Review of electrostatic hazards in hard coal mining

Abstract

Electrostatic hazards are considered a category of technical hazards occurring in hard coal mining. These hazards are related to the generation of excess electric charges forming as a result of most technological processes. Products manufactured from plastics that are classified as non-antistatic materials pose the greatest hazard. The article discusses the Polish and European legal regulations concerning the requirements for materials regarding their antistatic properties. It also presents the results of studies conducted at GIG concerning the systematization of the antistatic processing of plastics. Furthermore, the article proves that the procedure of applying antistatic properties to plastics is neither easy nor homogeneous. The introduced antistatic processing systematics (i.e., the identification of various antistatic processing realization methods) is meant to make both the manufacturers and customers aware of the various (often undesired) properties of modified plastics.