Blasting mat

[3] The amount of fly rock can be reduced by proper drilling in the bedrock for the explosives, but in practice it is hard to avoid.

[10] Both mats and blankets are designed to let air and gasses from the explosion pass through the cover and retain fragments.

[9] Knowledge of the proper use of blasting mats is required in order to obtain a blaster's certificate issued by organizations such as the WorkSafeBC.

[14][15][16] Blasting mats made from rope woven on wires were first used during the construction of the IRT Third Avenue Line in New York City in the early 1900s.

[20] When charges are used to dig foxholes, an improvised blasting mat made from whole tires tied together with rope to reduce noise and fly rock, is recommended in the A Soldiers Handbook (United States).

[22] Such an incident occurred in August 2015, in Cape Ray, Newfoundland and Labrador when a 7 kg (15 lb) fly rock travelled about 250 m (820 ft) from the blast site and crashed through the kitchen ceiling of a nearby house.

[1] Although designed to prevent accidents, as blasting mats weigh between 3,000 and 6,000 lb (1,400 and 2,700 kg), they have also caused injuries when falling on workers on construction sites.