Mining Rescue Packs & Equipment: Protecting Your Underground Workers

Self-contained self-rescuers (SCSR), for example, are used by workers in mining and tunneling operations. This type of mining rescue equipment provides users with oxygen when it becomes insufficient in the atmosphere or the breathing environment is hazardous.

There are two forms of rescue packs; respirators, which oxidise carbon monoxide, and oxygen sources, which comprise a chemical oxygen generator or a compressed oxygen cylinder.

Also known as emergency escape breathing devices (EEBD), mining rescue packs are essential to the safety of workers in the event of emergency incidents such as explosions, mine roof collapses or gas leaks.

Mining Hazards and Safety Advancements

Mining safety has advanced significantly in recent years, with developments in solutions such as early gas detections, air filters and refuge chambers; however rescue packs are still a necessary part of safety culture and the go to product when it comes to mine rescue equipment.

The primary cause of the release of toxic gases such as carbon monoxide in underground tunneling and mining operations, are explosions.

Following such an incident, it is imperative that workers have a safe oxygen source that can last for the duration that they are trapped underground with unsafe or insufficient air.

Carroll Technologies provides safety solutions to the mining industry worldwide, including a range of rescue pack equipment.

The W65 Self-Rescuer Respirator by MSA is a hands-free device that can provide the user with oxygen for up to four hours. It is simple to equip and contained in a hermetically sealed stainless steel case, which offers an in-service life of ten years.

Another certified manufacturer in Carroll Technologies’ distribution network is Ocenco, which specializes in reliable respiratory protection for the mining and tunneling industry, as well as for military, industrial and offshore applications.

Ocenco Respiratory Protection

Ocenco provides a range of rescue packs for the mining industry, namely the M-20 SCR, the M-20.3 CCER MINING, the EBA 6.5 SCR and the EBA-75 CCER.

The M-20 SCR is a belt-wearable SCSR designed for mining and tunneling operations. It is field proven and simple to use, and can be equipped in less than ten seconds to ensure that the user does not go without safe oxygen.

Ocenco’s M-20.3 closed-circuit escape respirator (CCER) is a compressed oxygen delivery system that automatically activates when removed from its case, which is clear to enable visual assessment of operational readiness.

Users can inhale from the device immediately after it is equipped, providing up to 100 liters of oxygen flow during high work rates.

The self-contained EBA 6.5 is a closed circuit breathing system that uses compressed oxygen instead of generating oxygen from chemicals.

This piece of apparatus also has a clear case for visual inspection and a demand regulator for immediate inhalation. The oxygen valve can be manually adjusted and provides the user with up to eight hours of respiratory protection.

The EBA-75 is a CCER. It also comprises a clear case, immediate inhalation properties and 100 liters of oxygen flow. It offers a user-at-rest procedure than provides trapped miners with respiratory protection for up to 6.5 hours.

Carroll Technologies distributes Ocenco products and a whole host of other mining rescue equipment across North America, including 800 mining and tunneling sites across the continent.