Tag Archives: mining

General Safety Issues, Respiratory Safety

BLACK LUNG ON THE RISE

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Almost one-half of the power used in the United States is generated by coal; more than 130,000 miners put their lives at risk to provide it. Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis (CWP) is caused by prolonged breathing of dust in coal mines.  Another name for CWP is Black Lung Disease.

Years ago, Congress ordered Black Lung to be eradicated from the coal industry, under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969.  This act was to protect miners by posing limits on exposure to dust, as well as adding increased benefits for families of coal miners.  For several years following this legislative enactment, the proportion of coal miners with Black Lung Disease went down.  However, in the last ten years, it is again on the rise.  Approximately 10,000 miners have died with CWP in the past decade, with younger workers developing severe and advanced cases.

Black Lung is a deadly, but preventable occupational disease.  It causes chronic coughing and shortness of breath.  Coal operators are required under the law to adhere to dust standards.  They have the necessary tools to control each miner’s exposure to respirable dust and silica.  Industries and miners must both ensure that control measures are applied and dust levels are accurately measured.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, possible reasons that this disease is once more increasing are:

  • Inadequacies in mandated coal mine dust regulations;
  • Failure to comply with regulations;
  • Lack of disease measures to accommodate changes in mining practices brought about by depletion of richer coal reserves;
  • Effects of working longer hours in recent years;
  • Missed opportunities by miners to be screened and take action to reduce dust exposure.
  • New mining techniques and machinery that create more hazardous exposure to dust.

NIOSH also has set up mobile screening units that travel to locations where mining takes place and offer free x-rays, and other free health evaluations to miners.  When early disease is suspected, miners should request transfer to a job where there is less dust exposure.

A set of rules is being considered by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) that would require some miners to use a new technology, the continuous personal dust monitor.  These real-time monitors would allow the miners to know what they are exposed to and respond to it right away.  The cost is $10,000 per monitor, so it’s a pricey proposition.  However, mining-industry representative Bruce Watzman says the industry supports MSHA’s efforts.  “The statistics concern us.  We need to understand and address this problem.”  NIOSH states that the first priority to all men and women miners is their health and safety.

Eye Protection, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection, Head Protection

DANGEROUS JOB-COAL MINING

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Coal mining is considered one of America’s top ten most dangerous jobs.  There are more than 50 countries that produce coal, China leading the list.  Suffocation, gas poisoning, roof collapses, and gas explosions are just a few of the dangers that coal miners face, in addition to health risks, such as “black lung” disease.  Because China employs thousands more coal miners, their fatality rate is much greater than those in the U.S.

Coal produces more than one-half of the electricity for our nation.  In eastern states such as Kentucky, families of miners have been mining coal for generations.  Coal is the means of creating electricity, methanol, coke for steel manufacture, and fuel in power generators, referred to as steaming or thermal coal.  To make cement, extracts of iron from iron ore are used.

Through technological advancements, coal mining today is more productive than ever.  Computers furnish most of the safety monitoring systems, assisting the industry in keeping their workers safer.  PPE, such as hardhat lights, are standard equipment for miners.

The Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has many suggestions to ensure the safety of mines, such as gas monitoring, gas drainage, electrical equipment, better ventilation, reducing the risks of rock falls, and measuring unhealthy air quality.  One cause of fatal injuries is collapsing rock pillars, which support rock between the mine and surface.  When the coal is extracted from these pillars once the coal has been mined, the pillars sometimes fall, trapping miners inside.

Cold weather is another hazard, as methane builds along with the unnaturally low barometric pressure.  The MSHA notes that every mine must have its individual ventilation plan to keep methane at safe levels.  Proper air pressure differential is essential in order to carry the level of gas away from working areas.  There should be regularly scheduled hazard inspections of air shafts, air movements and escape routes.

As coal dust can cause explosions, constant maintenance must be done on equipment that could be a source of sparks.  No smoking or smoking materials are allowed, as common sense would dictate.

When mining accidents are announced on the news, we realize how hard and risky their daily jobs are.  Their families carry on with their lives, but worry that an accident could happen any time.   When something goes wrong, we observe the dedication on the faces of the rescue workers to get to their comrades and bring them out safely.  Coal miners work in very restricted areas; one man compared it to working underneath your kitchen table for several hours.  I think I prefer sitting behind my desk!  But I do appreciate the history behind this industry, and those persons who help keep America moving forward.