Mental health in mine workers: a literature review

Abstract

The Mining environment is hazardous for worker's health. It can affect the mental health, triggering symptoms and diseases, such as anxiety, job stress, depression, sleep disorders, mental fatigue and other. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the scientific literature about the mental health in mine workers and to summarize the findings. The method used was Scoping review. The principal outcomes were the following: evidence in the last 12 years in the topic was focused in four themes 1) Psychological problems & personal factors (38.2%); 2) Psychosocial problems & health related factor (23.6%); 3) Well-being (21.1%) and 4) Physical problems & organization factors (17.1%). Several affections, symptoms, characteristics or disorders were inquired about mine worker's mental health, such as job strain, unsafety experiences, poor quality of sleep, non-subjective well-being, job unsatisfaction, social-relations conflict, risk of accidents and injuries, MSDs, substance abuse, dangerous working conditions and demanding job organization, and so on. For those factors, Mining could expose to serious mental health problems to a part of their workers. It's necessary to deepen the elaboration of international policies and carry out more scientific research and suggestions to make programs on the topic.

How Do COVID-19 Risk, Life-Safety Risk, Job Insecurity, and Work–Family Conflict Affect Miner Performance? Health-Anxiety and Job-Anxiety Perspectives

“…Miners must travel hundreds to thousands of meters underground to work in harsh conditions [ 4 ]. Occupational and equipment factors cause various occupational injuries to miners, such as respiratory diseases, bone diseases, and heart diseases, which not only cause physical pain to miners but also severely affect their psychological health [ 5 ]. To prevent the spread of the virus, many coal mines have taken several measures, such as closed management and non-stop production, to ensure the supply of coal in a stable and orderly manner.…”

“…Therefore, miners are vulnerable to internal- and external-resource losses during crisis events, such as that brought about by COVID-19 [ 18 ]. The risks posed by COVID-19 result in a significant loss of resources (i.e., health, working conditions, finances, and family), which may affect miners’ mental health [ 5 ]. Various adverse psychological factors also tend to increase anxiety caused by occupational and physical stress, ultimately affecting miners’ productive performance [ 19 ].…”

“…In the previous literature on miners, many studies examined the effects of numerous occupational characteristics on the psychological issues and job performance of miners [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. In contrast, few studies have been conducted on miners in the context of public-health-crisis events.…”

Women’s mood at high altitude. sexual dimorphism in hypoxic stress modulation by the tryptophan–melatonin axis

“…Memory consolidation reduced by inadequate REM sleep predisposes one to anxiety and depression. Affective disorders impair the safety and productivity at work ( Matamala Pizarro and Aguayo Fuenzalida, 2021 ). The main topics discussed here are potential HA effects on women’s moods related to sexual dimorphism in 5-HT availability, energy metabolism, thermoregulation, and sleep-related neurocircuitry repair.…”

Presenting a Model for Enhancing Psychological Well-being and Reducing Stress among Mine Workers in the Workplace

“…Some jobs are more at risk of mental health problems than others. Mines have been identified as one of the most dangerous environments for work activities (Pizarro & Fuenzalida, 2021). Working in mines is defined as a heavy-duty activity with dangerous conditions and strict organizational systems such as long distances from workers' residences, demanding shift schedules, and job pressure associated with compliance with business goals.…”