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ALMOST all the hazards productive of accidents are present in churn drill operation-exposed electrical cables, open machinery, moving parts located overhead, exposure to weather, and movement of heavy machinery-all are part of the job. But, a check list of danger spots and full use of countermeasures will produce maximum safety here, as on any other operation.

Jan 8, 1953

By W. B. HILLHOUSE

AN excerpt from the Alabama State Mining Law, pertaining to, transporting men' into and out of the mines, reads as follows: "A trip of empty cars may be operated for the purpose of taking employees into and out of the mine, where the distance to and from their work exceeds one mile." The State Mining Department of Alabama includes in its inspection the transportation of men into and out of the mines, also studying and noting improvements, or progress made, that would tend to create a greater assurance of safety in this practice. Everyone is familiar with the original safety methods employed in man-trip transportation, such as passing a rope around the trip of cars, or through the cars, fastened in the conventional manner, and with the usual "clog," commonly called a drag, on the rear end. Also there is a more advanced method of transporting men, such as the double-rope system, which is feasible on slopes used exclusively for this purpose, and is very satisfactory. However, for the past eighteen months; the Republic Steel Corp. and the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co. have adopted a practice that shows

Jan 1, 1935

The adoption of a plan of safeguarding American industry against extreme revolutionary industrial propaganda is the keynote of a report just issued by ex-Governor Robert P. Bass, of New Hampshire, covering the period of his service as. Director of the Marine and Dock Industrial Relations Division of the United States Shipping Board. He thinks that the only hope of America's resisting the tide of industrial unrest that is sweeping over the civilized world is in the development and early application of a constructive industrial program, in which program publicity and education carrried on by the Government will hold a leading place. He says: The Government should systematically inform both employers and employees in regard to many matters of the utmost interest and importance of each. It should acquaint labor with the Government's activities and service to labor in the past and should create in labor an appreciation of its joint interest with capital and with the Government in the problems of production. Satisfactory assurances should be given that labor will have a substantial voice in determining the distribution between capital and labor of the profits of production. Labor should be promised its reasonable share of any increase in production. There should be a joint determination of wages, hours, and conditions of work. Based on the foregoing principles, great emphasis should be placed on labor's interest and responsibility in the processes f production.

Jan 6, 1919

By A. W. Hesse

TWELVE years ago, a meeting of coal-mine operators, mining engineers, oil and gas operators, Bureau of Mines engineers, geologists and state mine inspectors took place in Pittsburgh, Pa. for the purpose of discussing, and solving if possible, the problems in connection with the drilling of oil and gas wells through or near coal mines and through the future coal reserves. Proposed regulations were drafted and presented at that meeting by 0. P. Hood and A. G. Heggem of the Bureau of Mines.1There was considerable discussion of the various articles, practically all of which appear in Bulletin 65, but unfortunately the interest aroused at that meeting was short lived. Practically none of the important coal-, producing states gave the matter the consideration it should have received at that time. REASONS FOR AGAIN RAISING THE QUESTION Notwithstanding the marked progress in, safety work, coal mines still have an unenviable reputation for mine explosions. Our mining laws have become stricter and the enforcement, especially in Pennsylvania, more sternly carried out, but what good will come from a rigid carrying out of the mining laws if some source of danger exists all around the mines, over which the operators have no control? It is hardly necessary to recite all the cases of natural-gas explosions published in Bulletin 65, but with some of them I am especially familiar. In 1912, while making one of my usual Sunday visits to the Miners' Hospital, at Fairmont, W. Va., my attention was called to a patient in a horribly burned condition. He was swathed in bandages so that no part of his face and hands were visible. He had not then been informed that his two sons, mere boys, had died of the burns they had received in the same accident. This explosion was due to natural gas leaking into a country mine at Peora, Harrison Co., W. Va.

Jan 2, 1925

By H. H. Clark

ELECTRICITY must be safeguarded everywhere that it is used. The conditions that exist underground make the use of safeguards more essential there than almost anywhere else. Electric Shock Electric shock is the greatest danger in connection with the use of electricity in mines, because conditions existing underground are so favorable to its occurrence. Men are often obliged to work in more or less uncertain light near bare wires that are carrying dangerous potentials. The fact that the men are standing on the earth practically connects them to one terminal of the electric generator. The most dangerous piece of electrical equipment underground is the trolley wire. It is necessarily bare and extends for long distances throughout a mine, often less than a man's height from the track rail. Sometimes the making up of trips of cars must be done near low-hanging trolley wires. All bare wires offer the same danger that trolley wires do, although not to the same extent. Apparatus that has accidentally come in contact with the ungrounded side of an electric circuit is almost as dangerous as the trolley wire. A severe and even fatal shock may be obtained by coming in contact with the frame of a motor or a switch box that has become charged with electricity, or "alive," as it is usually termed. It is also possible to obtain shocks from the frames of locomotives and cars if track. sanding, poor bonding or a similar cause has put a high resistance to earth in the path of the current.

