THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN AND JOURNAL OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADES. ______________________________________ Vol. CX. ________________________________________________________________________________ Safety Measures at American Mines.* By HOWARD N. EAVENSON. The mines of the United States Coal and Coke Com- pany are located in the Pocahontas coal field, in McDowell County, West Virginia. Twelve plants have been opened and equipped, of which only nine are now in operation. The rules of the company, which have been in opera- tion since work was first begun, are similar to those in use by the H. C. Frick Coke Company at its mines in Pennsylvania, in which “ safety first ” was incorporated as early as 1907; and it has always been the policy of both companies to look carefully after the safety of their employees. Although the field is an extension of the old Pocahontas field, the mines, located upon a new branch railroad, are away by themselves, and, as is usual in such cases, the class of labour attracted at first was temporary in character. The rapid develop- ment of the mines required the employment of many new men and officials each year. In our opinion, the first essential to success in work of this sort is the recognition of the fact that it is the duty of the employer, as far as possible, and by every means in his power, to prevent injury to the employees. So long as the view prevails that when the employe has been notified of any dangerous condition the manage- ment’s responsibility has ended, effective prevention of accidents cannot be achieved. Training Officials. Early in 1909, our inside organisation was increased by adding to the list of officials at each mine assistant mine foremen enough to provide one for each 25 men employed. To each assistant was assigned a definite territory, over which he had the same authority that the mine foreman exercised over the entire mine. ■ Where the territory assigned to an assistant was very large, the limit to the number of men in his charge was fixed by the number of places that he could inspect easily in three hours. The average number of men under each assistant foreman is about 22. The funda- mental idea in appointing these men was to provide enough executive officials at each mine to allow each one to stay in any working place where any dangerous condition was found until that condition was removed; and this is the one thing rigidly required of these men. It is now believed, with the experience of practically five years, that if this rule is rigidly followed, and the remaining rules of the company complied with, at least three-fourths of the accidents now happening can be prevented. To acquaint these men thoroughly with the instruc- tions of our higher officials, and with the policy of the company in its mine work, complete projections are made, showing the proposed workings of each mine for a period of two or three years in advance; the station at which each place is turned, and its course; the weight of track to be laid; the widths of the various places; the size of trolley wire to be used; the area on top of overcasts; whether overcasts and stoppings are to be permanent or temporary; and various other details, so that the future work to be done can be thoroughly understood by every official in the mine. In addition to this, a synopsis has been made in the form of a blue-print book of the instructions issued from time to time through circular letters by the general super- intendent. It contains, under appropriate headings, in language that can readily be understood, the standards of the company for ventilation and inspection; explo- sives and shooting; track work, line sights, etc.; timbering, slate work, etc.; and general rules and standards for electric work. With these are bound standard plans for room timbering and track work, for various widths of places and depths of cuts, room * From a paper on “ Safety Methods and Organisation of United States Coal and Coke Company,” read before the American Institute of Mining Engineers. FRIDAY, JULY 16, 1915. switches, clearances and supports for trolley wires, track bonding around switches, placing trolley frogs, etc. Each assistant mine foreman is furnished with a copy, and is required to familiarise himself with its contents. Systematic Timbering. After such additional supervision had been furnished for the inside workings of the company, a system of systematic timbering was introduced, under which every room in the mine is timbered, in accordance with the standard plan referred to above, unless the roof in the place is exceedingly bad and requires more than standard timbering. This systematic timbering has been a large factor in the reduction of accidents. It is an important duty of the assistant mine foreman to see that the timbers called for are set as soon as the coal is removed sufficiently to allow their placing, and not to allow the miners to wait until the day’s loading is com- pleted before setting any posts; The assistant mine foreman must see that all timbers that should be set in any place are so set before he leaves the place. SAFETY THE FIRST CONSIDERATION ___________ UNITED STATES COAL & COKE COMPANY REPORT OF..............MINE .................191.. MR. E. O’TOOLE General Superintendent Dear Sir:- I visited..........Places, No. Men.........on.....Section and found it as follows: 1. Quantity of Air in last Cross Cut............................. Timbering (State condition and numbers of places)............... Clay Ballast on Haulage Roads.................................................... Frogs, Switches and Derails not protected....................... Bad Slate in Rooms and Ribs________________,________________ Bad Slate on Headings........................................................................ Powder Caps..........Tamping for Shots................... Dangerous Practices with Stock.............................. Pieler and Safety Lamps............Foreman’s Cane.......... Danger Signs..........Letters Posted Regarding Accidents...... Condition of Mine Cars.................................... 2. Dirty Coal............................................... Slate and Rash Piles....................................... 