• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.317-323
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• 2021

Background: The surface mining industry has one of the highest fatality rates among private industries in the United States. Despite recent decreases in the fatality rates of comparable industries, the fatality rate in the surface mining industry has increased. Meanwhile, a lack of safety research in surface mining has hindered efforts to improve safety strategies in the surface mining workplace. Method: This study examined quarry workers' hazard identification skills by conducting a case study of a surface mining facility in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Semistructured interviews were conducted with eight quarry workers who were employed at the mine facility. In addition to the interviews, data were collected through field notes, notes from an expert meeting with safety managers, and site photographs to explore quarry workers' safety behaviors in the workplace. Results: The results showed that quarry workers identified hazards and improved their safety performance by translating safety knowledge learned from training into practice, acquiring hands-on work experience, learning from coworkers, and sharing responsibilities among team members. Conclusion: This study contributes to understanding quarry workers' safe performance beyond what they have learned in safety training to include their interaction with other workers and hand-on experience in the workplace. This study informs practitioners in the surface mining industry to build a safe work environment as they design effective safety programs for employees.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.19-27
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• 2023

In this study, a total of 2,584 domestic research papers with the keywords "Aviation Safety" and "Aviation Accidents" were subjected to Text Mining analysis. Various text mining techniques, including keyword frequency analysis, word correlation analysis, network analysis, and topic modeling, were applied to examine the research trends in the field of aviation safety. The results revealed a significant increase in research using the keyword "Aviation Safety" since 2015, with over 300 papers published annually. Through keyword frequency analysis, it was observed that "Aircraft" was the most frequently mentioned term, followed by "Drones" and "Unmanned Aircraft." Phi coefficients were calculated for words closely related to "Aircraft," "Aviation," "Drones," and "Safety." Furthermore, topic modeling was employed to identify 12 distinct topics in the field of aviation safety and aviation accidents, allowing for an in-depth exploration of research trends.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.485-495
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• 2020

Based on the movement characteristics of overlying strata with gangue backfilling, the compression test of gangue is designed. The deformation characterristics of gangue is obtained based on the different Talbot index. The deformation has a logarithmic growth trend, including sharp deformation stage, linear deformation stage, rheological stage, and the resistance to deformation changes in different stages. The more advantageous Talbot gradation index is obtained to control the surface subsidence. On the basis of similarity simulation test with gangue backfilling, the characteristics of roof failure and the evolution of the supporting force are analyzed. In the early stage of gangue backfilling, beam structure damage directly occurs at the roof, and the layer is separated from the overlying rock. As the working face advances, the crack arch of the basic roof is generated, and the separation layer is closed. Due to the supporting effect of filling gangue, the stress concentration in gangue backfilling stope is relatively mild. Based on the equivalent mining height model of gangue backfilling stope, the relationship between full ratio and mining height is obtained. It is necessary to ensure that the gradation of filling gangue meets the Talbot distribution of n=0.5, and the full ratio meets the protection grade requirements of surface buildings.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.151-165
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• 2019

Background: Despite improvements in safety performance, the number and severity of mining-related injuries remain high and unacceptable, indicating that further reduction can be achieved. This study examines occupational accident statistics of the Ghanaian mining industry and identifies priority areas, warranting intervention measures and further investigations. Methods: A total of 202 fatal and nonfatal injury reports over a 10-year period were obtained from five mines and the Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission of Ghana, and they were analyzed. Results: Results of the analyses show that the involvement of mining equipment, the task being performed, the injury type, and the mechanism of injury remain as priorities. For instance, mining equipment was associated with 85% of all injuries and 90% of all fatalities, with mobile equipment, component/part, and hand tools being the leading equipment types. In addition, mechanics/repairmen, truck operators, and laborers were the most affected ones, and the most dangerous activities included maintenance, operating mobile equipment, and clean up/clearing. Conclusion: Results of this analysis will enable authorities of mines to develop targeted interventions to improve their safety performance. To improve the safety of the mines, further research and prevention efforts are recommended.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.201-208
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• 2021

Background: In the mining industry, various methods of accident analysis have utilized official accident investigations to try and establish broader causation mechanisms. An emerging area of interest is identifying the extent to which cultural influences, such as safety culture, are acting as drivers in the reoccurrence of accidents. Thus, the overall objective of this study was to analyze occupational health and safety (OHS) reports in mining to investigate if/how safety culture has historically been framed in the mining industry, as it relates to accident causation. Methods: Using a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software, 34 definitions of safety culture were analyzed to highlight key terms. Based on word count and contextual relevance, 26 key terms were captured. Ten OHS reports were then analyzed via an inductive thematic analysis, using the key terms. This analysis provided a concept map representing the 50-year data set and facilitated the use of text framing to highlight safety culture in the selected OHS mining reports. Results: Overall, 954 references and six themes, safety culture, attitude, competence, belief, patterns, and norms, were identified in the data set. Of the 26 key terms originally identified, 24 of them were captured within the text. The results made evident two distinct frames in which to interpret the data: the role of the individual and the role of the organization, in safety culture. Conclusion: Unless efforts are made to understand and alter cultural drivers and share these findings within and across industries, the same accidents are likely to continue to occur.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1153-1160
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• 2018