Jan 4, 1914

By Frank Kneeland

SAFETY FIRST is a popular motto-most mining companies have adopted it. It is probable, however, that in the majority of cases it is only a motto and gets no further than the office stationery or the bulletin board at the mine's entrance. In but few industries is there employed a greater diversity of machinery and mechanical devices than in coal mining. The list ranges all the way from mechanical stokers to wood-working machinery and undercutters. Many of these devices, particularly those employed in wood working, are extremely dangerous. In 1913, 23 per cent. of all fatalities occurring in coal mining in the U. S. were caused by machinery of some sort or other. Although the forms of accidents occurring with mining machinery are legion, they generally arise from one or more of five causes: (a) Falls from ladders, platforms, etc.; (b) coming in contact with moving machines or parts thereof; (c) electric shocks; (d) failure of some machine part; (e) mismanipulation of valves, levers, switches or other hand-operated controlling devices. The steps which may be taken to prevent accidents from the above causes are almost as numerous as the accidents themselves. There is, and can be, no panacea for all mishaps, nor for any one class of accidents. There is no mathematical or other formula that will bring immunity under any set of conditions. Common sense is the only guide. The remedy for the first-named class of accidents is simple and generally effective-namely, make the staging, ladder, platform, or other support, abundantly strong to carry any possible weight that it may be called upon to bear; provide ample railings on platforms or runways, and non-slipping feet on movable ladders.

Jan 1, 1915

Discussion of the paper of FRANK H. KNEELAND, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1914, and printed in Bulletin No. 97, January, 1915, pp. 61 to 65. B. F. TILLSON, Franklin Furnace, N. J.-I think it may be of interest in respect to the information we have received in regard to the danger of machinery in mining operations, to state that in the particular type of metal miming which the New Jersey Zinc Co. is doing at Franklin, during the past year, although there have been other accidents, that method of miming was free from any accident due to machinery underground. It may give a different light as to the relative degree of the importance of machinery as varying with different types of mining. ARTHUR WILLIAMS, New York, N. Y.-Mr. Kneeland's able presentation of this paper, it seems to me, bears out the suggestion which has been so frequently made that in this country we have a new profession, that of the safety expert or safety engineer, which calling, if properly carried out, would include also questions of sanitation. While Mr. Kneeland was speaking, it occurred to me that perhaps any one, however experi-enced he might be in mining generally, would pass through these mine shafts and these operating rooms, and the things which might cause accidents, which would cause accidents if the right conditions were to occur, would pass by entirely unnoticed by him, but when the safety expert goes into these places he sees these things which he immedi-ately recognizes as being spots of danger and provides means for their elimination.

Jan 5, 1915

By Frank R. Barnako

Coal mining is a hazardous occupation, but tremendous progress has been made in reducing accidental injuries and deaths in the mines. Let us take a look at the hazards in coal mining and the accident record. COAL MINE SAFETY TODAY Underground coal mining creates underground open areas, rooms, and haulageways. The roof (top) and ribs (sides) become highly stressed, and because coal and slate are very weak in tension or compression they frequently fail and fall from the roof and ribs unexpectedly. This is the most hazardous condition miners must cope with underground, and it has consistently produced the greatest number of fatal injuries in the coal mining industry. Only very sophisticated equipment, but which is not yet practical for use underground, is able to detect the buildup of stresses that may eventually lead to a roof or rib fall. Today's miner still looks for fresh cracks in the roof or rib, listens for the "drummy" sound, and feels vibrations from loose material in the roof, when tapped with a sounding stick, in order to find material which may fall. Once located, it is barred down, but if this is not possible, it is then secured to prevent it from falling. The next great& hazard is the equipment used to mine or haul coal. It is large, heavy, reacts quickly to its controls and is operated in con- fined areas with low lighting levels. The record of the last few years shows that fatalities attributable to mining and hauling equipment are about equally divided. Thorough training as part of a complete safety program is necessary to teach employees the hazards of loose roof, rib, and machine operation in order that they can work in the safest way possible. Unless there is such a program, the trade is learned by trial and error with a resulting tragic.

