SOME of the largest coal-mining states in the US are beefing up regulations and introducing new legislation in the wake of a handful of fatal accidents during the first part of 2006. The recently completed Mine Safety Recommendations report by the West Virginia Mine Safety Technology Task Force is one of those which may open more minds and more doors to a safer environment for the state’s miners.

“The Mine Safety Technology Task Force was charged with the duty of investigating and evaluating options and developing guidelines geared toward protecting the lives of our miners,” the team explained in the 137-page document developed from its research and released last month.

“Special emphasis has been placed on the systems and equipment necessary to sustain those threatened by explosion, fire or other catastrophic events while attempting escape or awaiting rescue.”

The six-member task force panel, comprising Dale Birchfield, Theodore Hapney, Terry Hudson, Todd Moore, Gary Trout, and Stephen Webber, as well as technical advisor Randall Harris, worked under State Governor Joe Manchin and West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training director James Dean for the three-month study.

The report includes recommendations for a variety of spotlighted mine safety topics, including self-contained self-rescuers (SCSRs), shelters/chambers, communications and tracking, lifelines, seals, seismic location equipment and mine rescue teams proposals. Below are just a few of the recommendations made to Dean for the main areas of SCSRs, shelter use and communications/tracking.

SCSRs

According to its research, the Mine Safety Technology Task Force put forth several recommendations related to emergency air packs. First, it concluded that “at least one cache” should be placed no more than 500 feet from the face of every active section underground, and each cache must hold two breathing units with a capacity of 60 minutes or more for each miner working in that section.

Knowing that the number of workers at a face can change from day to day, the group recommended that the total stored be “based on the total number of miners reasonably likely to be in that area”

From the point of that cache all the way to the surface via the section’s escape route, the task force has recommended additional caches be placed no more than 30 minutes travel time apart, based on an escaping miner walking at a “normal pace”, and the caches be marked with reflective signage.

Training on SCSR use was also mentioned in the report, recommending operations conduct detailed demonstrations and describe all parts of the pack and its operation.

Emergency shelter and chambers

The task force has recommended the theory of “escape first” for miners in the event of an emergency. “However, it has found that options exist to provide the primary function of an emergency shelter/chamber which is designed to potentially sustain life after a major underground event such as an explosion and where escape is cut off,” it said.

To determine the recommendations for this section, the team said it reviewed several mine accident summaries, and concluded first that each shelter should be placed at a crosscut, 1000 feet or less from the nearest working face. Alternatively, the operation may provide an additional surface opening: the placement of each of these must be clearly marked in the mine’s map, they said.

The task force also proposed to Dean three deadline-driven areas: July 1 of this year for the acquisition of technical and engineering support for emergency shelter evaluations; July 10 to ask shelter manufacturers to submit their products to be approved for use, a list of which will be recorded and updated on the office’s website (www.wvminesafety.org); and April 15,

suggested as the plan deadline for operations.

Additionally, the team, according to the report, will meet periodically through mid-2007 to review submissions while mine operators will work on shelter plans at their mines.

Key to this section of the report are the recommended specifications for the shelters, which the team said should provide at least 48 hours life support (air, water, emergency medical supplies and food), and possess a peak overpressure of 15psi and a flash temperature of 300F.

Shelters should also be constructed of materials that allow protection of the chamber even when not in use (before an emergency), and rapidly provide shelter oxygen atmosphere of above 19.5%, CO2 of below 0.5%, CO levels below 50ppm, and an “apparent-temperature” of 95F, Levels of each, added the group, must be able to be monitored from either inside or outside.

Communications/tracking

The task force noted this was another area of careful scrutiny, reviewing and evaluating the “availability, functional and operational capacity of required communication and tracking devices” of a variety of products and design ideas.

The group recommended redundancy in whatever methods are chosen. “[The] task force has determined that, through utilising multiple products and procedures, an integrated communication/tracking system can be installed that would meet the intent of the law … ‘to protect miners in an emergency’.”

In its outline of recommendations, the group reinforced that every operation must have an integrated communication/tracking system installed and that it must be monitored anytime workers are underground. Just as with the shelter deadline, it has asked that Dean gather necessary support to evaluate systems and plan effectiveness by July 1 of this year.

Also, as the task force noted for chamber evaluation, it will meet with the director on a regular basis through June 2007 to be updated on progress from an operational and design perspective. August 31, 2007, will be the deadline for mines to submit communications and tracking plans to the group and Dean. In the report, it asks operations to consider their own environment, including physical mine issues and existing technology, when establishing their plan.

Vital to any chosen communication technology, the task force said, is the ability of the product to let monitoring individuals know the location of all miners before an accident and their location in escapeways following an accident (if the product is still functional).

Products must also feature check-in and check-out capabilities with a communication centre, and two-way communications ability “in at least two separate air courses … at least one of which shall be an intake”

Just after the report’s release, the West Virginia Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety sent the group its written endorsement of the plans.

“He [Dean] applauded the work of the task force,” board executive director Kenneth Dickens told local media outlet the State Journal.

“[The board] complimented and were very impressed with the depth and breadth of their report.”

“This is an important report that covers...click here to read on.