Presentation: The US Mining Industry’s Response to Major Hazards: Past, Present and Future

The Pittsburgh Geological Society and the Pittsburgh Section of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc. are co-hosting a presentation on Wednesday May 19, 2010.  The title of the technical presentation is "The US Mining Industry’s Response to Major Hazards: Past, Present and Future" by Anthony T. Iannacchione, PhD, PE, PG, SME Henry Krumb Lecturer, Associate Professor and Director of the Mining Engineering Program, University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering.

Abstract

The disaster at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia has many re-thinking the approach to mine safety.  The journey towards safer mining conditions in the US is examined.  The first example has to do with the coal burst hazards and the use of prevention controls and recovery measures to mitigate safety risks.  Serious injuries and fatalities associated with this hazard decrease from the 1950s through the 1990s due largely to innovative engineering and administrative controls.  Unfortunately, the 2007 Crandall Canyon disaster demonstrated that this problem has not been totally solved.

The second example has to do with coal mine explosions, a hazard that many thought controlled.  In the mid 90s, when the USBM was dissolved and NIOSH conducted miner health and safety research including work on reducing the incidence of coal mine explosions.  The Sago, Darby No.1 and Upper Big Branch coal mine disasters remind us that while coal mine explosions are, for the most part, preventable, additional prevention controls and recovery measures may be needed.

These two examples beg the question “why are these devastating disasters still occurring and what can be done to significantly mitigate the risk they present to our nation’s mine workers?”  Surely government agencies will investigate the Upper Big Branch disaster to seek out new innovations or improved guidelines.  In addition, Congress will look to determine if new regulations and standards are needed with stricter enforcement strategies, but there is a certain ‘déjà vu’ to all this.  The US mining industry is already known as one of the most regulated industries in the world, ruled by a proscriptive regulatory structure.  This structure is fundamentally governed by safety systems that are focused mainly on compliance strategies, where the threat of fines and other penalties shape behaviors.  Such a system promotes a reactionary culture that has not stopping the cycle of disasters that plague the mining industry.

What if mining operations employed a more proactive approach to underground safety?

Meeting Place:  Foster’s Restaurant, Foster Plaza Bldg 10, Greentree, PA,

Meeting Schedule:     Social hour -        6:00 p.m.    

                                         Dinner -                 7:00 p.m.       

                                         Program -             8:00 p.m.

Dinner will cost $25.00/person, students $5.00; checks preferred.

Reservations should be emailed to Steve McGuire at smcguire@chesterengineers.com.  Please title as "PGS Dinner Reservation." If you are unable to use email, call (412) 809-6723 and leave your name and number of attendees.  

Please make reservations by noon, Monday, May 17th if you are interested in attending.