Women in Mining-Acute Injuries Among Women in the United States Mining Workforce 1979 -2023

Details

• Personal Author:
  Blackley DJ ; Eiter BM ; Hall NB ; Heberger JR ; Laney AS ; Myers NT ; Stazick C
• Description:
  Mining has long been recognized as a hazardous occupation, and historically, it has been dominated by men. However, there is limited understanding of the specific injuries experienced by women mine workers. Previous studies have either excluded women from the analysis or aggregated the data without considering sex. Mine Accident, Injury, and Illness reports published by MSHA were analyzed from 1979-2023. Fatal and non-fatal injuries among women were analyzed by age at the time of injury, mining commodity, work activity performed at the time of the injury, job description, and part of body affected. Of the 17,848 injuries among women miners, 37.5% in coal miners and 62.5% occurred in metal/nonmetal (MNM). The majority of injuries occurred among miners aged 19-34 years (coal: 38.4%; MNM: 42.0%), with coal miners having the most injuries with 1-5 years of total tenure (32.8%) and MNM miners with less than one year of total tenure (39.8%). For both sectors, the highest number of injuries occurred among general laborers (coal: 43.8%; MNM: 27.2%) and during material handling (coal: 26.5%; MNM: 30.2%). Back (coal: 21.9%; MNM: 18.9%) and hands (coal: 14.5%; MNM: 15.3%) were the most commonly affected body parts. This study points to the importance of safety measures and research to address acute injuries women miners face, particularly younger and less experienced workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Epidemiology Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Mining Occupational Health Safety Women
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Acute Injuries Injuries Materials Handling Mine Workers Mining Industry Mining Sectors Safety Culture Women Miners Young Workers
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  2524-3462
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; Philadelphia Region [OSHA] ; San Francisco Region [OSHA] ; Washington ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  RHD - Respiratory Health Division ; PMRD - Pittsburgh Mining Research Division ; OD - Office of the Director ; SMRD - Spokane Mining Research Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070808
• Citation:
  Min Metall Explor 2025 Mar; :[Epub ahead of print]
• Contact Point Address:
  Nirmala T. Myers, Respiratory Health Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV, 26505, USA
• Email:
  nmyers@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a218ec8b020ae7c1e7daca47bc325381a7bd87940d7ffffe400a10e279037cb9ab7fbe9cb68635adc92ffcc924b0faa51b4edb2a4ca70f2a42a51bedfbe447ac
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/215757/cdc_215757_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1011.43 KB ]