Underground Mine Injury

I recall the case of a miner who was working in an underground area where there was no illumination. The only source of light was from his cap lamp. The walking surface was full of mud and covered with a layer of muddy water. One day, while walking down this drift, he stepped into an 18-inch hole hidden by the muddy water, twisted his ankle, and fell to the ground in pain. Despite his immense pain, he continued to work for the next 6 hours until he collapsed in agony and called for help. 

Once on the surface, he was treated at the medical center, where his expensive mining boot had to be cut off with a pair of tin snips because his ankle was so badly swollen. When interviewed it became apparent that he and his crew would have received the 500 monthly safety bonus if all members of the crew were injury-free 

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There is fear of ridicule, which among workers is very prominent and very real. In the underground mining fraternity this is referred to as mining macho syndrome, and tough miners are reluctant to report their injuries, as they have to go to the first aid station or hospital for treatment. This creates embarrassment, stress, and fear of being singled out. 

Sanders, M.S. and Shaw, B.E. (1987). Research to Determine the Frequency and Cause of Injury Accidents in Underground Mining. Proceedings of the Human Factors Society, 31st Annual Meeting New York, 19-23.10.87. Vol. 2, 926-30. Santa Monica, Human Factors Society. 

The cause of the underground coal mine gas explosion, one is electric leakage caused sparks gas explosion (Chen et al. 2010). Second is human body electrostatic sparks caused by gas explosion. Spark damage is the most common form of coal mine electric injury. Therefore in coal mine safety in production, we should seriously consider workers clothing, avoid clothing friction caused by static electricity, and reduce the gas explosion accidents. 

Abay Asfaw, Christopher Mark Regina Pana-Cryan. 2013. Profitability and occupational injuries in U.S. underground coal mines. Accident Analysis and Prevention 50(l) 778-786. 

Figure 10.2 Lost-time injury frequency rates for underground and all NSW coal mines...

TABLE 1.7 U.S. fatalities, nonfatal days lost (NFDL) Injuries, total accident incident rates (IRs), and severity measures for underground and surface mines by sector, 1995 (Reich and McAteer 1997a, b, c, d, e)... 

Underground coal mining, in general, has a much higher overall injury incidence rate than underground hardrock mining, as shown in Table 1. There are physical conditions and work situations that account for the differences between the methods, and these differences will be delineated later. 

Between 1996 and 1998, rib failures resulted in 6 fatalities in underground coal mines. Only one of these fatal injuries was to a face worker, the other five were all mechanics and electricians performing their duties well outby the face. Nearly 80% of the 128 rib injuries that occurred in 1997 took place beneath permanently supported roof. Nonfatal rib injuries resulted in an average of 43 lost workdays each, versus 25 days for the average roof skin injury. 

FIGURE 26.1 Leading causes of nonfatal injuries In underground and surface mining, 1985-1991 (after Hodous and Layne 1993)... 

The hazards associated with continuous haulage systems underground have been described by el-Bassioni (1996) in an article that documents fatalities, injuries, safety issues, and safe work procedures. Continuous haulage systems, also known as bridge conveyors, are used with continuous miners. Concerns unique to continuous haulage systems include lack of communication between a miner and haulage operators, the lack of space around the systems, and Hmited visibiUty. Figure 26.6 illustrates an actual fatality in a coal mine. The operator was killed when his shuttle car bumped into the rib, and he was crushed between the rib and the car. 

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