Safety Methods In Utah Coal Mines

FROM 1870 to date, the coal production of Utah has been somewhat less than 85,000,000 tons. There have been at least three major disasters with total fatalities about 380; or approximately. 4.4 persons killed by mine explosions per million tons produced, a record that is decidedly bad. Even during the periods when there have been no disasters, such as the years 1914 to 1920, inclusive, the fatalities .in ordinary working ran about 5.4 per million tons produced, against 3.7 per, million tons. for the whole United States for the same years. The five-year period following the war, 1918 to 1922 inclusive, showed 4.7 fatalities per million tons, hence the fatality record in the coal mines of Utah has uniformly been in excess of the average of the coal mines of the entire country. Notwithstanding this poor record, Utah has given to the coal-mining world many excellent safety methods and practices and the Utah. coal mines in general take greater measures toward safe mining than do the coal mines of any other State; if practices and methods allowed and pursued in coal mines of other States were tried in Utah coal mines, there would be a succession of disasters. Utah's principal producing coal mines, operated by about eighteen companies and numbering less than forty, have comparatively thick seams. Very little coal under 5 ft. thick is being worked and practically none under 4 ft.; much, if not most, of the coal comes from seams in excess of 8 ft., some running as high as 30 ft. In thick seams in which coal is left on floor and roof, any dust found or made is entirely combustible. In addition, the thick seams induce the use of large capacity cars, handling which in rooms and other workings on fairly heavy grades (up to 10 or .12 per cent.) tends to cause haulage accidents. The thick seams give high ribs and roof, in which it is difficult to prevent slabs of coal or rock from dropping on workers and also difficult to keep free of gas and of coal dust. The coal is high volatile, running usually over 40 per cent and in some instances nearly to 50 per cent; hence is highly flammable. Most of the coals have very high resin content, the resin usually being in dust form, hence almost as highly flammable as black powder. At .least one-third of the mines give off methane and several give off other