Measuring mining safety with injury statistics: lost workdays as indicators of risk

PROBLEM: Mining in the United States remains one of the most hazardous industries, despite significant reductions in fatal injury rates over the last century. Coal mine fatality rates, for example, have dropped almost a thousand-fold since their peak in 1908. While incidence rates are very important indicators, lost worktime measures offer an alternative metric for evaluating job safety and health performance. The first objective of this study examined the distributions and summary statistics of all injuries reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration from 1983 through 2004. Over the period studied (1983-2004), there were 31,515,368 lost workdays associated with mining injuries, for an equivalent of 5,700 person-years lost annually. The second objective addressed the problem of comparing safety program performance in mines for situations where denominator data were lacking. By examining the consequences of injuries, comparisons can be made between disparate operations without the need for denominators. Total risk in the form of lost workday sums can help to distinguish between lower- and higher-risk operations or time periods. METHOD: Our method was to use a beta distribution to model the losses and to compare underground coal mining to underground metal/nonmetal mining from 2000 to 2004. RESULTS: Our results showed the probability of an injury having 10 or more lost workdays was 0.52 for coal mine cases versus 0.35 for metal/nonmetal mine cases. In addition, a comparison of injuries involving continuous mining machines over 2001-2002 versus 2003-2004 showed that the ratio of average losses in the later period to those in the earlier period was approximately 1.08, suggesting increasing risks for such operations. DISCUSSION: This denominator-free safety measure will help the mining industry more effectively identify higher-risk operations and more realistically evaluate their safety improvement programs. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Attention to a variety of metrics concerning the performance of a job safety and health program will enhance industry's ability to manage these programs and reduce risk.     

The potential impact of light emitting diode lighting on reducing mining injuries during operation and maintenance of lighting systems

Research by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) indicates that light emitting diodes (LEDs) can be used to enhance safety by improving a miner’s ability to see mining hazards and reducing glare. This paper investigates if LEDs provide another benefit by reducing miner exposure to hazards during maintenance and operation of LED lighting. LEDs could provide useful lives up to 50 times longer than incandescent lighting commonly used in mining and could enable design changes to reduce certain hazards. The mining accident records compiled by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) were examined to determine the extent and nature of accidents involving the maintenance and operation of mine luminaries. A total of 140 relevant accident records were found for the years 2002–2006. These incidents resulted in 3668 days lost from work with an additional 925 days of restricted activity. The injury narratives were studied to determine if the implementation of LED-based luminaries could reduce injury severity and frequency. The greatest near-term potential impacts appear to be related to reducing maintenance and cap lamp redesign. Longer term (5 years), low-power and lightweight auxiliary LED lighting for surface mines could also have potential impact for improving safety.     

Underground coal mining injury: A look at how age and experience relate to days lost from work following an injury

Coal has been mined in the United States since colonial times and coal mining has always been a dangerous occupation. Despite the dangers involved in coal mining, coal is essential to the functioning of our society. Coal provides energy for products, businesses, and homes. Not only is coal mining a dangerous occupation, but, like many other industries, coal mining has also been referred to as a “graying occupation” as many coal miners are reaching retirement age. Younger workers possess certain advantages as older workers may have age-associated decrements in cognitive function, health, and recuperative ability. Although there are documented decreases in health and safety associated with age, there are also benefits at the workplace associated with increasing age. Increasing age brings about more experience and familiarity with the work environment. This study used the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) database on accidents, injury, and illness from the years 2003 through 2007 to examine how age, experience at the current mine, total years experience as a coal miner, and experience in the current job affects injury severity. The results of the data indicated that there was a relationship between age and days lost as well as total mining experience and days lost following an injury. Furthermore, the data indicated an increased risk of overexertion injuries as age increases. These are important findings for the coal mining industry as many miners are more experienced and older.     

基于事故树理论的非金属矿山爆破事故致因分析

采用安全系统工程方法,以陕西省某大理石矿为例,对非金属矿山爆破事故进行了事故树分析,并绘制出爆破事故树分析图,直观地表现了各可能导致顶上事件发生的基本事件及其逻辑关系,通过对FTA的定性分析,得出了最小割集和结构重要度,并提出了相应的安全对策.     

Applying Hierarchical Loglinear Models to Nonfatal Underground Coal Mine Accidents for Safety Management

Underground mining is considered to be one of the most dangerous industries and mining remains the most hazardous occupation. Categorical analysis of accident records may present valuable information for preventing accidents. In this study, hierarchical loglinear analysis was applied to occupational injuries that occurred in an underground coal mine. The main factors affecting the accidents were defined as occupation, area, reason, accident time and part of body affected. By considering subfactors of the main factors, multiway contingency tables were prepared and, thus, the probabilities that might affect nonfatal injuries were investigated. At the end of the study, important accident risk factors and job groups with a high probability of being exposed to those risk factors were determined. This article presents important information on decreasing the number accidents in underground coal mines.     

