User:ThatRandomBudgie
Health and Safety Codes
[edit]Legal attention to health and safety in mining began in the late 19th century with general safety codes. Since then, it has become a widespread practice across the world to have specific, detailed mine safety regulations. This is important because working in the mining field presents many dangers to workers and having safety codes minimizes potential workplace accidents.
Mining engineers, as employees of the mines, have to follow these safety codes in their work. Mine safety engineers, a subset of mining engineers, specifically with creating and implementing these safety regulations. They work with the documentation and analysis of mining disasters to ensure that, when possible, the same mistakes are not repeated twice.
India
[edit]A large portion of India’s mining industry is regulated by the Mines act of 1952 and the Mine Rules of 1955.[1] These codes outline all of the operational, health and safety standards that all mines must follow. Some subsections have been created as well, such as the Coal Mine Regulation of 2017 which details procedures specific to coal mines. This enforcement of these codes is managed by the Directorate-General of Mines Safety (DGMS) under the Union Ministry of Labour & Employment (MOL&E). Since these outlines are laws, they can also have legal consequences such as fines, mining license revocation, and imprisonment. [2] Mining engineers also work closely to ensure that these codes are followed on a smaller scale.
Mines Act of 1952
[edit]The Mines Act of 1952 outlines the proper procedure for the operation of mines and implements their health and safety standards. One example of this is the implementation of a mandatory day of rest for workers, which prevents workers from working more than six days out of a week. An example of a safety standard is the requirement for proper first aid kit components for the kits that should be present in every mine.
This act also notes the beginning of the practice of documenting health and safety in incidents in mines. Since these incidents have started being recorded, the number of accidents in coal mines has consistently dropped.[3] The main categories currently being reported on are fatalities and serious accidents, uncategorized by type or cause of accident. Mining engineers work on the reporting of these incidents and seek to create regulations that will prevent future incidents from occurring.
Mine Rules of 1955
[edit]This act clarifies the legal structure and consequences of health and safety regulation of mines in India. It defines what reports are needed for and from employees as well as what documentation should be taken in mines. This can include medical records, inspection documents, and mining licensure.
The act also outlines welfare and benefits that should be given to all employees working in the mines. This includes the need for welfare management staff in all mines that employ more than 500 employees. [4] Mining engineers also receive these benefits.
Australia
[edit]Legislation on the inspection and safety of mines in Australia can be dated back to the early 1900s with the Mine and Works Inspection Act of 1920 from South Australia. There is also a large increase in legislation starting around 1999 and continuing into the present day throughout the rest of the states and territories. [5]
Most of the states and territories of Australia also follow the WHS, a largely uniform code that details health and safety in the workplace. The WHS (Work Health and Safety) of mines in Australia is overseen by states and territories rather than the central government, so there can be minor discrepancies between each state or territory’s code. [5] Beyond this, many of the states and territories have also enforced additional regulations on mines specifically in their legislation.
Mining engineers in Australia, like in other countries, closely monitor and create accident reports. Being the country with the 3rd largest total of coal reserves in the world, there is a large subsection of mining engineers who work specifically with coal mines and coal mine-related disasters. (6)
| State/Territory | Mining Guidelines |
|---|---|
| New South Wales | Work Health and Safety Act 2011
Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Act 2013 Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Act 2022 |
| Victoria | Chapter 5.3 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 |
| Queensland | Work Health and Safety Act 2011
Work Heath and Safety Regulation 2011 Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Regulation 2017 Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 Coal Mining Safety and Health Regulation 2017 |
| Western Australia | Work health and Safety Act 2020
Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022 Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulations 2022 |
| South Australia | Work Health and Safety Act 2012
Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 Mines and Works Inspections Act 1920 Mines and Works Inspections Regulations 2013 |
| Tasmania | Work Health and Safety Act 2012
Work Health and Safety Regulations 2022 Mines Work Health and Safety (Supplementary Requirements) Act 2012 Mines Work Health and Safety (Supplementary Requirements) Regulations 2022 |
| Australian Capital Territory | Work Health and Safety Act 2011
Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 |
| Northern Territory | Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011
Chapter 10 (Mines) of the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations 2011 |
Sources from Safe Work Australia[5]
Mining Engineer Statistics and Salary
[edit]Similar to other engineering groupings, mining engineers are paid a relatively high salary compared to other fields. The field is relatively stable to enter, with job openings being readily available and projected growth fitting the industry’s needs. Mining engineers are also paid a relatively high salary compared to other types of engineering.
Job Growth
As a general trend, salaries of mining engineers have been increasing throughout the world. The job is estimated to grow between 2-5% depending on the source, which is slower than most jobs.[6][7] Although the job growth is small compared to the average growth rate of 14%, there are still many available job openings in the mining industry. This is due to the relatively low number of graduates, and the constant flow of people retiring from the workforce.
Job Stability
Mining engineering has extremely high job stability relative to other career paths. Since many industries require mined materials to function, there will always be a need to mine for them. However, there are concerns about a workforce shortage caused by many people in the mining industry retiring within the next 10 years. With the current predicted number of employees entering the field, there will not be enough to replace those who are retiring as well as fill the need for new employees from industry growth. [8]
Salary
Mining engineer salaries have been rising globally, with engineers in the United States, Canada, and Australia making the highest earnings relatively.[7] Mining engineers are among the highest-paid engineer grouping, typically placing in the top 10 of most charts. This can partially be attributed to petroleum engineering, a subset of mining engineering, which is particularly lucrative due to high market demand for petroleum.[9][10]
| Country | Average Salary |
|---|---|
| United States | $ 121,945 |
| Canada | $ 125,934 |
| Bahamas | $ 86,212 |
| Bulgaria | лв 49,124 |
| China | ¥ 360,032 |
| Czech Republic | Kč 1,063,590 |
| Ecuador | $ 37,401 |
| France | € 78,633 |
| Germany | € 94,959 |
| Hong Kong SAR | $ 708,776 |
Results come from the Economic Research Institute[11]
 | This user is a student editor in Virginia_Tech/Technical_and_Professional_Writing_(Spring). |
- ^ "Ministry of Coal, Government of India". coal.gov.in. Archived from the original on 2025-04-05. Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "The Mines Act, 1952" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Annual Indian Mines Safety Report 2021" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "The Mines Rules, 1955" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c "Mining Engineering Safety".
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help); no-break space character in|url=at position 80 (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Mining and Geological Engineers". Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ a b Institute, ERI Economic Research. "Mining Engineer Salaries by Country | Salary Calculator by Country - SalaryExpert". www.salaryexpert.com. Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "Workforce Trends in the U.S. Mining Industry". Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration. Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "Top 10 Highest Paying Engineering Jobs in India - CIT - Cambridge Institute of Technology | Cambrian". CIT - Cambridge Institute of Technology | Cambrian. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "Engineering Salary Statistics". Michigan Technological University. Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "Mining Engineer compensation | ERI". www.erieri.com. Retrieved 2025-05-03.