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    6 views7 pages

    Iosho

    Uploaded by

    dadc1984

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 7
    The Influence of Seam Height on Lost-Time Injury and Fatality Rates at Small Underground Bituminous Coal Mines Robert H. Peters, Barbara Fotta, and Launa G. Mallett ‘National Institute for Occupational Safty and Health, Ptsburgh Research Laboratory Pitsburgh, Pemsyivania Due to variations in the thickness of US. coal seams, there is great variability inthe height ofthe roof where un- derground miners work. Restrictions imposed by low seam Iheights have important safety consequences, As the height oftheir workplace decreases, miners must stoop, duck walk, ‘or crawl, and their vision, psture, and mobility become in- creasingly restricted. Low seam height also places impor- tant retrctions on the design of mobile equipment and ‘other mining machinery. Using the employment and injury data reported tothe Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSH) from 1990 to 1996, small underground bituminous ‘coal mines with less than S0 employees were stratified by average coal seam height according to the following cate ories: low (<42"), medium (43°-60"), and high (261”). Injury rates for both nonfatal days lost and fatality cases were examined by seam height and leading type of injury Incidents. Te leading types of incidents associated with fa- talities were roof fall and powered haulage equipment. In comparison to high-seam mines, miners working in low or medium seams are at higher risk of being killed by pow ered haulage equipment, roof bolting machines, and falls of unsupported roof. The leading types of incidents asso- ciated with nonfatal injuries were handling materials and powered haulage. As mining height decreases, miners are at increasingly higher risk of having a nonfatal injury from {Incidents involving roof bolting machines load-haul-dump ‘equipment, personnel carriers, and powered haulage con- ‘veyors. As mining height increases, miners are at increas- ingly higher risk of having a nonfatal injury from slips and falls and incidents involving shutle ears and roof and rib falls. Knee injuries are particularly severe problem in low- seam mines. The rte of injuries to miners while crawling ot kneeling is 10 times higher in ow seams than in high seams. ‘Seam beight can vary from as low as 20 inches toa height of 12 feet or more. Seam height effects not only ming method and equipment choices, bat also the posture, mobility, and vision ofthe worker. The relationship between seam height and injury frequency is confounded by the effects of both mine size and mining method. Mines operating in thinner seams of coal (ess than 43 inches high tend tohave fever employes and are more likely to use continuous or conventional mining versus longwall mining methods.” Dring the past thee decades, several researchers have re- ‘ported that small underground coal mines experienced sigifi- cal higher fatality rates than lager mines "-® The National ‘Academy of Sciences (NAS)® found tha, during the period 1978-1980, the fatality rate for mines wih 50 o fewer employ- ‘eeswas aboutthree times that of mines withover 25Demployees, and almost twice that of mines with SI to 250 employees, The [NAS researchers examined the influence of several potential ‘easos forthe strong correlation between mine size and fatality ‘ates, including company ownership union status, length of time ‘the mine was in operation, and seam thicknes. They concluded that none ofthese factors could account forthe large disparity, ‘Ofthe 90 million hours worked by underground miners st bi- tuminous coal mines in 1996, approximately half were worked in mines wit an average seam height of ive fet oes. In ad- dition, 94 percent of mines operating in seams of 3.5 feet or less employed fewer than 50 people. Thin-Seam or low coal mines axe located almost exclusively within he southem Appalachian coal ild. And, in fact, 96 percent of smal thin-seam mining operations ae located in thre slates: Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia. The proportion of total U.S. underground bituri- ‘nous coal being produced from thin-seam mines appears to have remained constant during recent year. However, as thick seams of underground coal are depleted, one might expect to eventu- ally see a decline in the average beght ofthe U.S. coal seams being mined. ‘The objective of this study is to identify and quantity the nds of injuries associated with working in hinseam mining eperatons. One advantage of using more recent data that & much higher proportion of mines now repor bee seam eight to the Mine Safety nd Health Administration (MSHA). The INAS researchers reported that 78 percent of mines with 20 or fewer employees and 59 percent of mines with 21 1 50 em- ‘lyees filed to repor seam heights during the period of her study (1975-1980). Inthe present stud, information about seam ‘eight was available or 9 percent of aleve US oa mines. METHODS ‘The deta used for this study area subset ofthe data collected annually by MSHA and recordedinitsemploymentand accident

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