Identification and categorization of hazards in the mining industry: A systematic review of the literature

Control of OHS risks in the mining industry has been attracting increasing attention in recent years. Because of their great diversity in a complex system, hazards can be difficult to identify and classify, especially when system components interact. Risk cannot be managed successfully without comprehensive investigation of all its aspects. A coherent and integrated classification for identifying and categorizing all hazards is currently lacking in mining. We propose an integrated system classification of OHS hazards in mining based on our review of 44 studies retrieved using PRISMA. Considering Canadian and international standards, regulations and conventions, new hazard categories are proposed and hazard prevention is discussed from 12 perspectives: physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, accident and psychosocial risks, as well as policy, legislation, management, design, geography, and uncertainty, with reference to each of the four phases of a typical mine life cycle, the hazards were shown in a portrait. This paper provides suitable categories based on rational data for creating a portrait in order to OHS hazards prevention in life cycle activity in mine.