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Joint Industry Safety Committee if the mine is affiliated with the United Mine Workers of America, and to the Geological Survey if the mine is on the public domain or on Indian land.

Section 6b of the Coal Mine Inspections and Investigations Act of May 7, 1941, provide for publishing information obtained under the act. Therefore, a copy of each final inspection report is forwarded to the Office of Mineral Reports, Bureau of Mines, where a press release, covering salient features of the report, is prepared and sent to the newspapers in the area in which the mine is located. Inasmuch as the act delegates no authority to the Federal inspectors to enforce compliance with their recommendations, the publication of information in the reports focuses public attention on the need for safer mining practices and the prevention of injuries to those who produce the Nation's coal supply.

Now, I have here a story, Mr. Chairman, of the Federal Mine Safety Code, and I think I will just skip over that. Suffice it to say that this came into being after the cessation of work in 1946 and remained in effect while the Government had possession of the coal mines, but was terminated on June 30, 1947. Thereafter the Coal Mines Administrator no longer had authority to administer the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety Code.

I have a copy of the national bituminous coal wage agreements of 1947 and 1948, which incorporate a mine-safety program. If you would care, Mr. Chairman, I would at least like to have that portion of this agreement put into the record.

Mr. KELLEY. Without objection, it will be inserted in the record. Will you mark what you want included?

Mr. FORBES. Yes. I think it is necessary to incorporate only the part that relates to the safety program. I might also include here something which is not a part of the Safety Code, but is the Mine Safety Committee, and that has been mentioned before. (The matter referred to is as follows:)

MINE SAFETY PROGRAM

(A) MINE SAFETY CODE

The Federal Mine Safety Code for bituminous coal and lignite mines of the United States, adopted pursuant to an agreement dated May 29, 1946, between the Secretary of the Interior and the President of the United Mine Workers of America and promulgated July 24, 1946, is hereby adopted and incorporated by reference in this contract as a code for health and safety in bituminous and lignite mines of the parties of the first part, with the following exceptions and alterations:

(1) The opening paragraph beginning with the words "pursuant to" and ending with the words "Executive order" is stricken out.

(2) The words "Coal Mines Administrator" are stricken out wherever they appear.

(3) Sections 5 (a) and 5 (b) of article XII and all of article XIV are stricken out.

(4) References in the code to its effective date shall be deemed to refer to the effective date of this contract.

(B) ENFORCEMENT

(1) Reports of Federal Coal Mines Inspectors: Wherever inspectors of the Federal Bureau of Mines, in making their inspections in accordance with authority as provided in Public Law 49, Seventy-seventh Congress, find that there are violations of this code and make recommendations for the elimination of such

noncompliance, the operators shall promptly comply with such recommendations, except as modified in paragraph 2 of this subdivision (b).

(2) Whenever either party to the contract feels that compliance with the recommendations of the Federal mine inspectors as provided above would cause irreparable damage or great injustice, they may appeal such recommendation of the Joint Board of Review as hereinafter provided.

(C) REVIEW AND REVISION

In order to carry out the intent and purposes of the agreement affecting the Mine Safety Code, it is agreed that from time to time Joint consultations shall be had with the United States Bureau of Mines looking toward review and appropriate revision of the Mine Safety Code.

(D) JOINT INDUSTRY BAFETY COMMITTEE

There is hereby established under this agreement a Joint Industry Safety Committee composed of four members, two of whom will be appointed by the mine workers and two of whom will be appointed by the operators, whose duty it shall be to (1) arbitrate any appeal which is filed with it by any operator or any mine worker who feels that any reported violation of the code and recommendation of compliance by a Federal coal mine inspector has not been justly reported or that the action required of him to correct the violation would subject him to irreparable damage or great injustice; and (2) to consult with the United States Bureau of Mines in accordance with the provisions of section (c) above.

(E) MINE SAFETY COMMITTEE

At each mine there shall be a mine safety committee selected by the local union. The committee members while engaged in the performance of their duties shall be paid by the union, but shall be deemed to be acting within the scope of their employment in the mine within the meaning of the workmen's compensation law of the State where such duties are performed.

The mine safety committee may inspect any mine development or equipment used in producing coal. If the committee believes conditions found endanger the life and bodies of the mine workers, it shall report its finding and recommendations to the management. In those special instances where the committee believes an immediate danger exists and the committee recommends that the management remove all mine workers from the unsafe area, the operator is required to follow the recommendation of the committee.

