Toward safer underground coal mines
The results of a study to investigate the safety of underground coal mines in the US are presented. Two major questions are addressed: (1) Why are some underground coal mines safer than others; and (2) what can be done to make US underground coal mines safer. Data were obtained on every disabling injury that was reported to have occurred in a US underground coal mine during the three-year period 1978-80; such injuries numbered nearly 40,000, including fatalities. These data were analyzed for correlations between injury rates by mine and company and such factors as type of accident, mine size, seam thickness, union status, productivity, geographical location (by state), and age of miners. Results showed that there are large and persistent differences between the injury rates of the major companies that control underground coal mines in the United States. It was also determined that there is a strong correlation between disabling injuries and the age of miners - younger miners have a higher injury rate. We also found a strong correlation between mine size and fatal injuries - smaller mines have a higher fatality rate. To improve safety, there must be (1) a greater commitment to safety on the part of mine company managements, (2) a higher degree of cooperation between management and labor in the implementation of safety, and (3) better education of employees and managers in the techniques of safety. The federal and state governments can both help by: (1) continued enforcement of laws governing safety by federal and state governments, (2) an augmentation by MSHA of the advisory services available to the industry, and (3) a substantial increase in the support of mining education (at universities and technical schools) by state governments.
- Research Organization:
- National Research Council, Washington, DC (USA). Committee on Underground Coal Mine Safety
- OSTI ID:
- 6547165
- Report Number(s):
- NP-3901154; ON: DE83901154
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Toward safer underground coal mines
Annual report of the Secretary of Labor under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, fiscal year 1980. Volume 1