Rockbursts, catastrophic events involving the violent release of elastic energy stored in rock features, remain a worldwide challenge for geoengineering. Especially at deep-mining sites, rockbursts can occur in hard, high-stress, brittle rock zones, and the associated risk depends on such factors as mining activity and the stress on surrounding rocks. Rockbursts are often sudden and destructive, but there is still no unified standard for predicting them. Based on previous studies, a new Bayesian multi-index model was introduced to predict and evaluate rockbursts. In this method, the rock strength index, energy release index, and surrounding rock stress are the basic factors. Values from 18 rock samples were obtained, and the potential rockburst risks were evaluated. The rockburst tendencies of the samples were modelled using three existing methods. The results were compared with those obtained by the new Bayesian model, which was observed to predict rockbursts more effectively than the current methods.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.429-437
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• 2018

In order to reduce deformation of roadway floor heave in deep underground soft rockmass, four support design patterns were analyzed using the Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua (FLAC)3D, including the traditional bolting (Design 1), the bolting with the backbreak in floor (Design 2), the full anchorage bolting with the backbreak in floor (Design 3) and the full anchorage bolting with the bolt-grouting backbreak in floor (Design 4). Results show that the design pattern 4, the full anchorage bolting with the bolt-grouting backbreak in floor, was the best one to reduce the deformation and failure of the roadway, the floor deformation was reduced at 88.38% than the design 1, and these parameters, maximum vertical stress, maximum horizontal displacement and maximum horizontal stress, were greater than 1.69%, 5.96% and 9.97%. However, it was perfectly acceptable with the floor heave results. The optimized design pattern 4 provided a meaningful and reliable support for the roadway in deep underground coal mine.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.451-461
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• 2022

The roadways surrounded by rock and coal will lose their stability or even collapse under rock burst. Rock burst mainly involves an evolution of dynamic loading which behaves quite differently from static or quasi-static loading. To compare the dynamic response of coal and rocks with different static strengths, three different rocks and bituminous coal were selected for testing at three different dynamic loadings. It's found that the dynamic compression strength of rocks and bituminous coal is much greater than the static compression strength. The dynamic compression strength and dynamic increase factor of the rocks both increase linearly with the increase of the strain rate, while those of the bituminous coal are irregular due to the characteristics of multi-fracture and heterogeneity. Moreover, the absorbed energy of the rocks and bituminous coal both increase linearly with an increase in the strain rate. And the ratio of absorbed energy to the total energy of bituminous coal is greater than that of rocks. With the increase of dynamic loading, the failure degree of the sample increases, with the increase of the static compressive strength, the damage degree also increases. The static compassion strength of the bituminous coal is lower than that of rocks, so the number of small-scale fragments was the largest after bituminous coal rupture.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.323-331
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• 2019

The presence of defects in nature changes the physical parameters of the rock. In this paper, by studying the rock-like specimens with conjugated fractures, the horizontal angle and length are changed, and the physical parameters and failure modes of the specimens under uniaxial compression test are analyzed and compared with the results of simulation analysis. The experimental results show that the peak strength and failure mode of the rock-like specimens are closely related to the horizontal angle. When the horizontal angle is $45^{\circ}$, the maximum value is reached and the tensile failure mode is obtained. The fracture length affects the germination and propagation path of the cracks. It is of great significance to study the failure modes and mechanical properties of conjugated fracture rock-like specimens to guide the support of fractured rock on site.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.12-17
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• 2016

Background: The mining industry is considered as one of the most dangerous and hazardous industries and the need for effective and efficient occupational health and safety management is critical to safeguard workers and the industry. Despite the dangers and hazards present in the mining industry, only few studies have focused on how occupational health and safety and turnover intentions in the mines. Method: The study suing a cross-sectional survey design collected quantitative data from the 255 mine workers that were conveniently sampled from the Ghanaian mining industry. The data collection tools were standardized questionnaires that measured occupational health and safety management and turnover intentions. These scales were also pretested before their usage in actual data collection. Results: The correlation coefficient showed that a negative relationship existed between dimensions of occupational health and safety management and turnover intention; safety leadership (r = -0.33, p < 0.01); supervision (r = -0.26, p < 0.01); safety facilities and equipment (r = -0.32, p < 0.01); safety procedure (r = -0.27, p < 0.01). Among these dimensions, safety leadership and safety facility were significant predictors of turnover intention, (${\beta}=-0.28$, p < 0.01) and (${\beta}=-0.24$, p < 0.01) respectively. The study also found that turnover intention of employees is heavily influenced by the commitment of safety leadership in ensuring the effective formulation of policies and supervision of occupational health and safety at the workplace. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that safety leadership is crucial in the administration of occupational health and safety and reducing turnover intention in organizations.