ABSTRACT
Mining is undoubtedly the most hazardous industrial occupation. For instance, during the period 1980-89, mining ranked as the number one in USA with respect to the average annual rate of traumatic fatalities (with the rate of 31.91 for 100,000 workers), as against 25.61 for the construction industry, 23.30 for the transportation/ communications/public utilities industries, and 18.33 for the agriculture/forestry/ fishing industries. There are two kinds of health impacts associated with mining: immediate impacts such as accidents, and accumulative and progressive impacts such as stress and pneumoconiosis. Opencast mining is generally less hazardous than underground mining. Industrialised countries tend to use highly automated mining systems, which not only employ lesser number of workers (who have to be highly skilled), but also have the effect of drastically reducing the hazards to which they are exposed. Developing countries cannot afford such high-tech mining systems, so much so that mining accidents are a common occurrence in developing countries such as China and India.
