Working below ground

PERSONAL PROTECTION wear thick working gloves and safety glasses all persons who work below ground and on designated sites on the mine surface should be provided with suitable protective helmets an approved dust respirator and a miners safety lamp are also required. 

It is necessary for the Staff of the Geotechnics Division of the Building Research Station in some of their in situ soil investigations to work below ground in boreholes 1 m in diameter up to 24 m deep. It is therefore vital that the atmosphere in the borehole supports and continues to support human life. For this reason all holes are ventilated from the surface and frequent gas checks are made on the borehole atmosphere before and during the time a person is in the hole. 

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 1989 covers virtually all substances hazardous to health. Only asbestos, lead, materials producing ionizing radiation and substances below ground in mines (which all have their own legislation) are excluded. The Regulations set out measures that employers must implement. Failure to comply with COSHH, in addition to exposing employees and others to risk, constitutes an offence and is subject to penalties under the Health and Safety at Work Act, etc. 1974. 

An alternative method of assessing the hazards of a specific work task may be as follows. The work task envisaged, to be carried out by a contractor, is that of connecting an additional outlet to fuel oil tanks situated within an oil tank room, which is located below ground level. 

Fracturing is a way to crack rock or very dense soil, like clay, below ground. It is not necessarily a cleanup method in itself. Rather, fracturing is used to break up the ground to help other cleanup methods work better. The cracks, which are called fractures, create paths through which harmful chemicals can be removed or destroyed.1746 84... 

Jakobsen and Rosendahl (1990) observed 20% of plant carbon to be allocated below ground for nonmycorrhizal cucumber plants and 44% for those with mycorrhizal associations. In both cases, about half of this was respired. Working with subtropical Citrus species, Peng et al. (1993) suggested that root respiration rates were about 35% higher for mycorrhizal than for nonmycorrhizal roots. 

Where underground mining is employed, the workings seldom extend to more than 120 ft below ground, the clay being hauled directly to the surface by mechanical excavator. No horizontal headings radiate from the central shaft, as they do in coal mining. 

Workrooms below ground level (s. 69) present special hazards and an inspector may restrict the work that is carried out there. 

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