Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996 (Act No. 29 of 1996)

Guideline for a Mandatory Code of Practice

Minimum Standards on Ground Vibrations, Noise, Air-Blast and Flyrock near surface structures and Communities to be Protected

Part A : The Guideline

1. Introduction
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1.1. This guideline (for minimum standards) has been developed to provide a framework within which to manage the risk associated with ground vibration, noise, air-blast and flyrock during blasting in surface mines of South Africa.

 

1.2. Considering the absence of any local guidelines in the South African mining industry, the USBM standard (Siskind, Stagg, Kopp & Dowding, 1989) is generally used to assess whether ground vibrations exceed safe limits. Consequently, community members surrounding the mining areas are unhappy with the standards used by the mines as damage and/or deterioration of buildings is noticed, which many people of South Africa (communities included) attribute to blasting operations that South African surface mines conduct.

 

1.3. Following the outcomes of the completed work of the Safety in Mines Research Advisory Committee, the Mining Regulations Advisory Committee established a task team to facilitate the development of a guideline for the compilation of a mandatory COP for minimum standards on ground vibrations, noise, air-blast and flyrock near surface structures and communities to be protected.

 

1.4. The development of the foregoing guideline followed the (project) SIM14-09-01: Development of a South Africa minimum standards on ground vibration, noise, air-blast and flyrock near surface structures to be protected which was conducted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research under the auspices of the Mine Health and Safety Council (Brovko, Kgarume, Singh, Milev, Wekesa, Durrheim, Lumbwe, Pandelany & Mwila, 2016).

 

1.5. This guideline has been designed around the best practice principles and standards, using the latest operational expertise and application of technology for the measurement, management and monitoring of ground vibration, noise, air-blast and flyrock.