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During a 5-month period in 2006, three underground coal mining incidents in the United States resulted in the deaths of 19 miners. All three incidents received nationwide attention, particularly the Sago Mine disaster, which occurred on January 2 and resulted in the deaths of 12 miners. The other two incidents, which occurred at the Alma No. 1 Mine on January 19 and the Darby No. 1 Mine on May 20, resulted in the deaths of two miners and five miners, respectively. The occurrence of three fatal incidents in 5 months was a departure from recent trends in underground coal mining safety. Before 2006, the number of mining disasters had decreased from a high of 20 in 1909 to an average of one every 4 years during 1985-2005. Deaths resulting from the three incidents were the stimulus for the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 (MINER Act),[1] which amended the Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to improve safety, health, preparedness, and emergency response in U.S. mining. This report briefly describes the three 2006 mining incidents, reviews mining disasters in the United States during 1900-2006, and traces the effect of the disasters and the 2006 incidents on mining health and safety regulations.
Federal law mandates reporting of mining-related incidents that can result in loss of life, such as an explosion or fire in an underground coal mine. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) determines whether investigation of such incidents is required and, if so, initiates the investigation within 24 hours. MSHA teams evaluate the scene, interview witnesses and experts, and with the aid of researchers from CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and other technical specialists, recreate specific conditions to measure and evaluate outcomes. The three 2006 incidents were investigated at both the state and federal level. Of the three incidents, two were classified by MSHA as disasters, which are defined as incidents with five or more fatalities.[2,3,4]
To better understand the context of these events, NIOSH researchers reviewed mining fatality surveillance data from the period 1900-2006 published by MSHA[5,6] and the U.S. Bureau of Mines.[7] Underground mine disasters are classified by cause as follows: 1) explosion, 2) fire, 3) haulage (i.e., transportation of personnel, material, or equipment), 4) ground fall/bump (i.e., fall of roof rock or outward bursting of walls in an underground work area), 5) inundation (i.e., usually an inrush of toxic gases or water from old mine workings), and 6) other.[8] Using MSHA reports, NIOSH researchers collected additional data on the deaths and circumstances associated with the Sago, Alma, and Darby incidents. Researchers reviewed published materials and traced how events during these 2006 incidents led to the MINER Act.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2009;57(51):1379-1383. © 2009 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Cite this: Underground Coal Mining Disasters and Fatalities -- United States, 1900-2006 - Medscape - Jan 02, 2009.
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