The course deals with the issues related to the safety of work in mining activities. The main risks related to mining exploitation are analyzed, in order to be able to counteract them with a correct planning of the activities.

The course aims to provide students with information on the main causes of accidents or damage to the health of workers in quarries and mines and on the operational techniques aimed to reduce the risk, in order to be able to plan operations and activities in mining in a correct and safe way.

The fundamentals of applied geology, geomechanics, structural mechanics, excavation engineering and risk analysis are required.

1. General information on safety issues in quarries and mines 2. The organization of activities in quarries and mines; main sources of risk for workers 3. International legislation on safety in the mining sector 4. Analysis of occupational risks in mining; causes of accidents and strategies for the containment of accidents 5. Risk of accidents and damage to the health of workers resulting from dust, asbestos, radiation and electromagnetic pollution, from the radioactivity of rock formations 6. Risks related to poor lighting of underground environments 7. Risks linked to the particular conditions of the microclimate of underground spaces 8. Risks related to noise produced by mining machines and plants 9. Risks due to the fall or slipping of rock blocks from the profile of the underground voids; risks of collapse of the excavation face or of the heaps of the excavated material; the instability of mining landfills; the collapse due to buckling of support struts in underground cavities 10. Risks linked to the early activation of the mine blasting circuit, to the throwing of the shootted down material, to the presence of unexploded sticks after blasting 11. Risks related to the explosion of the mine atmosphere in the presence of inflammatory gas and explosive dust; risks of fires in confined environments.

The exercises will cover three different environments typical of mining activities: an open pit, an underground mine, an external site at the processing area of the extracted material. For each of them the risks will be analyzed and the procedures for their containment defined. The exercises are carried out by the students in groups and are assisted by the teachers. For each of them a summary report of the activity carried out is drawn up; it is then presented and discussed during the oral examination.

a) Slide presentations and other documentary material used for lessons; b) indicated in-depth texts on each topic, available in the DIATI-Politecnico di Torino library or freely on Internet.

Modalità di esame: Prova scritta (in aula); Prova orale obbligatoria; Elaborato scritto prodotto in gruppo;

Exam: Written test; Compulsory oral exam; Group essay;

... The exam is in the written form (duration 1.5 hours). The successive oral exam consists of the presentation and discussion of the reports related to exercises carried out by the groups during the course and the presentation of an in-depth report on a specific theme of the program, also carried out in groups. The vote will be defined considering the result of the written exam (weight 65%), the evaluation of the exercises reports and their presentation and discussion (weight 25%) and the evaluation of the in-depth report and its presentation (weight 10%).

Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.

Modalità di esame: Prova orale obbligatoria;

The exam is oral and requires answers to questions asked on the topics of the course.

Modalità di esame: Prova orale obbligatoria;

The exam is oral and requires answers to questions asked on the topics of the course.