Carbide lamps are used by all underground employees, smoking underground is still permitted, and nonpermissible electrical equipment is used in the face regions. COAL DUST Throughout this inspection, accumulations of coal dust were noted along haulage roads and in rooms. Dusty atmospheres were prevalent during cutting and loading operations. No precautions are taken to allay coal dust at its source. Samples of coal dust were collected in the mine and were analyzed at the Bureau of Mines laboratory. The results of these analyses are shown in table 2. TABLE 2.-Analysis of dust samples collected in No. 5 mine, Centralia Coal Co., Centralia, Marion County, Ill., Sept. 20-22, 1943 Rock dust has been used on the main haulage roads and in the room headings; however, no rock dust has been used since the first inspection. HAULAGE Stopblocks are not provided at the ground landing to prevent cars from running into the shaft, and switches are not provided with switch throws. Frogs, switches, and guardrails are not blocked. The underground haulage system, equipment, and maintenance are in good condition. The main haulage track is in good condition with respect to alinement and ballasting; however, the roads are very dirty on both sides and in the center of the track. Clearance is inadequate. Shelter holes are not provided, and crosscuts that could be used for shelter holes are filled with gob and road cleanings. Switches are not provided with parallel switch throws and frogs and guardrails are not blocked. Cars are pushed by locomotive on the main haulage roads, and the trip rider rides the front end of trips, and jumps off and on while the trips are in motion. No trip lights are provided. Locomotives appear to be in good working condition; however, they are not equipped with gongs or necessary tools for rerailing cars or locomotives. The men ride on the trolley-wire side of all man trips, and employees were noted jumping off the trip before it came to a full stop. ELECTRICITY The condition of the electrical equipment and electric transmission lines is similar to that which was observed during the first inspection. It is of the nonpermissible type. The 2,300-volt switchboard in the generating room is not guarded. The switches, controls, and motors in the tipple are of both the open and enclosed types. The underground motor-generator station is not provided with fireproof doors. The telephone wires at several places are on the same side of the entry as the power wires. Nips on cutting machines, loading machines, drills, and locomotive cables are not equipped with fuses. The trolley wires are not guarded at several places where men are required to pass under. The trolley wire is not sectionalized or guarded at the man-trip loading and unloading stations. The telephones are not equipped with fuses, nor are the cases grounded. Safety chains are not provided for locking the cutting chains of mining machines before the machines are moved. The machines are not equipped with fuses. The machines are inspected daily by the repairmen, but no record is kept of these inspections. Temporary cable splices are made with a splicing ring and friction tape. They are kept in service until the cable is worn out. No change has been made in the postmounted open-type drills since the first inspection. The thread bars are not guarded, and the frames are not grounded. The wiring at the pump houses is in poor condition, and the belts and gears on the pumps are not properly guarded. Switch boxes are not provided with fuses. Permanent pump installations are not housed in a room constructed of incombustible material, and the frames of starting motors are not grounded. FIRE PROTECTION UNDERGROUND No attempt has been made to provide better fire protection inside the mine, other than supplying said barrels at the underground substation. Oil is transported into the mine in 50-gallon steel drums (original containers) and are stored in open crosscuts and room necks. PROTECTIVE CLOTHING About 90 percent of the employees wear hard hats, and about 80 percent wear safety-toe shoes, and no goggles were observed. MISCELLANEOUS The No. 5 mine is connected on the north to two worked-out and abandoned mines; the Centralia Nos. 1 and 2. All the water that these mines are making is being hand ed by a 3-inch pump, and a pumper is on dutly 24 hours every day. Therefore, due to the fact that there is no water sealed off in this mine, and the present workings are not driving toward any old abandoned or worked-out mines, it is the thought of the inspectors that the recommendation under "Flood hazard" in the first report should be deleted. From information received from the superintendent of the mine, the following precautions are taken. All active oil and gas wells now penetrating the strata below the coal bed, are protected by a pillar of coal extending at least 50 feet on all sides. Oil and gas wells that have penetrated the old workings are surrounded by a wall of cement and an outer steel casing extending 30 feet below the coal bed and open to the outside; all abandoned wells are properly plugged with concrete and a record of every well drilled or abandoned is filed with the State department of mines and minerals. The escapeway is provided with railed stairways and maintained in good condition; however, the escapement shaft is lined with combustible material from top to bottom which presents a fire hazard. Combustible litter in the vicinity of explosives boxes and rock-dust barricades has been removed. The first west-south entry is examined daily and a record of these inspections is kept in the mine manager's office. Mine examiners now leave their evidence at the face of all places examined. The face bosses are not provided with permissible flame safety lamps. FIRST AID AND MINE