Mining Feature: NIOSH Exhibit at the 2017 SME Annual Conference

Friday, February 17, 2017

NIOSH will showcase some of its latest mine safety and health research at the 2017 Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) Annual Conference and Expo February 19–22 in Denver, Colorado. Stop by the NIOSH exhibit (Booth #2237) to try out new software, see technology demonstrations, or pick up one of our latest publications. NIOSH researchers and representatives will also be presenting research and spending time at the exhibit throughout the conference.

Exhibit features include:

• Helmet-CAM and EVADE 2.0 software. EVADE 2.0 is the latest addition to the Helmet-CAM system. Helmet-CAM technology involves a worker wearing a small video camera and a data logging exposure sensor. The camera and sensor recordings are later viewed using the NIOSH EVADE software, which shows exposure levels for dust or other contaminants alongside the video playback. In version 2.0, EVADE adds the ability to view multiple video recordings and multiple contaminants, including noise, dust, diesel, and other chemicals. The Helmet-CAM and EVADE 2.0 software will be on display together so that visitors can see how the video and contaminant data are used.
  
  
• ErgoMine Ergonomics Audit application. The ErgoMine app is a mobile ergonomics audit for surface haul truck, bagging, and maintenance and repair operations. Users answer a series of questions, and the app identifies hazards and provides recommendations for mitigating the hazards. Visitors will be able to view the audit application, browse the questions and recommendations, and conduct a simulated audit. ErgoMine was developed for Android devices and is available for download through the Google Play store.
  
  
• MFIRE 3.0.50. The MFire 3.0.50 software is used to model ventilation and fire contaminant spread in underground mines. This updated version has been completely rewritten in C++ and packaged into a dynamic link library (DLL). The ventilation network data is obtained via common memory instead of the standard MFIRE data output files, and the MFIRE DLL can be easily used by other programs. Visitors will be able to try out the software and view a video that highlights the updated features, showing future use of the software in conjunction with real-time atmospheric monitoring systems.
  
  
• S-Pillar. The S-Pillar software helps users design stable pillars for room-and-pillar workings in underground stone mines. The calculation methods in S-Pillar are based on actual pillar performance in 34 different underground operations in the eastern and midwestern United States. Visitors will be able to view a video highlighting the software’s features and try out the software through a simulated mine design.
  
  
• Safety and Health Toolbox Talks. The Safety and Health Toolbox Talks software tool provides workers at stone, sand, gravel, and aggregates (SSGA) mining operations with information on workplace hazards and risks. The software uses quotes from interviews with SSGA mine workers about their perceptions of hazards and risks at their worksites, and nonfatal and fatal injury data reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) from 2009 to 2014. The Toolbox Talks materials provide support for brief presentations and discussions about a series of safety and health topics. Visitors will be able to browse through the software and review the information scripts for each of the topics.
  
  
• Safety Pays in Mining. The Safety Pays in Mining online tool enables mine managers to evaluate how avoiding occupational injuries and illnesses impacts their mining organizations’ profitability. Users enter their company’s profit margin, average direct costs of an injury or illness, and an indirect cost multiplier to estimate the sales a company would need in order to make up the costs of an employee injury or illness. Visitors will be able to view the application and enter simulated costs to see how mining companies save money by avoiding worksite-related injuries and illnesses.
  
  
• NIOSH Saturn Area Light. The NIOSH Saturn area light addresses the visual needs of the aging workforce in the underground mine environment. The Saturn area light helps to improve miner safety by reducing glare and enhancing a miner’s ability to see hazards associated with slip/trip/fall accidents and moving machinery. The NIOSH Saturn area light will be on display at NIOSH’s exhibit.
  
  
• Smart Monitoring and Control (SMAC) System. In underground metal/nonmetal mines, repeated short-term exposure to high levels of airborne contaminants can become a serious health issue. To control or mitigate these localized exposures, NIOSH is developing a Smart Monitoring and Control (SMAC) system to monitor mine air quality in real-time and react with countermeasures to reduce high concentrations of airborne contaminants. Visitors will be able to view an animated video showing how smart ventilation will work in underground mines.
  
  
• Education on black lung disease. Visitors to the NIOSH exhibit will be able to see freeze-dried human lungs and compare healthy lungs to those that have experienced years of exposure to coal dust, as well as learn more about black lung prevention and detection through NIOSH’s Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program.