If the safety committee in closing down an unsafe area acts arbitrarily and capriciously, members of such committee may be removed from the committee. Grievances that may arise as a result of a request for removal of a member of the safety committee under this section shall be handled in accordance with the provisions providing for settlement of disputes.

The safety committee and operators shall maintain such records concerning inspections, findings, recommendations, and actions relating to this provision of the agreement as may be required, and copies of all reports made by the safety committee shall be filed with the operators.

(f) The International Union, United Mine Workers of America, may designate memorial periods provided it shall give proper notice to each district.

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION AND OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES

Each operator who is a party to this agreement will provide the protection and coverage of the benefits under workmen's compensation and occupational disease laws, whether compulsory or elective, existing in the States in which the respective employees are employed. Refusal of any operator to carry out this direction shall be deemed a violation of this agreement. Notice of compliance with this section shall be posted at the mine.

Mr. FORBES. However, the national bituminous coal wage agree. ments of 1947 and 1948, between the bituminous coal mine operators and the United Mine Workers of America continued the principal provisions of the 1946 agreement, and the Federal Mine Safety Code was adopted and incorporated by reference in these contracts and stipulated that the operators shall comply promptly with recommen

dations of the Federal coal mine inspectors, functioning under the provisions of Public Law 49, Seventy-seventh Congress, with the right of appeal to a joint industry safety committee.

In many respects the conditions, practices, and hazards in anthracite mines differ from those in bituminous coal mines, therefore it was necessary to prepare a separate set of safety standards for use of Federal coal mine inspectors assigned to inspect anthracite mines under Public Law 49. The anthracite standards parallel insofar as possible the Federal Mine Safety Code for Bituminous Coal and Lignite Mines.

The anthracite wage agreement of June 7, 1946, and subsequent agreements between the international union and districts 1, 7, and 9, United Mine Workers of America, and the anthracite operators, provides in part as follows:

6 (A) FEDERAL Mine SAFETY STANDARDS

Inspectors of the Federal Bureau of Mines shall make periodic investigations of the mines and report to the mine management and the United Mine Workers of America any violations of the Federal safety standards-operators and mine workers agree to accept such standards of safety adaptable and practical to the anthracite industry, subject, however, to the right of review by the Director of the United States Bureau of Mines, upon petition from the operator or the United Mine Workers of America.

Now, we have in addition to the safety standards the joint safety committee, and I have already put that into the record. So I do not think it is necessary to go into the anthracite safety standards.

Another phase of our work is the educational and investigative work. I want to emphasize now that we rely not only on inspections but education of the miner and the official and also carry on research and investigative work.

The reduction or elimination of coal-mine accidents will be brought about not only by discovering hazards during coal-mine inspections and recommending what should be done but, equally important, how to do it. How to prevent, reduce, and eliminate hazards involves safety education and to this end the health and safety division embarked on a training program for coal-mine officials and workmen. Accordingly, some of the personnel of the Coal Mine Inspection Branch of the Bureau of Mines perform special work, as provided in section 6 of Public Law 49. This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior acting through the Bureau of Mines to expend the funds made available to him for the protection or advancement of health and safety in coal mines and for the prevention or relief of accidents or occupational diseases therein, in such lawful manner as he may deem most effective in the light of the information obtained under this act to promote the accomplishment of the object for which such funds are granted.

Educational activities are at present confined to training mine supervisory officials and mine safety committeemen and other employees in the fundamentals of mine safety.

Twenty-two instructors are now regularly engaged in teaching coalmine supervisory officials with respect to safety as applied to falls of roof and coal, ventilation, the handling and storage of explosives, use of electricity, transportation, explosions and fires, miscellaneous hazards, and other items identified in the Federal Mine Safety Code for

bituminous coal and lignite mines and in the safety standards for anthracite mines. Such training is not ordinarily available to mine officials, and the need for it has long been apparent to the coal-mining industry and to the Bureau of Mines. The interest in the training is manifested by the attendance at the classes.

Mr. Chairman, I know, being a mining man, you will be very much interested in this new activity.

Since this work was started in March 1948 more than 1,500 supervisory officials, such as mine bosses, fire bosses, mine safety engineers, and so forth, completed the course, and more than 2,300 were in training on March 1, 1949.

