Page 24 - Advances In Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining

Safety and productivity in coal 2

mining—How to make both
the top priority

R. Larry Grayson
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States

2.1 Introduction

Throughout the recent history of coal mining in the United States (US), advances and
changes were made in mining methods, the nature of hazards in mines, markets for
coal, technology development and implementation, the geographical extent of coal
mining, availability of workers, unionization of workers, federal and state safety agen-
cies and regulations as well as the extent of enforcement, safety practices, and the rela-
tionship between management and labor. The evolution of these factors on the pursuit
of high-level performance in safety and productivity will be discussed. Certainly, the
discussion will reveal the stepwise progress made separately and eventually in tandem
on key performance metrics. The joint systemization of operators, enforcement agen-
cies, unions, and miners, collectively, has successively improved their performance
toward the ultimate goals of minimizing loss of life and property and maximizing
quality of life and productivity, which will be revealed throughout the chapter.

2.2 Coal mine safety and productivity: 1901–2015

In the following subsections, the progress in mine safety and productivity over the
period from 1901 to 2015 will be presented. Each subsection covers statistics related
to mine safety and production/productivity data, as available. In the earliest years of
the overall period, data were only collected on a limited basis, particularly with respect
to safety metrics, and hours worked by miners during those years are not publicly
available at this time.

2.2.1 Fatalities and estimated fatal incidence rate (IR): 1901–30

No national coal production and safety data can be found for this period, with the
exception of the number of miners employed and the number of fatalities that occurred
each year [1]. The number of hours actually worked by miners is also missing. Thus,
the safety performance measure for this period is the estimated annual fatality rate, as
equivalent to the estimated fatality incidence rate (Fatal IR equiv ). In the US, the Fatal
IR is defined as the number of fatalities occurring in a year divided by the total number
Advances in Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-101288-8.00002-X
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