Book excerpt: From its origins in the malachite mines of ancient Egypt, mining has grown to become a global industry which employs many hundreds of thousands of people. Today, the mining industry makes use of various types of complex and sophisticated equipment, for which reliability, maintainability and safety has become an important issue. Mining Equipment Reliability, Maintainability and Safety is the first book to cover these three topics in a single volume. Mining Equipment Reliability, Maintainability and Safety will be useful to a range of individuals from administrators and engineering professionals working in the mining industry to students, researchers and instructors in mining engineering, as well as design engineers and safety professionals. All topics covered in the book are treated in such a manner that the reader requires no previous knowledge to understand the contents. Examples, solutions and test problems are also included to aid reader comprehension.