Read the full Annual Report in PDF format - CSIR

industry
mining
elimination of silicosis through dust control
practices:
• Operations manual for Data
Visualisation Software (DataViz)
and Activity Recognition Software
(Scorekeeper)
• Manual of good practice for dust
sampling protocols for coal mining
• Manual of good practice for dust
sampling protocols for gold mining
• Operations manual for laboratory
dust fi ltration effi ciency testing
• Operations manual for full-scale
operational dust fi ltration effi ciency
testing
• Manual of good practice for dust
control in quarries.
Getting to grips
Chronic silicosis: The most common form of silicosis brought on by low, but frequent silica dust exposure where the dust contains
18-30% crystalline silica. In this form silica dust accumulates in the lungs and causes fi brotic changes.
Acute silicosis: Appears within a few weeks to two to fi ve years after initial exposure to exceptionally high concentrations of
crystalline silica. Characterised by intra-alveolar deposits in the lungs.
Accelerated silicosis: The results of inhaling very high concentrations of silica dust over a relatively short period of about fi ve to
ten years. With accelerated silicosis the time from initial exposure to the onset of the disease is a relatively short period and the
progression to complicated silicosis is much faster.
Respirable dust: Dust particles of less than 10 microns (µm) in diameter and small enough to enter the gas exchange region of the
human lung when inhaled.
Image courtesy of AngloGold Ashanti
The scarred lung tissue of a miner shows the onset of silicosis. The excessive exposure to dust, or silicosis, remains a major cause of
premature retirement and death among South African miners. (Department of Mineral Resources Annual Report 2009/10)
51 PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS