Work process and hazard analysis in small-scale gold mining in Northern Philippines

ABSTRACT

Introduction@#Small-scale mining (SSM) is mining by individuals, groups, families, or cooperatives with minimal or no mechanization, often in the market's informal (illegal) sector. According to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in the Philippines, the gross production value of small-scale mining as of the 1st to 3rd quarter of 2020 was 0.5 billion pesos (1.05 billion USD). @*Objectives@#This study investigated the work process in small-scale mining in the northern part of the Philippines. It documented the occupational hazards that small-scale gold miners are exposed to in each of the work processes. @*Methods@#The target population is a community in the northern Philippines where the majority of the males are engaged in small-scale gold mining. This qualitative study used work observation and hazards analysis tools to investigate small-scale miners' work processes and hazard exposures. @*Results@#The most widely employed mining technique in the target community is dog-hole mining consisting of several sub-processes tunneling, ball milling, and gravity concentration, cyanide leaching, and smelting. The occupational hazards identified were noise exposure from the dynamite blast, temperature extremes, and exposure to dust from dynamite blasting. The small-scale miners were subjected to prolonged crouching and bending, handling tools, and carrying heavy sacks filled with mineral ores. The miners resorted to improvised protective equipment such as wearing sleeveless shirts and drinking water for temperature extremes, distancing themselves from the mining blasts during dynamite blasting, and intermittently used carts with manual handling to transport ores packed in sacks. In the ball milling and gravity concentration process, machine-related accidents such as cuts from the crusher were observed. In cyanide leaching, which uses massive amounts of cyanide, the most prevalent hazards were heat, dust, and chemicals such as cyanide fumes. The risks included smoke from burning ore and coal and exposure to borax and nitric acid fumes in the smelting process. @*Conclusion@#This study documented the work process in small-scale gold mining and the hazard exposures in this type of informal industry. It is suggested that the local and national governments implement intervention programs for occupational health and safety measures, and social security nets are provided for the small-scale miners in Itogon, Benguet.