Safety Innovations in Mine Safety

¶ … Safety Innovations in Mine Safety Technology The recent string of mine disasters in the United States and China proof-positive that mines are dangerous places to work, and even with the most sophisticated mine safety technologies in place, accidents can and do happen all the time. Therefore, identifying opportunities for improvements in existing techniques in mine safety represents a timely field of endeavor.

To this end, this report will provide a review of the relevant peer-reviewed, scholarly and organizational literature to develop an overview of the various types of sensors currently being used in rescue operations when looking for trapped miners, including gas sensors, heat detectors, pressure gauges and new camera technologies. A discussion of how these technologies are currently deployed as well as what mining experts recommend for the use of these technologies is followed by an assessment of their environment impact.

A summary of the research and recommendations for further directions in future research are provided in the conclusion. Review and Discussion Regulation and Oversight of Mines in the United States. A mine is broadly defined by Cooper, Ryan and Sinback (2003) as being "an area of land from which minerals are extracted in non-liquid form or, if in liquid form, are extracted with workers underground"; this definition includes private roads, tailing ponds, retention dams, and other facilities associated with the mine as well (p. 367).

In the United States, mines are regulated by both the state and federal governments, with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (FMSHA) being the primary legislation protecting the safety and health of American mine workers through a combination of civil, criminal, and administrative enforcement mechanisms today (Cooper et al., 2003).

In those cases where violation of the statute is determined to have been willful, the operator of the mine is subject to criminal and civil liability; however, even in those cases where the violation was found to be not willful, operators can be found liable in a civil proceeding without a showing of fault (Cooper et al., 2003) The FMSHA imposes civil and criminal liability on corporate officers, directors, and agents of a corporate operator who knowingly authorize, order, or carry out a violation; agents of non-corporate operators, though, are not subject to any penalties under FMSHA (Cooper et al., 2003).

In addition, any person may be found criminally liable who: Gives advance notice of any inspection to be conducted under FMSHA; Knowingly makes any false statement, representation, or certification in any application, record, report, plan or other document filed or required to be maintained pursuant to FMSHA; or, Distributes, sells, offers for sale, introduces, or delivers in commerce any non-complying equipment for use in a mine, including components and accessories of such equipment, which is represented as complying with FMSHA or other relevant provisions (Cooper et al., 2003).

This legislation and the introduction of various innovations in mining safety techniques have resulted in improvements in the number of disasters and incidents that have taken place in U.S. mines over the years, but tragic-filled accidents continue to plague the industry from time to time and these issues are discussed further below. Historic Incidence of Disasters and Incidents in U.S. Mines.

As can be seen in Figure 1 below, the number of mining disaster incidents and fatalities has leveled off in the past 30 years, but the number of mining disasters and incidents remains unacceptably high in view of the enormous amount of resources and legislation aimed at eliminating these events. Figure 1. Mining Disaster Incidents and Fatalities: 1900-2006. Note: A mining disaster is defined as an incident with 5 or more fatalities. Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2007. The need for improvements in mine safety is a recurring theme throughout U.S.

history, but the attention paid this issue tends to ebb and flow between painful punctuations of mine disasters that attract the public's attention for awhile, only to be replaced by the next disaster de jour. For this purpose, the Mine Safety and Health Administration ("MSHA") has a more vigorous criminal enforcement program than OSHA; the number of criminal referrals from the MSHA under FMSHA has varied, though, over the past two decades (Cooper et al., 2003).

Indeed, as Peters (2006) reports in his essay, "The Other Mine Disaster," "For more than three decades, I've been pointing out that while the media gives major attention to mine disasters, it does almost no reporting on what's being done to improve mine safety between disasters. Few reporters are eager to go down into dark, dank mines where the air is foul and the ceiling usually so low you have to stoop or even crawl" (p. 8).

This author emphasizes that it is only after mine disasters occur does the American public learn facts such as: The amount of fines collected from mine companies for safety violations dropped by more than 75% between 2000 and 2004; During the same period, the number of mining companies referred to the Justice Department for prosecution dropped from 38 to 12; and, The average amount of the fines is now just $150 (Peters, 2006).

In this environment, it is little wonder that mine disasters continue to recur in the United States, and mines in developing countries can be expected to not even enjoy this minimal level of protection. Therefore, it is also reasonable to expect mine disasters to take place at home and abroad, and researchers have been looking for better ways to help rescue those workers who become trapped as a result of such disasters in recent years and these issues are discussed further below. Innovations in Mine Safety Technology.

Modern technology has gone a long way toward providing mine workers with a safety edge in their hazardous workplace. For example, Kravitz, Kovac and Duerr (1994) report that ever since 1981, federal mining laws have mandated that every miner working in underground coal mines must be equipped with a self-contained, self-rescuer (SCSR) that is available for use in emergencies.

According to these authors, "Some miners that have escaped from fires using SCSR's have reported that they had to remove their mouthpiece to talk during escape, thus compromising the protection afforded by the SCSR. To address this problem, two-way, FM radios were built into the SCSR to improve the ability to communicate should the miners be separated over relatively short distances" (Kravitz et al., 1994, p. 23).

Likewise, highly agile robots that are equipped with cameras, gas and heat sensors that can detect the presence of humans are able to navigate the twists and turns of collapsed mines in search of trapped miners, and some mining experts suggest that all mines should be equipped with such devices, as well as preinstalled pressure sensors and gas sensors. According to Roach (2006), "Many mines have gas sensors and some other sensors, at least in main tunnels. But the devices should be deployed more widely.

Sensors placed throughout a mine at strategic locations and tied into a communication system can alert more people to the accumulation of hazardous gases, an impending roof collapse, or a compromised ventilation system in time to evacuate" (p. 2).

One mining safety expert, William "Red" Whittaker, a robotics professor at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, reports that innovations such as sensor-equipped robots designed to search for trapped miners represents an idea whose time has come: "I know of no other single technology that holds as much promise to transform the capacity for mine response and rescue" (quoted in Roach, 2006 at p. 1).

Other technological innovations that could improve mine safety are fairly low-tech by comparison to sensor-equipped robots, and include such simple techniques as using ropes that emit a low-level light that allow trapped miners to find their way in dark caverns that are choked with smoke (Roach, 2006). This author also suggests that mine complexes should have be equipped with.". sturdy, airtight, strategically placed rooms stocked with oxygen, food, water, and carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide absorbents. Such havens would give trapped miners safe places to wait for rescue teams" (Roach, 2006, p. 2).

Mining laws in the U.S. do not currently mandate these technologies and protections, and they.