of regulation on noise exposure, hearing loss continues to be one of the most prevalent illnesses in the mining industry in the United States. One machine used extensively in metal/nonmetal mines responsible for high noise exposure of its operators is the jumbo drill, used to drill holes at the mines for blasting purposes. In this context, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted research to develop noise controls for these machines. Noise source identification showed that the vibration of the drill string is the dominant source. Therefore, two different approaches were taken to reduce drill string sound radiation: vibration isolation and the addition of damping. This paper presents the development and the results of laboratory and field testing of damped drill strings by comparing the operator location sound levels when drilling with a standard drill string to the sound levels when drilling with the noise controls installed. The paper also provides a discussion of the various design parameters, including the material property selection, the dimensional constraints, and durability issues. Furthermore, the results of the field evaluation of these noise controls-in terms of noise reduction at the operator's location and drilling performance-are presented. Overall, a 3 to 5 dB reduction at the operator location was achieved with these noise controls. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Engineering Environmental Exposure Hearing Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Mining Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Staff Development Vibration

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Engineering Controls Engineering Controls Exposure Levels Hearing Conservation Hearing Loss Hearing Loss Prevention Hearing Protection Metal Mining Mining Industry Noise Control Noise Exposure Noise Induced Hearing Loss Noise Levels Noise Measurement Noise Sources Personal Protective Equipment PPE Risk Factors Sound Training Vibration Exposure Work Operations Work Practices

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• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISBN:
  9788487985317
• Publisher:
  Spanish Acoustical Society (SEA)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PMRD - Pittsburgh Mining Research Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058382 ; nn:20058416
• Citation:
  Inter-Noise 2019: Noise Control for a Better Environment, the 48th International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering: June 16-19, 2019, Madrid, Spain. Madrid, Spain: Spanish Acoustical Society, 2019 Jun; :1493
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ec360255fdaa1c53b180ab7ceb2960078ced80a3300fc0f609b9b3616fee23ce0740dd3bd69a768a3f490b8a72a66d2a354e706dce861bda684299e8373ee1ae
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/227944/cdc_227944_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 959.34 KB ]