Seismic exclusions and re-entry from a risk perspective

Abstract

Exposure to seismic hazard in mines is controlled through various evacuation, exclusion and re-entry procedures. The aim of exposure management procedures is to tactically reduce the safety risk by removing personnel from work areas during periods of elevated seismic hazard. Given that risk assessment is based on exposure, the design of exposure management procedures must also be risk-based. In practice, the decision to re-enter a workplace after an exclusion is generally only made based on an assessment of the seismic hazard, often using previously defined levels of tolerable seismic activity rates. The definition of tolerable seismic hazard, in the context of re-entry, is seldom quantitatively assessed based on risk. In order to move towards a comprehensive seismic risk management strategy, design methodologies must be able to quantify the impact of different exclusion and re-entry practices on risk. The appropriate reentry practice can then be selected given the defined risk-based design acceptance criteria. There is still a long way to go before the risk-based design framework for exposure management procedures is complete. This paper reviews the current state of design of exposure management controls in the context of risk and discusses several important areas for further research.