Healthy Mining: How Can Miners Stay Fit In Their Career?

Updated on November 7, 2018

The mining industry has become synonymous with bad health, safety risks and a bad reputation for injury and illness overall. With the days of underground coal mines filled with mine carts and rusty tracks behind us, the mining industry has a much stronger focus on the health and safety of every employee involved. However, given that mining can still be a physically demanding job despite the introduction of technologies such as the drilling rig and monitoring equipment. With that in mind, how do miners stay fit enough for the job? We’re exploring, below.

What Issues Can Mining Cause?

When it comes to the traditional form of mining, or in some cases even modern mining, there are two main concerns that employees typically suffer from – Issues with their eyes and issues with their lungs. While the risks associated with inhaling dust and ash may seem relatively self-explanatory, the true extent of the issues often goes unspoken about. Reduced oxygen flow due to the settling of microscopic dust can lead to chronic fatigue and fatal issues like heart failure and lung disease. For miners working underground, the lack of lighting and the need to adjust to dim, or poorly-lit mines could suffer from pain and even temporary blindness when coming up from below ground.

So, how do we reduce these chances and keep fit?

Improved Equipment

One of the biggest changes that mining has seen over the years is an improvement in the equipment available to the industry. From underground drill rigs that make the process much faster, to automated systems that reduce the need for miners to be underground working in dangerous environments, the sheer advancements in technology have made it simpler for those in the industry to not only become more efficient but to stay safe while they do so.

Health And Safety Guidelines

There are various different health and safety guidelines that any one company can implement, as well as an abundance of different regulatory bodies putting in their own too. Thankfully, these have been put into place for a reason and as a result, mining has become a much safer and more viable career for many. Providing that all guidelines are adhered to and all staff and companies are compliant, this can help keep each and every miner safer and much more healthy than in previous years.

A Healthy Diet

Of course, any active career requires a level of fitness and one way to produce exactly that, is with a healthy diet relevant to mining. Carbohydrates are a must for miners, simply to give enough energy to be able to perform any physical labour required. You can get carbohydrates from vegetables, some fruits, peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, oats, brown rice, potatoes and more, so there is truly plenty of choice. Additionally, protein will help repair any muscular damage or torn fibres that happen as a natural response to physical labour. Milk, eggs, cheese, yoghurt, fish, beef and more can all provide this.

However, while these two are arguably the most important part of a good miner’s diet, ensuring that it is entirely balanced is a must.

Exercise

As a miner, the physical demand from the job can leave most feeling like they just want to go to sleep after a long work day. However, partaking in some exercise outside of the job could actually work out for the best. From ensuring that you keep active to prevent any muscles seizing up, to stretching to cool down after a long day of ongoing movement, ensuring that you eat right and keep fit can help with handling the long workdays in between. Of course, it’s important to rest too, so make sure you find the balance that works for you.

Keeping healthy is a must for physically demanding jobs, particularly with the risks associated with the career. Hopefully, this has given you a starting point in producing your very own fitness plan – good luck.

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