RESCUE None of the employees have had first-aid or mine-rescue training in the last 6 years. ACCIDENT RECORD For the first 8 months of 1943, the records show 17 lost-time accidents, including 2 fatalities, which have resulted in 12,245 days' lost time. The coal produced during this period was 15,967 tons per lost-time accident. This record indicates the necessity for closer supervision, especially regarding roof control as the two fatal accidents resulted from roof falls. SAFETY ORGANIZATION No safety inspector is employed, and safety meetings are not being held by mine officials and employees. COMMENDABLE SAFETY PRACTICES The Centralia Coal Co. is commended for the manner in which it has complied with some recommendations outlined in the last inspection report. The following improvements and safe practices have been established by the company since September 3, 1942. 1. Wooden tamping bars are now being used. 2. Not more than a 24-hour supply of explosives is taken into the mine at any one time. 3. Explosives are kept in locked boxes at all times, except while in use. 4. A careful check with the State department of mines and minerals of the locations for new, old, and abandoned wells, is being made. 5. Combustible litter in the vicinity of the explosives-storage boxes and rockdust barricades, has been removed. 6. The first west-south entry is being examined daily and a record of these inspections is kept in the mine manager's office. 7. The mine examiners now leave their dates and initials in all places examined. RECOMMENDATIONS Many improvements have been made at this mine since September 1942; however, some of the recommendations made in the last report have not been carried out. These recommendations are indicated with an asterisk (*) in the following list. Other hazards were observed during this inspection, and suggestions for correcting such are also made. It is believed that these safety measures are necessary to prevent accidents at this time. TIPPLE, SHOPS, LAMP HOUSE, BINS, AND BATHHOUSE *1. Railroad cars droppers should use safety belts while dropping cars to and from the tipple. *2. Dust accumulations throughout the tipple should be removed and future accumulations prevented by frequent cleaning. 3. The V-belt from the motor to the shaker drive should be guarded. *4. All electric motors used in the tipple and cleaning plant should be of the dustproof type, and the switches and controls should be enclosed. *5. All belts, gears, sprockets, and flywheels should be properly guarded. *6. Naphtha used for permissible safety lamps, should be kept in an approved container. *7. The wooden coal-storage bin should be made fire-resistant, or fire doors should be installed at the shaft. *8. The wash house should be provided with at least two exits. A disinfectant foot bath should be provided, and the disinfectant changed daily. HOISTING EQUIPMENT AND SHAFTS *1. The shafts should be lined with some incombustible material to elminiate the fire hazard at all seasons of the year. *2. The hoisting engineers should undergo a physical examination at least annually, and a report of such examinations should be kept. *3. Records should be kept of the inspections of the ropes and sheave wheels. *4. Cages used for hoisting and lowering men should be provided with gates or chains across the ends and the sides should be enclosed. The safety catches should be tested at least every 2 months, and a record kept of such tests. *5. When hoisting or lowering men, movable parts of the cages should be locked. *6. A signaling device should be installed at the ground landing, and so arranged that signals can be given to the engineer from the cages. SYSTEM OF CHECKING MEN INTO AND OUT OF THE MINE *1. There should be a positive method of checking employees in and out of the mine of identifying every individual underground. TIMBERING *1. A set of timbering rules should be formulated, posted, and strictly enforced. Temporary cross bars should be set as closs as possible to the face of all working places. While coal is being loaded out, temporary safety posts should be set between the last cross bar and the face of the solid coal to afford full protection to the workman at all times. *2. There should be an adequate supply of cap pieces, suitable size, available in all working places. *3. All officials and miners should use testing bars when testing the roof, and miners should be taught the vibration method of testing the roof. *4. Goggles should be provided and men required to wear them when doing work where particles are likely to fly. EXPLOSIVES AND BLASTING *1. A barricade should be provided on all sides for the explosives-storage magazine, and the open space between the walls should be filled with sand or gravel. Explosives and detonator distributing magazines should be provided. 2. Danger signs should be posted in such position that a bullet passing through will not enter the magazine and the door should be provided with two 5-tumbler padlocks. *3. Dry grass and brush should be kept clean for at least 50 feet from the explosives-storage magazine and screened ventilators should be provided. *4. Examinations for explosive gas should be made before and after shooting, and fire runs should be made after blasting. *5. Shots should be fired singly. *6. Electric detonators of proper strength should be used and they should be fired with a permissible shot-firing device. VENTILATION AND GASES *1. The fan should be installed on the surface, and operated exhausting. *2. The fan house should be constructed of incombustible material, offset at least 25 feet from the line of the opening, and provided with pressure-relief or explosion doors. 