LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THE CONDITIONS AS THEY RELATE TO THE EXPLOSION 1. The outstanding lesson to be learned from this disaster is that the practice of working places adjacent to open, abandoned sections where gas may accumulate is extremely dangerous. Abandoned workings should be ventilated properly and inspected frequently, or they should be sealed. 2. Where single doors are used to control ventilation, all precautions should be taken to see that the doors are not kept open for an extended period of time. 3. It is of paramount importance that the officials in a gassy mine keep their flame safety lamps with them at all times and make frequent examinations for gas in the working places. 4. The practice of smoking in gassy mines, surreptitiously or otherwise, must be discontinued, if mine disasters are to be avoided. 5. Searching employees for smokers' articles before they enter the mine should be considered by the men to be an essential safeguard, rather than a violation of personal rights, and it should be done at all mines where smoking underground is prohibited. 6. Bags of rock dust suspended from timbers were proved to be ineffective insofar as preventing propagation of the explosion, as most of the bags did not trip and the rock dust was not dispersed into the atmosphere. RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations concerning the safe operation of this mine were made in reports of previous Federal inspections, the last inspection having been made January 7-10, 1947. Recommendations in this report, therefore, are limited to conditions as they related to explosion hazards. RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON THE FEDERAL MINE SAFETY CODE FOR BITUMINOUSCOAL AND LIGNITE MINES OF THE UNITED STATES ARTICLE V. VENTILATION AND MINE GASES Section 9b.-Abandoned workings should be sealed or ventilated. Section 10c.-Mine officials whose regular duties require them to inspect working places should have in their possession, when underground a permissible flame safety lamp in safe working condition. ARTICLE VI. COAL AND ROCK DUST Section 1b.-Where mining operations raise an excessive amount of dust into the air, water or water with a wetting agent added to it or other effective methods should be used to allay such dust at its source. ARTICLE VIII. ELECTRICITY Section 9d.—Where nonpermissible electric equipment is being used, care should be taken to protect the workmen by making frequent examinations of the air for methane content and by preventing interruptions of the ventilating current. Section 9f. In all face workings where electrically driven equipment is operated, frequent inspections for methane should be made. If a dangerous condition exists, the machines should be stopped until such dnagerous condition is removed. ARTICLE XI. MISCELLANEOUS Section 6a.-Because of explosion and fire hazards, matches or other flamemaking devices should not be carried into the mine. SUPPLEMENTAL RECOMMENDATIONS NOT SPECIFICALLY COVERED BY THE FEDERAL MINE SAFETY CODE 1. In any section of a mine liberating an excessive amount of methane, or in a section being worked adjacent to an abandoned area that might contain accumulations of methane, the doors controlling the ventilation should be built in pairs to form air locks or single doors should be attended. 2. Air that has passed by abandoned areas that cannot be inspected should not be used to ventilate active workings. |