Heat stress evaluation amongst underground mine workers

Heat illness is a spectrum of disorders due to environmental exposure to heat. There is a growing need to combat worker heat exposure in mines, as a function of increasing mine depth. Vale’s Thermal Management Program is designed to protect workers from the hazards of hot conditions, but in dynamic work environments, and among workers with varying personal factors, it’s difficult to implement heat stress programs accurately. This project will describe the physiological states of underground mine workers, to understand the level of heat strain sustained at Creighton Mine, owned by Vale, Canada. The intern will describe mine worker’s workloads and work tasks, and quantify worker’s personal perceptions of heat stress and recovery, during a typical shift. Information from this study will be used to make recommendations for Vale’s Thermal Management Program.

Faculty Supervisor:

Sandra Dorman;Alison Godwin

Student:

Partner:

Vale Canada

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Mining

University:

Laurentian University

Program: