The mining industry faces significant challenges associated with the extraction of deeper ore deposits having increasingly more complex geotechnical and geological conditions. This inevitably led to much greater attention to personnel and equipment safety research and practice. In addition to this development, safety science itself has made remarkable progress in recent decades owing to leap advancements in engineering technologies, human physiology, data analysis and processing, as well as new business and organization structures. In this scope, mining, nuclear and aerospace industries allocate important resources and create initiatives to engage increasingly more safety science and research. In line with this, McGill University organized and hosted the 3rd International Symposium on Mine Safety Science and Engineering (ISMS 2016) in Montreal in collaboration with its partners, the University of Science and Technology Beijing, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), and Henan Polytechnic University. The symposium was held from August 13 to 19, 2106 with the theme “Operational and Environmental Mine Health and Safety Practice and Innovation”. 

Essential objectives of ISMS 2016 were to discuss safety-related problems; to create awareness, synergy and recognition to mine safety; and, to ensure knowledge transfer and mobilization amongst industry practitioners, mining engineers and academics. The authors of the 119 papers in this volume of proceedings come from 12 countries – a testimony to the true international flavour of this symposium. The volume is organized in three main sections: (i) Hardrock (Seismicity and rock burst, blasting, support design, pillar and backfill stability, ground control, subsidence and slope stability); (ii) Technology (equipment, occupational health and safety, organizations and human factors); and (iii) Coal (gas and ventilation, ground control and coal mining techniques).