Transport injuries in small coal mines: An exploratory analysis

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · American Journal of Industrial Medicine; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.4700230303· OSTI ID:6377336

Hunting, K L; Weeks, J L ^[1]

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1. George Washington Univ. Medical Center, Washington, DC (United States)

Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) surveillance data were analyzed to elucidate mine characteristics or injury characteristics that distinguished mines with high rates of transport-related injuries from mines with lower transport injury rates. The results showed that most high-rate mines are small, high-rate mines have a disproportionate number of injuries involving young and less experienced workers, and injuries in high-rate mines are proportionally more severe. Further analyses of the MSHA injury data showed that smaller mines have a greater share of fatal and permanently disabling injuries, whereas larger mines have a greater share of injuries involving no lost time. Based on these results, we explored two explanations for the small mine injury risk: (1) a suggestion that differences in injury reporting between large and small mines may contribute to an apparent small mine injury risk, and (2) identification of factors contributing to a true difference in transport-related injury risk between small and large mines. Whereas it was true that most high injury rate mines were small, most small mines were actually zero-rate, having reported employment but no injuries to MSHA. An analysis employing binomial probability theory showed that a substantial proportion of small mines reported zero injuries when it was statistically probable that injuries would have occurred. This indicated that small mines may underreport injuries relative to larger mines. The possibility that reporting bias affected the associations found in this study was explored by eliminating the least severe injuries from the data set and evaluating changes in associations. This adjustment for reporting bias did not change previously observed relationships. Finally, MSHA injury data were analyzed in concert with mining population data collected by the Bureau of Mines. The results indicated a disproportionately high risk of injury among workers in their first year at a mine.

• OSTI ID: 6377336
• Journal Information: American Journal of Industrial Medicine; (United States), Journal Name: American Journal of Industrial Medicine; (United States) Vol. 23:3; ISSN AJIMD8; ISSN 0271-3586
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
012000 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Mining
016000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Health & Safety
ACCIDENTS
ANIMALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
COAL MINERS
COAL MINES
COAL MINING
ENERGY SOURCES
EPIDEMIOLOGY
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
INJURIES
MAMMALS
MAN
MATERIALS
MINERS
MINES
MINING
PERSONNEL
PRIMATES
RISK ASSESSMENT
SAFETY
SIZE
TIME DEPENDENCE
TRANSPORT
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
VERTEBRATES