Abstract
Helander, M.G., Krohn, G.S. and Curtin, R., 1983. Safety of roof-bolting operations in underground coal mines. Journal of Occupational Accidents, 5: 161–175. Roof bolting is generally considered as being the most dangerous job in underground coal mines in the United States. In addition to the ever present danger of roof falls, the roof-bolting machines have many design features that seem to further increase the hazards of the job. The following were the main findings of the study: (1) Fatalities are mostly caused by roof falls (85% of the cases), whereas less serious accidents are mostly caused by the machine (about 50%) and to a lesser degree by roof falls (25%). (2) Roof-bolter operators with less than one year of work experience incur approximately five times the number of accidents and three times the number of fatalities as compared to more experienced operators. (3) Several work activities are involved in accidents; drilling accidents are the most frequent (18%), followed by inserting bolts (14%) and tramming (13%). (4) All machine parts of the roof bolter are involved in accidents: the drill steel, the boom, and the frame being the most frequent. Even safety features, such as the canopy and the automatic temporary roof support are involved. (5) Accident causation patterns are different for machines made by different manufacturers.
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