Mine Safety

From:  Occupational Saftey & Health

Low barometric pressure and low humidity, combined with the seasonal drying of many areas in underground coal mines, have been key factors in past mine explosions.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has launched its annual “Winter Alert” campaign to call attention to the dangers caused by cold weather. Statistics show that coal-mine explosions occur most often during the colder months, October through March.

From: MSHA

The annual Sentinels of Safety award program recognizes achievement of outstanding safety records, to stimulate greater interest in safety and to encourage development of more effective accident prevention programs among the Nation’s mineral extractive industries. This program is cosponsored by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the National Mining Association (NMA).

More Information

• Rules

Award Winners

• Current (2010) Award Winners and Runner-ups*
  *Runner-ups for the Sentinels of Safety award are based on self-reported injury and employment information submitted by the mine operators that was not independently verified by MSHA. Sentinels of Safety winners were audited by MSHA personnel.

MSHA has announced that they will hold an additional public hearing on their proposed rule for Proximity Detection  Systems on Continuous Mining Machines in Evansville, Indiana.

The public hearing will be on Thursday, October 26 @ 9:00am at:

The newly announced hearing will the forth in a series of public meetings on the proposed rule.  Written comments on the proposal are due to MSHA no later than November 14, 2011.  The attached Federal Register notice has additional information.

Proximity Detection Systems.FedReg

From: The Columbus Dispatch

By Dan Gearino

Ohio hasn’t had a major mine disaster in more than 50 years. If such a thing does happen, the people competing this week in Columbus will be the ones who will work to bring their colleagues out alive.

Mine-rescue teams from across the country, including three from Ohio, are going through simulations that test their ability to react to emergency situations.

They are contestants in the biennial event held by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration, and hosted this year by the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Organizers expect about 1,500 people to attend.