Effects of occupational noise on the health and safety of workers: A spatial modeling

The mining industry and its subsidiaries in the field of exploitation of the main resources have led the industry to have not only new and sophisticated technology, but also improvements in equipment and machinery in expansions of benefit plants. Furthermore, the advance of mechanization in open pit and underground mines has also led to a notable increase in noise generating sources and, as a consequence, an increase in the level of risk of occupational exposure of workers who carry out their activities, mainly in underground works and processing plants. This situation has led many of the companies dedicated to mining to have their own committee, both safety and health, made up of representatives of the workers and the employer. These committees provide optimal conditions to provide sufficient information about the risks that workers run in some work situations, and they also develop mechanisms to safeguard both the health and life of workers, who are mainly subjected to contamination related to noise, as a consequence of the various mining activities, due to the use of new and outstanding technologies that are currently present. Some of these activities cause the loss of abilities that affect their health, especially at the hearing level, which is one of the most serious problems.
Currently, most companies have sophisticated equipment and machinery that have made industrial work easier; However, this has brought serious inconveniences, since the machinery generates much more noise than normal, exposing its workers to damage, often irreversible. These machinery in an urban environment can also pollute, generating greater problems than those already existing, which is addressed in this work.