Rock-related accidents have reduced significantly in recent decades, due in large part to incremental improvements in rock engineering practice.
According to William Joughin, chairman of SRK Consulting and himself a leading rock engineering expert, the company’s contribution in this field has included assisting mines with reviews of safety practices, as well as providing safe rock engineering designs and detailed seismic hazard analysis.
Fall of ground (FOG) is the leading cause of fatalities in the sector, making up a third of mining fatalities in 2019, according to the Minerals Council South Africa. The organisation has reported recently that total FOG injuries have dropped from 1,121 in 2003 to 379 in 2019, while FOG fatalities are down from 131 to 20 over this period.