Trends and causes of fatalities in South African mines

Leger, J.-P., 1991. Trends and causes of fatalities in South African mines. Safety Science, 14: 169–185.The trends and principal causes of occupational fatalities and disasters (defined as six or more fatalities in one incident) in the South African mining industry are analysed. A miner who spends twenty years working underground faces a one in thirty chance of dying in an occupational accident. The gold mine fatality rate has improved only 33% since 1945, whereas in the coal mines it has declined substantially. Fatality rates in the diamond mines remain at levels similar to those of the 1920s. In other mineral mines the rate has increased since the 1930s. The most important cause of fatalities are falls of ground. In gold mines, rockbursts increase the fatality rate to three times the average at depths below 3000 m. Disasters remain a significant contributor to total fatalities, more disasters having occurred in the 1980s than in any other decade this century. In comparison with the accident experience of the United States, New South Wales, West Germany, India and Britain, countries with substantial coal mining industries, the South African underground colliery fatality rate is worse by factors ranging from two to eight times. Recommendations to ameliorate the high rate of fatalities include publication of improved accident statistics; elucidation of the relationship between injury rates and depth; identification of high risk occupations; special attention to be paid to the poor improvements in fatality rate trends for gold, diamond and other mineral mines; the establishment of an independent (government) deep level mining research institute; and more thorough investigations into disasters and analyses of disaster trends.     

基于PSR模型的贵州省煤矿安全生产状况综合评价体系

煤矿安全生产的状况是多因素相互影响、制约和共同作用的结果,存在外部环境的宏观因素,也有煤矿企业内部的微观因素.现有的安全生产状况评价主要依靠事故统计分析,通过事故的量和类型来分析和反应安全的状况.仅仅通过事故统计难以全面反映出各因素对安全生产状况的影响.在分析现阶段贵州省煤矿安全生产的现状和主要影响因素的基础上,综合外部宏观与内部微观指标,利用定性与定量相结合的分析方法,通过PSR模型构建综合指标评价体系,并利用层次分析法进行分析、计算和评价,更客观的反映出贵州省煤矿安全生产状况和影响因素.     

Probability of death,disability, and restricted work activity in United States underground bituminous coal mines, 1975–1981

This study examined relationships between mine and miner characteristics and severity of 82,945 underground bituminous coal mine injuries using logistic regression techniques. Injuries were classified as severe if they resulted in death, disability, or restricted work activity. Supervisory and maintenance personnel were found to have fewer chances of severe injuries than “all other” job classifications. A shaft or slope had a lower association with severe injuries than the face. The probability of a severe injury increased each succeeding year from 1975 through 1981. Mining method was not related to degree of injury. Older miners had the same probability of severe injuries as younger miners. Weeks of experience in mining, on a particular job, and in a specific mine were not related to severity of injuries. Mobile equipment operators had the same chance of severe injuries as miners in “all other” job classifications. Accidents at intersections and “other” locations were as likely to produce severe injuries as those at the face. Elapsed shift time prior to an injury was not related to injury severity. The implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations made for future research.     

Analysis of fatalities and injuries involving mining equipment

INTRODUCTION: Despite significant reductions, the number of injuries and fatalities in mining remains high. A persistent area of concern continues to be equipment-related incidents. METHOD: Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and Current Population Survey (CPS) data were used to examine equipment-related injuries over the period 1995-2004. Incidents were reviewed to determine which types of mining equipment were most often involved and to identify and characterize trends. RESULTS: Non-powered hand tools was the equipment category most often involved with non-fatal injuries while off-road ore haulage was the most common source of fatalities. SUMMARY: Younger employees had an elevated risk of injury while workers >55 years had an elevated risk for fatality. A large majority of incidents involve workers with <5 years experience. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Results should increase hazard awareness and enable mine management to select and prioritize problem areas and safety system weaknesses in both underground and surface mining.     

Pilot sample risk analysis for underground coal mine fires and explosions using MSHA citation data

After three decades of sustained continuous improvement of mine safety performances in the US, mine disasters in 2006 and 2007 compromised an excellent record and presented new challenges and vulnerabilities for the underground coal mining industry. In the aftermath of the incidents, formal investigations and new scrutiny of mine safety by the US Congress and expert study groups followed. The US Congress passed the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 (MINER Act), which mandated new laws to address the issues, including those related to mine fires and explosions from which miners must be protected. The National Mining Association-sponsored Mine Safety Technology and Training Commission report highlighted the role of risk analysis and management in identifying and controlling major hazards, such as fires and explosions. In this paper an approach is given for analyzing the risks for fires and explosions based on the Mine Safety and Health Administration citation database. Using 2006 citation data and focusing on subsystem failures, the methodology is applied to a database for a pilot sample of underground coal mines stratified by mine size and state.     