Jan 1, 1973

By John Boardman

THE Anaconda company has never indulged in any employee activities at Butte which might be termed paternalistic, but it has exerted a vast amount of effort in care of its employees during working hours. The reason for this policy is not lack of interest or that the company does not feel the effect of employees' activities while they are "off the job"; it is that the company and the city of Butte have grown up together and, each has been adequate in its own sphere, the company in providing employment at the highest possible wage and the city in providing housing, sanitation, commercial services, medical services, schools, churches, amusements and entertainments. The one exception to this independence between the company and the community is the Butte Water Co., which is a wholly owned sub-sidiary of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. Mention of this relationship is made here because the water supply of such a city as Butte is one of the principal factors in determining the health of the people. Very early in the development of the Anaconda company an adequate and dependable water supply for the operations became necessary, therefore the company took over this important community function. So well has this activity worked out that during the whole period of time covered, in which the company has expanded to become practically the sole mine operator and the community has grown from a small mining camp to the status of a modern city, there has been no shortage of water or any outbreak of water-borne, epidemic disease.

Jan 1, 1938

By John L. Boardman

THE Anaconda company has never indulged in any employee activities at Butte which might be termed paternalistic, but it has exerted a vast amount of effort in care of its employees during working hours. The reason for this policy is not lack of interest or that the company does not feel the effect of employees' activities while they are "off the job"; it is that the company and the city of Butte have grown up together and each has been adequate in its own sphere, the company in providing employment at the highest possible wage and the city in providing housing, sanitation, commercial services, medical services, schools, churches, amusements and entertainments. The one exception to this independence between the company and the community is the Butte Water Co., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. Mention of this relationship is made here because the water supply of such a city as Butte is one of the principal factors in determining the health of the people. Very early in the development of the Anaconda company an adequate and dependable water supply for the operations became necessary, therefore the company took over this important community function. So well has this activity worked out that during the whole period of time covered, in which the company has expanded to become practically the sole mine operator and the community has grown from a small mining camp to the status of a modern city, there has been no shortage of water or any outbreak of water-borne, epidemic disease. CONDITIONS LEADING TO ORGANIZED SAFETY EFFORT A brief sketch of conditions in Butte prior to 1912 is necessary to an understanding of the reasons for placing accident prevention on an organized basis. As early as the year 1884 there were a large number of small independent mining operations depending principally upon the production of silver, although even then copper was becoming prominent in the value of total production for the district. The Butte camp was then just emerging from the log cabin stage to that of a modern city.

Jan 1, 1938

A mine in the mountains of southeastern British Columbia is fast earning a reputation as the safest metal mining operation of all time. Already officially proclaimed as the safest mine in Canada, the H.B. mine of The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. of Canada (Cominco) continues to advance its safety performance far in the lead of average accident frequencies in mines across the country. Official recognition came its way again this spring when the Cominco mine was awarded the John T. Ryan trophy for the fourth time in the last five years. This award is emblematic of top national safety performance of a metal mining operation. The H.B. mine is its only four-time winner. The Ryan award is based on a frequency of accidents involving lost time of more than six days. In each of the years that the H.B. has won the award-1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962-its frequency was zero, with no accidents involving a time loss of more. than six days

Jan 12, 1963

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Jan 1, 1938

By Rudolf Kudlich

THE problem of eliminating the hazards of hoisting in mines has been with us since the industry passed its earliest stages, when coal and ore could be won from surface working and tunnels. At first, safety devices were introduced as means of decreasing the amount of labor necessary, to produce the mineral, or to increase the amount that could be obtained from a certain opening. For example, crude, ladders replaced winding footpaths or steps cut into the walls of the pit or shaft, decreasing the distance it was necessary to carry the product to the surface and eliminating, to some extent, the hazard introduced by the precarious footing afforded by such paths and steps. Later, instead of being carried from the pit on the backs of men, the product was hoisted in buckets or baskets on a rope passing over a pulley or around a windlass. Thus the capacity of the pit was considerably increased, and the hazard due to making many trips up and down the shaft was eliminated. From such beginnings accident prevention in mine hoisting advanced with the importance of the industry, until at present hoisting compares favorably with other branches of the mining industry with reference to safe practices. As in the other branches, this progress has been accomplished along two general lines-by legislation, rules, and education, and by the installation of safety devices. Though due credit must be given the former, it is not so satisfactory as the latter. Legislation, to be effective, requires a policing and inspection system to guarantee enforcement, such as we cannot hope to inaugurate. Rules may be satisfactory so long as the employer controls the labor market, and dismissal or some other form of discipline is an effective means of insuring obedience to the rules; but where labor demand is in excess of the supply, or where labor organizations are in control, such measures are not effective. An educational campaign will draw attention to hazards and may awaken a desire to avoid accidents by exercising the proper care.

