Product Spotlight: Blast Exclusion Zone
Product Spotlight: Blast Exclusion Zone
Developing and adopting a site security plan for blasting operations is a mandatory practice for all operations. Mines and quarries are extremely dynamic environments, with change occurring daily. As seasons change, sites open up, and structures are built surrounding a mine or quarry, having an updated site security plan is critical. A vital component of any site secrity plan is maintaining a “crow's nest” for the BIC (blaster in charge) to safely put eyes on the site and the blast (if possible). Alongside a crow's nest, identifying exclusion zones for personnel and equipment is also needed. Safety is the name of the game when it comes to explosives, and Strayos is here to help.
Strayos has a powerful tool for improving blast safety on site: The Blast Exclusion Zone.
This tool gives users a calculated distance from a planned blast to inform personnel and equipment removal before blasting operations. Flyrock damage to structures and equipment can be costly; however, it does not compare to personnel injury or loss. Blasting comes with many risks, this tool makes reporting blast zones easy for all users, and helps reduce some of those risks.
The Blast Exclusion Zone Tool for Safer Blasting Operations
The Blast Exclusion Zone can be found in the Blast Prediction module within Strayos.
To use the Blast Exclusion Zone tool, you must first design a blast on a 3D model, with loading and timing data entered. We use the geolocated drill holes, design loads, and initiation times to calculate the exclusion zones. For this calculation, we use the Richard and Moore empirical model as shown below:
Once the drill design is complete, users can navigate to the Blast Exclusion Zone tool. They will first be prompted to enter an Empirical Constant. This is a geological constant that represents the competency and hardness of the rock being blasted. Next, users can select their settings for calculating distances based on face holes and non-face holes. The settings shown below are toggled on by default.
Lastly, an Equipment and Personnel Safety Factor can be entered for the exclusion zone. The distances will be calculated according to the user's inputs.
Strayos automatically produces a Blast Exclusion Zone report, which can be easily shared amongst teams and site personnel for when its time to blast. We encourage all users to utilize this important safety tool to enhance their site security plans.
For more information, please reach out to our solutions team at info@strayos.com.
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