Underground Mobile Machines for Mining (ISO 19296:2018)

Geological composition results from ceaseless processes like erosion, weathering, and plate tectonics that are powerful enough to shape the world, but stagnant enough to take years to progress. With heavy earth-moving machinery, however, the extraction and movement of raw materials can happen over a workday. For example, ore deposits take tens of thousands of years to form, after magma in a chamber crystallizes and undergoes specific levels of heat and pressure. When extracting these resources, thanks to mining machinery, the process is much shorter.

However, as these machines deliver a lot of power, the safety of their operators needs to be assured. An international standard, ISO 19296:2018 – Mining – Mobile Machines Working Underground – Machine Safety, helps with this.

As a type-C standard—meaning that it details safety guidelines for a particular group of machines and that those guidelines, when different from those stated in a type-A or type-B standard, take precedence for relevant machines—ISO 19296:2018 has a particular focus. It specifies safety guidelines for self-propelled mobile machines used in underground mining, dealing with hazards, hazardous situations, and hazardous events relevant to those machines when used under their intended conditions.

Specifically, the machines covered by ISO 19296:2018 include load haul dumps (LHDs), underground dumper haulers, underground dozers, underground utility/service/support machines, underground personnel transporters, continuous loaders, and shuttle cars.

For underground mobile machines, ISO 19296:2018 offers guidelines for various components that can present hazardous circumstances to the machine’s operators. E.g., for braking, the standard states that machines are to be fitted with service, secondary, and parking brakes (Annex A also addresses brake guidance for rubber tired underground mining machines); for moving parts that present the threatening possibility of crushing, shearing, or cutting, there are to be guards or protective devices designed; for hydraulic fuel tanks, the standard calls for design that protects against corrosion and mechanical damage.

However, these three examples are but a mere glimpse into the vast range of provisions that ISO 19296:2018 covers. The remainder can be found in the international standard document itself.

ISO 19296:2018 has several intended users. The most relevant stakeholders are considered to be machine manufacturers and health and safety bodies—this includes regulators, accident prevention organizations, and market surveillance, among other groups. Others affected by the level of underground mobile machine safety who might find use of this standard include employers of machine users, machine user employees, service providers, and, in the case of machinery intended for consumer use, consumers.

ISO 19296:2018, however, only includes provisions to address risks associated with mobility. Risks deriving from other functions, including scaling, concrete spraying, bolting, charging, and drilling attachments are not covered in the document. It is also assumed that the machine operators are well trained professionals, the machines are operated according to manufacturer instructions, and administrative controls are in place for preventing unauthorized entry of persons to the area where the machines are working when using this standard.

ISO 19296:2018 – Mining – Mobile Machines Working Underground – Machine Safety is available on the ANSI Webstore.