3. The ventilation should be increased by cleaning up falls in the air courses, tightening stoppings, and erecting doors in pairs to form air locks, particularly in 20 south off 4 west. *4. The air in working places and travelingways should be increased in volume until it contains at least 20 percent oxygen, and not more than 0.5 percent carbon dioxide. *5. The quantity of air reaching the last open crosscut in any pair of working entries, or the maximum inby point of a split, should be at least 6,000 cubic feet per minute. *6. All entries, rooms, or sections that cannot be well ventilated and inspected, or that are not being used for coursing the air, should be sealed by strong fireproof stoppings and provided with some means of bleeding off the gas into the return. *7. Crosscuts should be turned at 60-foot intervals in all working places, and line brattice should be used to conduct the air to the faces when necessary. *S. All hauling and hoisting should be on the intake air. *9. Stoppings in all entries should be constructed of incombustible material. *10. Stoppings in rooms should be of gob wall or tight board, plastered or united, except that canvas may be used in the last open crosscut in connection with line brattice. *11. A split ventilation system utilizing air crossings, should be used instead of doors for conducting ventilation in all main passageways. *12. Where doors are used in connection with coursing the air in any one split, or if used in lieu of a split ventilation system, they should be installed in pairs to form air locks, be self-closing, and should not be provided with latches to hold them open. *13. Places should not be worked on an air current that has passed through abandoned workings that cannot be inspected. *14. The mine should be classed as gassy and should be operated as such. *15. All underground employees should use permissible electric cap lamps. *16. When new mining equipment is purchased, consideration should be given to the purchase of permissible equipment, where operations are on other than pure intake air. *17. Mine examiners should not use locomotives on inspections, *18. Smoking anywhere underground should be prohibited. 927254924 COAL DUST *1. Dust accumulations along the haulage roads and in rooms should be loaded into cars and removed from the mine. *2. Arrangements should be made to wet and allay coal dust at its source during cutting, drilling, blasting, loading, and transportation operations. *3. A program of rock-dusting should be adopted, and the mine should be rock-dusted in all open places to within 40 feet of the working faces. The rock dust should be distributed on the top, bottom, and sides, and maintained in such quantity that the incombustible content of the resulting dust will be not less than 65 percent. HAULAGE *1. A positive stop block should be provided at the ground landing to prevent cars from running into the shaft. *2. Track switches should be provided with parallel throws and the bars extending from the track to the switch throws should be installed in such a manner as to eliminate stambling hazards. *3. Frogs, switches, and guardrails should be blocked. *4. All haulage roads underground should be cleaned of spillage coal, dust, and debris. *5. On all haulage roads, there should be a continuous clearance on the side opposite the trolley wire of at least 30 inches from the obstruction to the farthest projection of any moving equipment. *6. On the trolley-wire side on the haulage roads, there should be a continuous clearance of at least 12 inches. *7. Shelter holes should be provided along all haulageways, suitably marked, not over 60 feet apart on the clearance side, and kept clean and free from obstructions. *8. Pushing of cars should be eliminated insofar as possible; no trips should be pushed on main haulageways, except at partings or in an emergency. *9. Trip riders should be prohibited from riding the front bumpers of pushed trips, and from jumping off and on while trips are in motion. *10. An efficient trip light should be placed on rear end of all trips pulled, and on the front end of cars being pushed. *11. Locomotives should be equipped with gongs and suitable rerailers, jacks, or other necessary tools for rerailing cars or locomotives. *12. Enough cars should be provided on man-trips to permit all men to ride on the opposite side of the trolley wires, and man-trips should come to a full stop before men load or unload. ELECTRICITY *1. A guard should be provided in front of the 2,300-volt switchboard in the power house. *2. The underground substation should be provided with fire doors, arranged to close automatically in case of fire. *3. Telephones should be equipped with fuses and ground connections, and telephone wires should be installed on the opposite side from the power wires. *4. Nips on cutting machine, loading machine, drill, and locomotive cables should be equipped with fuses. *5. Trolley wires should be sectionalized at man-trip loading and unloading stations and the power cut off while men are loading or unloading from the trip. In addition, the trolley wires should be properly guarded at these stations. *6. Trolley wires less than 6% feet above the top of the rail should be guarded at all places where men are required to pass under. *7. The cutter bars of mining machines should be provided with safety chains or other adequate locking dveices. *8. A record should be kept of all the inspections of mining machines. *9. Permanent cable splices should be made on the surface or underground repair shop by proper splicing methods. *10. All electric drills should be equipped with permissible motors, guards over thread bars, and should be properly grounded. *11. Permanent pump installations should be housed in a room constructed of incombustible material. *12. Wiring at pump stations should be installed on proper insulators and the frames of pumps should be grounded. |