REVIEW OF THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF DUST IN BRITISH COAL MINES.

The past two decades have seen tremendous upsurges in coal production with the inevitable increase in dust produced. There has also been greater stress on the importance of the environment, particularly from the ventilation and dust aspects. The problems arising from penumoconiosis are high in terms of human suffering and financial costs, and are proving that it is a most intractable disease. This paper outlines some of the causes and effects of the disease, together with respirable dust standards which are applied to minimize the risk. Methods of dust control techniques, the importance of pre-planning, the importance of ventilation, the wide use of water externally, both with machines and as a pre-wetting method before coal extraction, are discussed.