An Analysis of Injury Claims from Low-Seam Coal Mines [manuscript]

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gallagher, Sean ; Moore, Susan ; Dempsey, Patrick G.
• Description:
  Introduction: The restricted workspace present in low-seam coal mines forces workers to adopt awkward working postures (kneeling and stooping), which place high physical demands on the knee and lower back. Method: This article provides an analysis of injury claims for eight mining companies operating low-seam coal mines during calendar years 1996-2008. All cost data were normalized using data on the cost of medical care (MPI) as provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Results: Results of the analysis indicate that the knee was the body part that led in terms of claim cost ($4.2 million), followed by injuries to the lower back ($2.7 million). While the average cost per injury for these body parts was $13,100 and $14,400, respectively (close to the average cost of an injury overall), the high frequency of these injuries resulted in their pre¬eminence in terms of cost. Analysis of data from individual mining companies suggest that knee and lower back injuries were a consistent problem across companies, as these injuries were each among the top five most costly part of body for seven out of eight companies studied. Application/Impact: Results of this investigation suggest that efforts to reduce the frequency of knee and low back injuries in low-seam mines have the potential to create substantial cost savings.
• Subjects:
  NIOSH
• Document Type:
  Text
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:na
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:606eb051fd81700b8c5b90e6f04482f712d6ca9966de4498da3a7c2b4697fd67912990e64cd49f10e7ee070c5231e5221986b9f0826caa17b73471f0aa203c04
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/9728/cdc_9728_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 82.17 KB ]