2000 Blasting in the New Millennium - The Blasting Log An Essential Witness of Professional Blasting Part II

PHYSICAL BLAST DATA Pattern Description All measurements related to the description of the physical blast pattern must be made with the mind-set that it has to tell a powerful factual story enabling a future accurate reconstruction of the event. A case has never been lost because too much factual information was available to assist investigators. An accurate physical description of the pattern must be provided based on the blaster’s observations of the pattern actually loaded. The blaster must measure the pattern size, depth, face heights, etc., recording only accurate results. All too often, a blaster records simple pattern sizes and information relayed to him or her from the driller, or from a phone call into the office the night before for powder pre-load inventory purposes. If a pattern was actually measured on the job site by the blaster to be 8.5 x 9.5’, it may, in fact, originally have been ordered at 9’x9’, 8’x9’, or 9’x l0’. In a claim situation, particularly flyrock, recording a “generalization” of what was loaded could result in an interpretation of a blaster’s negligence due to “not knowing or caring” what the actual pattern was, and not loading appropriately for conditions. It is important to remember that other documentation exists such as a drill log from a contract driller or mine records that may provide a different interpretation of the loaded pattern.