Summary

This review discusses safety at coal mines. An overview of safety equipment is given, including communication equipment, the self-contained breathing apparatus, and safety and rescue chambers. A list of world-wide organizations dealing with coal mine safety is also given.

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COAL MINE SAFETY NEWS

As I write this, the internet is awash with news of new legislation to improve coal mine safety. The most encouraging is that Pennsylvania is about to approve a new bill that revises the state's mine-safety law. To wit:

Approved unanimously yesterday by the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, the measure creates a state mine-safety board that can make regulations without waiting for legislative approval; strengthens mine-safety standards; and requires mine operators, rather than employees, to take responsibility for accidents.

Here's what I think: all the reporting, commenting, and exhorting in the world will achieve nothing if the individual mine worker cannot take personal responsibility for his/her own safety in an environment where management provides what is needed to exercise individual rights to safety and life.