Jan 2, 1922

By E. A. Holbrook

AS A whole, engineering schools have not awakened A to the fact that the workmen compensation laws passed in most of our states between 1914 and 1917 effected a quiet but none the less real revolution in. the relations between labor and management; no longer are industrial accidents unfortunate or careless happenings over which we feel a humanitarian interest and sorrow, they are a cost of the process and the finished product, as vital as improved design and increased efficiency. Last year the writer and others made a committee report to. the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers on the cost of accidents in the coal industry of Pennsylvania. Comparatively the accident record in Pennsylvania coal industry is not high, yet the direct compensation cost plus the interference with operation cost of accidents was over 5 per cent. of the total cost of producing the coal. This stands out more vividly -if you realize that about 70 per cent. of the' cost of producing the coal is for payment of labor, wages that are fixed and over which engineering efficiency and management skill have little or no direct effect. This leaves 30 per cent. of the cost chargeable .to hoisting, haulage, overhead 'and other items subject to engineering control. One sixth of this is due to cost of accidents. Surely a direct place 'for an engineering attack.

Jan 1, 1925

By Lawrence Henderson

TO increase tonnage in the early days of coal mining it was necessary only to hire more men. The job now is to increase the tons per man, but other troubles arise because this has been accomplished. With the introduction of continuous miners, newer and faster loading machines, and faster belt conveyors the safety engineer has been faced with new difficulties. Use of larger equipment created roof control problems, which were thoroughly studied by the safety engineers of various companies. With the assistance of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, safety engineers in Alabama conducted roof bolting experiments wherever they appeared to be applicable. Accident records before and after the method was adopted showed results more than justifying the efforts and funds expended. The larger mining companies responded enthusiastically to the program because roof bolting not only prevented accidents but also increased production efficiency, in many cases rep- resenting the margin between profit and loss. In Alabama today there are miles of roof supported by bolts.

Jan 8, 1957

By W. A. Boyer

HOISTS for metal mines are seldom designed for H one particular depth. They are intended for an ultimate load and depth with a given speed but are first used to hoist from a shallower depth, gradually working to the ultimate as development progresses. Sometimes the mine is not worked on the upper levels because of the kind and grade of ore, the mining of which depends on market conditions. In this case the hoist may be used in the same working shift to lift ore, for example, from the 1200 and the 4400-ft level. This means that the safety factor of the rope should be considered not only when it hoists from the greatest depth, but also when it hoists from the upper levels. According to present safety factor standards, a hoisting rope can have ample safety margin when hoisting from the lower or lowest level and still be shy of sufficient safety margin when hoisting from the upper levels. This will be shown by curves presented in this paper.

Jan 10, 1954

By W. A. Boyer

Mine hoisting ropes can be loaded to capacity only when the strength of each component is exactly known. Characteristic curves provide this information. When load and rate of acceleration are specified for an individual rope, the characteristic curve assumes a predetermined shape. The factor of safety is the value derived by dividing the breaking strength of the rope by the total stress on the rope where it goes over the sheave wheel. Total stress is made up of the weight of skip and cage, weight of ore, weight of rope between sheave and rope clevise or attachment, friction load, and acceleration force. Bending stresses are neglected in this discussion, as sheaves and drum diameters are assumed to be large enough to reduce these stresses to a negligible value.

Mar 1, 1956

The Second Annual Safety First Dinner to the Liberty Bell Mine Crew was held on Apr. 7, 1916, in recognition of the second year without fatal accident and with few serious accidents. The address of the evening was given by the Rev. Edward Burns Martin, on "Safety and Citizenship," and was followed by informal talks on safety, health and citizenship.

Jan 6, 1916

By J. V. W. REYNDERS

IN THE remarks which I am about to make concern¬ing the safety work of the Bureau of Mines, I want first of all to disengage myself from a disposition, which is frequently in evidence, to give spectacular emphasis to the hazards of mining operations. It is of the' utmost importance to the industrial welfare of our country that the enormous annual requirement of fuel be produced and be made available in our economic activities, with a minimum of distress and hardship. The safety of coal mining is a condition with which. we are all concerned in a fundamental way. And yet we should not rush to accept hastily conceived notions that laxity among employers in respect to safety measures exists to any outstanding degree. In fact in a large number of instances, the precautionary efforts of min¬ing companies, directed to the elimination of accidents are beyond all criticism, albeit the industry suffers in reputation from the carelessness of, its less effi¬cient constituents. The Bureau of Mines has been a leading influence in disseminating the doctrines of safety, in securing the cooperation of the miners themselves, and in stirring up ' the laggards, both among the employers and the employed. It is much to the interest of well-conducted mine operations that the industry, as a whole, observe safety regulations to the utmost.

Jan 1, 1925

By John T., Ryan

THE subject assigned me, "Safety in Mining," is a very broad one and only the high spots can be covered in this short paper. As this is a meeting of the Coal Division, these remarks will be directed largely to coal mine safety, although the principles of safety and effective accident prevention methods are relatively the same in every branch of mining or industrial work. The coal mining industry should take pride in the part it has played in the development of the accident prevention movement, and there is ample proof for the statement that the first real organized accident prevention, work, both abroad and in this country, was con- ducted in the coal mining industry.

Jan 1, 1930