Profile of Groundfall Incidents in Underground Coal Mines

Details

• Personal Author:
  Mark C ; Pappas, Deno M.
• Description:
  Between 1995 and 2001, groundfall incidents resulted in 69 fatalities and were responsible for 47% of all deaths in U.S. underground bituminous coal mines. To better understand where and why these incidents occur, a comprehensive analysis of groundfall injuries and reportable noninjury roof falls was conducted. Using Mine safety and Health Administration data from 1995 through 2001, the study examined the effects of mining method, mine size, seam thickness, and season on roof and rib fall injury rates and reportable noninjury roof fall rates. In addition, for the first time, groundfall rates were calculated for individual coalbeds. The study found that room-and-pillar mines had significantly higher groundfall rates than longwall mines. Small room-and-pillar mines with fewer than 50 workers were found to have high groundfall fatality rates. Another significant conclusion was that high groundfall rates occurred in regions where there were numerous problematic coalbeds, such as in the Illinois Basin. This seems to correlate to other studies that have shown that the compressive strengths of typical roof rocks in the Illinois basin are much lower than those of their counterparts in the central Appalachian coalfields. Finally, roof fall rates nationwide were found to be 50% higher between July and September, possibly because of changes in humidity levels that may be causing shale mine roofs to deteriorate. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Coal Coal Mining Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Coal Mining Ground Control Injuries Injury Prevention Longwall Mining Mining Industry Room And Pillar Mining Traumatic Injuries Underground Mining
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  0026-5187
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; Illinois ; Indiana ; Kentucky ; Maryland ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Pennsylvania ; Tennessee ; Virginia ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRL - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  65-71
• Volume:
  55
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20023513
• Citation:
  Min Eng 2003 Sep; 55(9):65-71
• Contact Point Address:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Mining Engineering
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ee3e0de8ef9808d17abca6130a3d8948f7c46f57c8f04469c404d39bff503570e8202c1d0056d91d7e12e18f1e95c08ebad441879d7ab0074c596a8024072b4b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/220702/cdc_220702_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 8.13 MB ]