近年来山西省煤矿事故特点及对策措施

为掌握近年来山西省煤矿事故的发生特点,基于2015年—2018年山西省煤矿事故数据并结合全国煤矿事故数据进行对比,对事故等级、类型、地点、企业性质、煤矿辖区5个维度进行统计分析。结果表明:煤炭价格与煤矿安全形势有正负影响;近年来山西省煤矿安全总体形势好于全国,但机电、运输事故频发,水害事故时有发生,需要对该类事故加强防范措施;回采工作面为事故多发地点,这与全国煤矿事故特点不尽相同;国有重点煤矿的事故起数、死亡人数均高于地方煤矿企业,这主要是由于国有重点煤矿数量多、产量大的原因。应同时努力提高员工素质,坚决落实安全责任制,实现煤矿企业的安全生产。     

基于层次话题模型的煤矿安全事故致因要素研究

为促进安全发展,强化煤矿安全管理的科技支撑,在事故致因理论基础上,利用文本挖掘中的话题模型和创新性构建的层次致因要素话题模型,对我国2000—2015年发生的386起重特大煤矿事故调查报告进行了深入地挖掘、分析和研究。发现事故致因隐含的规律及各类事故之间的关联与共性,并进一步研究发现不同致因要素随时间的演化规律及致灾倾向,为煤矿安全管理找出重点,指导煤矿安全生产管理实践。     

结合遥感影像的矿山开采沉陷专题信息三维表达

煤矿井下开采引发地表沉陷是一种严重影响生命财产和生产安全的工程形变灾害 ,其形变信息有效表达和精准制图可大大减少矿区变形控制的成本,为矿山安全生产、 保护煤柱留设、塌陷地治理、压煤村庄搬迁、破坏等级判定与损害补偿评估等方面提供 更可靠的技术保障。基于矿山地图、实时卫星遥感影像与开采沉陷变形预计结果等数据 ,采用GIS空间分析和三维可视化技术,对淮北朔里矿区地表移动与变形的下沉（W）、 水平移动（U）、水平变形（ε）、倾斜（i）和曲率（K）等形变类型进行了三维的专 题信息与应用表达,其专题信息能更加直观有效地表达与准确清晰描述开采沉陷的地理 位置、影响范围、受损害地物类型、形变方向与变形量大小等。     

矿井风流温度预测分析研究

随着煤矿机械化程度不断提高,特别是随着开采深度逐渐增加,矿井热害问题日益突显,高温环境不仅影响生产效率而且严重危害着工作人员的健康。为了更好地降低高温矿井开采时期巷道风流温度,确定合理的巷道布置方案和矿井通风系统,提出矿井巷道风流温度预测方法。以矿井通风和热力学为基础,结合网络解算,对矿井风流温度分布进行研究,总结各种类型巷道风流温度的计算方法,提出多点风流混合温度计算模型。结合具体矿井进行实际预测分析,预测结果中显示风流温度可能超限的巷道,对通风系统进行优化设计。     

Safety in the mining industry and the unfinished legacy of mining accidents: Safety levers and defense-in-depth for addressing mining hazards

Mining remains one of the most hazardous occupations worldwide and underground coal mines are especially notorious for their high accident rates. In this work, we provide an overview of the broad and multi-faceted topic of safety in the mining industry. After reviewing some statistics of mining accidents in the United States, we focus on one pervasive and deadly failure mode in mines, namely explosions. The repeated occurrence of mine explosions, often in similar manner, is the loud unfinished legacy of mining accidents and their occurrence in the 21st century is inexcusable and should constitute a strong call for action for all stakeholders in this industry to settle this problem. We analyze one such recent mine disaster in which deficiencies in various safety barriers failed to prevent the accident initiating event from occurring, then subsequent lines of defense failed to block this accident scenario from unfolding and to mitigate its consequences. We identify the technical, organizational, and regulatory deficiencies that failed to prevent the escalation of the mine hazards into an accident, and the accident into a “disaster”. This case study provides an opportunity to illustrate several concepts that help describe the phenomenology of accidents, such as initiating events, precursor or lead indicator, and accident pathogen. Next, we introduce the safety principle of defense-in-depth, which is the basis for regulations and risk-informed decisions by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and we examine its relevance and applicability to the mining system in support of accident prevention and coordinating actions on all the safety levers, technical, organizational, and regulatory to improve mining safety. The mining system includes the physical confines and characteristics of the mine, the equipment in the mine, the individuals and the organization that operate the mine, as well as the processes and regulatory constraints under which the mine operates. We conclude this article with the proposition for the establishment of defense-in-depth as the guiding safety principle for the mining industry and we indicate possible benefits for adopting this structured hazard-centric system approach to mining safety.     