3. Cutting—Narrow.................Shallow................. Timber Drawn_________.......................................... Condition of Roads........................................ Defective Wiring.......................................... Line Sights...................Light Cars.................. Condition of Live Stock.................................... Feed and Water given Stock................................. Injured Stock in Stable from This Section...................... Mining Machines out for Repair.....Safety Mottoes in Place.... Foremen’s Record Book........Material covered up or lost..... ........................................................ ........................................................ ........................................................ Condition of Pumps and Motors............................. Miscellaneous___________............................................. (When anything is wrong, give number of place, etc.) MERITS?........... ................, .... Inspector Fig. 1.—Mine Inspector’s Report All shooting is done by the assistant mine foreman by electric battery; the miners drilling, loading, and tamping the holes with clay, which is furnished in each working place. The charge limit is 2 lb. of explosive per hole, and only one hole is shot in any place at one time. None but permissible explosives are used, and all coal is undercut before being shot. About 85 per cent, of the cutting is done by machines; pick work is done only in room pillars, and in places where the weight renders machine-cutting inadvisable or unneces- sary. When the miner is ready for a shot, the assistant mine foreman comes to the place, sees that all “ bug dust ” has been loaded; that the place is clean; and the hole properly loaded; and that no coal dust has been used in the tamping. He then attaches the cable to the exploder wires, and, after the miners and himself have retired to a safe place, fires the shot. After this, he inspects the face and roof, instructs the miners about pulling down loose coal or slate and setting posts, and sees that this is done before he leaves. Where pick No. 2846. mining is done, he sees that the place has been undercut before it is shot, and that no shooting in solid coal is done. On all haulage roads, and wherever more than one car is hauled at a time, 2-5 ft. clearance is provided on each side of the mine car. This covers all places in the mine except rooms. On all haulage roads, at intervals of not more than 175 ft., are placed electric lights, which not only allow the trolley wire to be plainly seen, but have led to a marked improvement in the quality of the haulage track. Trolley wires are protected by hanging boards at all places where men or mules cross under them. The current used is of 275 volts. All officials—superintendent, mining engineer, mine inspector, foremen and their assistants—are instructed not to leave any place in which any dangerous con- dition is found until that condition has been removed. All new men employed inside are instructed in their duties by the mine inspector, and this fact, with their names, is noted on his report. The mine inspector and mining engineer also measure the amount of air in circu- lation, and report the quantity passing the last break- through of each pair of headings; 12,000 cu. ft. per minute is the amount required by the regulations. The form used by the inspector is shown in fig. 1. Both inside and outside, the careful guarding of machinery was inaugurated. After an experience of two or three years, and the injury of several men in machines thought to be well guarded, it was found better to design the guards so that it would be difficult to get at the machinery, even to oil it, rather than to make this work easy and run the possible chance of an accident. In other words, it was found necessary to make access to all machinery a matter of some trouble, even to those maintaining it. An Accident Bonus System. The class of men available for assistant mine foremen was not at first as good as was desired. The problem, as in all accident-prevention work, was one of educa- tion; and it was found somewhat difficult to convince some of the men, particularly the older ones, that the company actually meant “ safety ” to be the first con- sideration. In order to stimulate the interest of the assistant foremen in their work and to make the preven- tion of accidents a personal matter with them, a premium system was started in May 1910, and has been, with some modifications found necessary, in effect since that time. Under this system, an assistant mine foreman having a clear accident record for a month receives a bonus of 5 dols.; should his record be free from accidents for six consecutive months, he receives a special premium of 10 dols. per month in addition to the 5 dols. already mentioned; and this bonus of 15 dols. per month is paid him as long as his record remains clear. Should he have an accident he is charged with demerits for each man who is injured under his charge each month at the rate of 10 demerits for each minor, 20 demerits for each serious, and 40 demerits for each fatal accident. No person having 10 or more demerits to his discredit at the end of each month is entitled to any premium, but if he has less than 10 demerits he will receive the same premium as before. In addition to the accident record, no person is eligible for a premium for any month in any position who has not worked in that position every working day but one during the month, unless he shall have been promoted during the month from one position to another and is eligible in both positions. The intention of this requirement is to make the foreman work regularly. A number of accidents have occurred while the regular foreman was not working and his substitute was not equally familiar with the conditions. The work of every man must be satisfactory to his immediate superior. If it is not so, the superior has the right to charge him with demerits at the rate of 10 per month. This is a disciplinary measure, but has been used very seldom. Any assistant foreman in whose section the company’s mine inspector finds any dangerous practices or dan- gerous conditions which might cause 'accidents, is