A thorough understanding of geological and geotechnical conditions is vital before planning any rock work. Employers must ensure that rock properties—such as stability, composition, and mechanical behaviour—are examined early in the process. While the employer may carry out this work, responsibility also lie with planners and designers at the pre-construction phase.

Proper assessment of rock quality requires deep technical expertise. The more data and practical experience available, the more effectively risks can be prevented. These assessments should be incorporated into the project´s overall planning and timeline to allow for adequate preparation.

Risk assessment does not end once work begins. Continuous monitoring of rock quality and behaviour may be required throughout the excavation process. Where employers are unable to manage this directly, responsibility may shift to the site health and safety coordinator or Bas-U, who must ensure that time and resources are allocated for these checks.

In underground operations, stress analyses of the rock mass should also be conducted. The deeper the excavation, the greater the rock stress – and the more critical it becomes to identify appropriate safety measures.

Employers must provide workers with reliable communication tools to maintain contact throughout their shifts, particularly underground. Planning for this should occur early and must cover both technical and practical aspects.

Workers must be able to

• send and receive emergency alerts in the event of explosions or fire
• receive timely updates affecting their safety, including:
  • the time and location of blasting activities
  • hazard zones
  • restricted or closed-off areas
  • procedures in case of technical issues
  • evacuation routes and instructions

Regular contact with supervisors or colleagues during breaks is generally sufficient. However, in high-risk environments, more frequent or direct contact may be necessary. If individual employers cannot ensure this, the responsibility may fall to the site health and safety coordinator or Bas-U.

Employers must ensure that all workers can evacuate safely in the event of an incident. Safety measures include

• an evacuation alarm at every site
• two independent safe escape routes for all underground work
• adequate plans and equipment to ensure trapped personnel can be rescued safely.

Access roads and work surfaces are typically constructed from rock material. These routes degrade rapidly under heavy vehicle use, increasing the risk of dust exposure and uneven surfaces. Employers must factor this into ongoing site maintenance to prevent accidents and maintain a safe working environment.

Coordinating the planning and maintenance of roadways is essential, particularly in environments where multiple operators share access. Well-maintained roads not only improve efficiency but also reduce safety risks for all site personnel.

Key measures for safe and efficient roads

Employers and site coordinators should consider the following actions:

• Assign responsibility for inspecting and maintaining road surfaces, clearly outlining who does what and how often.
• Maintain road surfaces to a high standard—keeping them smooth helps reduce vibration-related strain and fatigue for vehicle operators.
• Incorporate key design features such as turning areas, passing bays, and dedicated pedestrian routes during the initial planning and construction phases.
• Plan temporary access routes early, for example to allow drilling rigs safe passage to work zones.
• Install appropriate barriers to prevent falls into shafts, pits, or ditches. Suitable safety structures include concrete supports, protective railings, barrier elements, or substantial boulders.

To ensure traffic safety in rock and mining environments, draw up and enforce comprehensive traffic regulations, including:

• enforce site and location specific speed limits
• implement pedestrian-vehicle interaction rules, such as clearly marked walkways, restrictions on pedestrian access in high traffic areas
• apply rules for remote controlled machinery, including isolation zones and clear signage
• set standards for visibility and lighting
• define safe parking procedures, especially underground or near shared areas such as workshops and rest facilities.

Parking rules should aim to minimise fire load and prevent obstruction of evacuation routes. These may include:

• minimum distances between parked vehicles
• restrictions on engine idling
• no blocking of evacuation routes
• rules for parking on steep gradients
• clear procedures for rapid vehicle departure in emergencies.

Tipping material directly onto slopes or into shafts carries significant risk. Employers must:

• install physical barriers at tipping edges to prevent vehicles from reversing too close
• ensure adequate lighting around tipping zones
• consider safer tipping methods—such as depositing material at a distance from the edge, with a secondary machine pushing it over—where possible.

Maintaining good air quality underground is critical. Ventilation systems must deliver clean air from surface level to all active work areas, especially in confined spaces such as tunnels and shafts.

Best practices include:

• The ventilation must be planned and designed so that it functions according to the relevant rock space and the work to be carried out.
• Planning ventilation based on expected pollutants—such as radon, exhaust gases, blasting fumes, and silica dust.
• Locating fresh-air ducts as close to the active rock face as practical.
• Installing indicators to confirm fan systems are operational.
• Preheating intake air in winter to prevent freezing in the ventilation system.

The concentration of airborne contaminants must remain well below occupational exposure limits. Employers should:

• establish daily procedures for checking air quality
• ensure ventilation ducts are undamaged and positioned no more than 50 metres from the rock face
• if possible, clean fresh-air tunnels and shafts regularly
• take periodic measurements to verify ventilation effectiveness
• suppress dust by watering blasted or crushed rock during loading and transport.

Above-ground considerations

In cold weather, freezing of rock material can pose challenges, particularly during handling and transport. In crushing operations—where multiple processes often occur simultaneously—dust control should be implemented as close to the source as possible.
Fore detailed legal requirements refer to the Swedish Work Environment Authority's provisions and general guidelines.