Sociotechnical Communication in an Underground Mine Fire: A Study of Warning Messages During an Emergency Evacuation

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brnich MJ Jr. ; Mallett L ; Vaught C
• Description:
  This paper discusses social and technical factors associated with underground coal miners' reactions to their operation's warning message system. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with workers who escaped a major fire at their mine and have identified specific junctures at which individual interpretation and response became particularly problematic. It is concluded that the implementation of a few relatively simple human factors principles could have improved the efficacy of warning communication systems at that mine. Since the delay between flame propagation and a decision to evacuate is one of the most important variables in assessing survival chances, these improvements could have invaluable payoffs for other operations as well. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Movements Emergencies Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Behavior-patterns Mine-disasters Mine-escapes Mine-fires Mine-workers Mining-industry Underground-miners Underground-mining Warning-systems
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  0925-7535
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRC - Pittsburgh Research Center
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  16
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:10004469
• Citation:
  Saf Sci 1993 Aug; 16(5-6):709-728
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Safety Science
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:883b2a9b456b597529e25f0e64b051e0aef33cd86a3c0f0f8d5145a72b72deef4225f798275fd51e8143f6c8908dd98ab51bb5bf80e5f8c289abaf39b6a3bf1f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/219568/cdc_219568_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 945.81 KB ]