复合隔水条件下煤层群涌水控制因素及对瓦斯赋存的影响

为了探究其水害成因、涌水规律，并找到合适的水害防治手段，采用工业分析、煤岩组分、元素分析等微观实验手段，分析柳塔煤矿各煤层煤体的含水分布及微观影响因素并结合矿井煤系地层赋存特征、区域降水特征、井下涌水统计数据，对柳塔煤矿煤层的涌水来源、涌水构成、涌水的影响因素及其对瓦斯赋存的影响进行分析。结果表明，柳塔煤矿富水性较差，且水分随深度逐渐增加；采动形成的大量裂隙使得原有的隔水层产生裂隙，形成了涌水通道；矿井的涌水量与降水量密切相关，应加强顶板水害的防治。     

煤炭自然发火事故树分析及预防

为了有效地控制煤炭自然发火,减少矿井火灾的发生,依据系统工程的原理,结合煤炭自燃的条件建立了煤炭自然发火事故树,求解得出了事故树最小径集,利用最小径集得出了各基本事件的结构重要度,从而定性分别对砌碹巷道煤炭自然发火事故、采空区(报废采区)遗煤自然发火事故、采空区(生产采区)遗煤自然发火事故、报废巷道与停工停风独头巷道煤炭自然发火事故进行了分析,得出了引起煤炭自然发火的主要原因,并针对其提出了防治煤炭自然发火的预防措施。     

矿井安全评价中的几个问题的初步研究

研究了矿井灾害系统危险评价中的几个关键问题，分析了煤矿灾害系统的结构特点，针对矿井灾害系统这样一个过程性本质模糊的灾害发生环境，提出了危险程度的模糊风险度量理论和基于此理论的定量表示方法，以及对不同灾害事故后果相关性计算方法。还论述了全矿与其各组成部分的危险程度之间的相互关系。     

Stochastic modeling of accident risks associated with an underground coal mine in Turkey

In this study, a methodology is proposed towards development of an uncertainty model that includes randomness in the occurrence of days-lost accidents in a coal mine. The accident/injury data consists of 1390 days-lost accident cases recorded at GLI-Tuncbilek underground lignite mine from January 1994 to December 2002. In the first step of proposed methodology, the frequency and the severity of the accidents have been modeled statistically by fitting appropriate distributions. The test done by BestFit software yields a chi-square value of 21.53 (p = 0.089) with 14 degrees of freedom and estimates the parameter of lambda for Poisson distribution as 12.87 accidents/month. For the severity component, a lognormal distribution is fitted to days-lost data and chi-square goodness-of-fit test calculates a value of 40.44 (p = 0.097) with 30 degrees of freedom. The parameters of lognormal distribution are estimated as a mean of 14.3 days and standard deviation of 23.1 days, respectively. Then, two distributions are basically combined by Monte Carlo simulation in order to construct relative risk levels in yearly base referring to the final cumulative distribution. Finally, a simple forecasting modeling is carried out in order to quantitatively predict the expected risk levels by using decomposition technique in time series analysis. Stochastic model estimates that although, there would be substantial reduction in the expected number of accidents in the near future, the higher level of risks still should be a concern for the mine management.     

Severity of emergency natural gas distribution pipeline incidents: Application of an integrated spatio-temporal approach fused with text mining

The transportation of natural gas often relies on pipelines which require constant monitoring and regular maintenance to prevent spills or leaks. Pipeline incidents could pose a huge adverse impact on people, the environment, and society. Numerous efforts have been invested to identify contributing factors to pipeline incidents so that countermeasures could be developed to proactively prevent some incidents and reduce incident severities or impacts. However, the countermeasures may need to vary for different incidents due to the potential heterogeneity between incidents, and such heterogeneity is likely related to the geology, weather, and built environment which vary across space and time domain. The objective of this study is to revisit the correlates of pipeline incidents, focusing on the spatial and temporal patterns of the correlations between natural gas pipeline incident severity and contributing factors. This study leveraged an integrated spatio-temporal modeling approach, namely the Geographically and Temporally Weighted Ordered Logistic Regression (GTWOLR) to model the natural gas pipeline incident report data (2010–2019) from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration. Text mining was performed to extract additional information from the narratives in reports. Results show several factors have significant spatiotemporally varying correlations with the pipeline incident severity, and these factors include excavation damage, gas explosion, iron pipes, longer incident response time, and longer pipe lifetime. Findings from this study are valuable for pipeline operators, end-users, responders to jointly develop localized strategies to maintain the natural gas distribution system. More implications are discussed in the paper.