The training is being conducted in the principal coal-producing regions of the Nation. The training program for mine safety committeemen was instituted to provide such personnel with a sound. knowledge of the Federal Mine Safety Code, the safety standards for anthracite mines, and the fundamentals of mine safety, so that they would be fortified better in cooperating with management in improving safety and health conditions and practices in coal mines. The mine safety committees were established as part of the contract between the mine operators and the United Mine Workers of America under which the committees may inspect any mine development or coal-producing equipment and report their findings and recommendations to management for corrective action. This training is being conducted by Bureau instructors in the principal coal-producing areas of the Nation. The work was started in January 1947; and from that date to March 1, 1949, almost 8,000 mine safety committeemen and other mine employees have completed the training. Approximately 1,500 were in training on March 1, 1949. The training program is being expanded because of the increasing demand for it. Such training also is available to mine employees not covered by the national bituminous coal wage agreement. In view of the need for training approximately 400,000 mine employees, other than mine supervisory officials, in accident prevention, it is hoped that the training work can be extended to include such employees.

At this time I want just to go briefly into some of the investigative and research work that we are doing in connection with our coal-mining safety program. Before doing that, I would like to reemphasize my position on the value of safety educational work.

I started in the Bureau of Mines on February 15, 1915. In the early days it was teaching first aid and mine rescue on mine rescue cars. I traveled in practically all of the coal- and metal-producing regions of the country. I am definitely sold on the value of first-aid training.

I am sorry to say that in the last several years, the first-aid training has had a downward trend. I am hoping that there will be better cooperation on the part of mine workers and mine officials, and that we can revitalize that training, because I know the man who is trained in first aid is less likely to be injured than a person not trained. And in the event he has occasion to use his training in an emergency, he has it at hand.

I wish I had time to go on and tell you about many, many instances that have come up in my lifetime where a man's life has been saved just because his buddy knew how to give artificial respiration, knew how to stop arterial bleeding, how to prevent a wound from becoming

infected, how to prevent a simple fraction from becoming compound, and so on.

I am just hoping and praying that that work will be revived, because there is plenty of good to come out of it.

Mr. BAILEY. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. KELLEY. I do not like to interrupt a witness, but Mr. Bailey would like to ask a question.

Mr. FORBES. That is all right, Mr. Bailey.

Mr. BAILEY. I would like to ask if the retrogression in that safety work is general, or is it just in certain sections of mine work? I am under the impression that that is on the upgrade in West Virginia.

Mr. FORBES. Congressman, right now it is a little bit on the up, and I am just hoping and praying that it will continue that way.

Just to give you an example, 10 or 12 years ago the Bureau of Mines issued up to 100,000 certificates in a year. Last year it was around 40,000. There are signs right now of the work being revived. I wanted to call attention to this very important safety activity.

So.

Mr. BAILEY. Do you attribute any of that to the war activity?
Mr. FORBES. There may be something to that.

Mr. BAILEY. I am sorry I interrupted you.

Mr. FORBES. That is all right. I am only happy that you have done

I would like to go on to another safety activity that I know our chairman is familiar with. I can remember probably 15 years ago, Mr. Kelley, going out to a mine of which you were the manager. Do you remember that?

ter.

Mr. KELLEY. Yes.

Mr. FORBES. And we organized a Holmes Safety Association chap

Now, I think that is one of the answers, to get the miners and officials together where they can sit down and discuss accidents and their prevention, mixed with a certain amount of entertaining features to make the meetings interesting. And that is another very, very important part of our work, carrying on these safety meetings.

I might say this, that upward of 1,500,000 persons have been trained in the mineral industries in first aid, and approximately 90,000 in mine rescue work. I do not think that there is a mining community in the United States today that has not had men trained in the use and care of respiratory equipment, so that in the event of a mine disaster or a mine fire, they are available to render all possible aid.

The Bureau of Mines, since its inception, has carried on special investigations for the benefit of the mining industry to promote safe and healthful working conditions. Such investigations usually involve field and laboratory studies and research. The outstanding hazard in coal mines that has resulted in the greatest number of deaths and injuries since the mining of coal began is from the falls of roof and coal. Falls of roof and coal are the cause of more than half the annual fatalities in coal mines and about one-fourth of the nonfatal injuries. The Federal coal-mine inspectors give special attention to the mine roof and the prevention of its unexpected collapse. In addition, a small group of Bureau engineers are studying the fundamentals of roof control and have developed what is known as the "suspension roof support method." Moreover, these engineers are

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