Mason wanted to know the CO reading and Squires passed it on – between 8 and 9 ppm. In those clays, to prevent disruption to coal production, the sealing was usually done on a Friday night so that the clanger period fell during the weekend when production usually ceased anyway. The level was 19 lpm. All the worst US mine disasters were in coal mines, with the worst non-coal mine disaster being the 1970 fire in the Sunshine Silver mine in Kellogg, Idaho that killed 91 miners. He had been a technical assistant during a near miss from spontaneous combustion in the North West section of the mine in 1986. The questions most frequently asked were: Why did management allow normal underground operations to continue while such danger was present? He was worried when it showed 8 ppm, as he was expecting around 6 ppm. If he was really concerned he would have been jumping up and down like he did when talking union business – Caddell wasn’t afraid of undermanagers and was not beyond a bit of yelling and gesticulation to draw their attention to matters that worried him. The nearby Allan mine, which closed in 1951, experienced eight methane explosions in its 40-years of operations. It took 11 years to finally change the law and make employers criminally responsible when workers are killed. SMOC on cloud helps you to concentrate on optimizing operations from day1, Looking for Accuracy Let Smoc talk with your machines and achieve it, Even Complex Production/Manufacturing cycles can be easily customizable and make it real, Many more Analytical reports which shows status of various processes and metrics of your business and easy for decision making, Manage Multiple warehouses & it’s flow of materials at your fingertips, Dynamic user rights allow you peace of mind by giving rights only to right users, Easy to maintain and track down your purchase and sales orders. Mason replied that he could see no reason to do so. Of these carbon monoxide (CO) was the most important as it is produced when coal burns. By early August coal extraction in the panel was almost complete and a decision was made to seal it. Nor did Mason or any of the others follow up, as they thought it was a waste of time. If a preset level of CO was breached, visual and auditory alarms would sound and the computer screen would change colour.

Technical instruments available at Moura were advanced for the industry. This was practicable only when back on the surface. Twenty-one miners were working there at the time.

Maintaining inventory records, drawing results out of the records stored is a standard procedure that every industry follows. Over the last twenty years maintaining and improving mine safety has become a non-negotiable characteristic of responsible and ethical mining companies throughout Australia and the broader Asia Pacific region. By this time Mason had been advised.

Parker later died in the explosion, but had noted in his diary: George Mason requested 1 pm that I go in because of concern overheating. 2 but had the unintended consequence of allowing loose coal to accumulate around the columns and under the floor ramps. The visual alarm activated again when 8 ppm CO was registered on the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and almost continuously after the panel was sealed. AMSJ connects the mining industry to the latest mining safety news, events, mine safety legal information, mine safety history, hazard control technical reports, mines rescue and emergency and mining safety product and services information. Squires had told him to check for an increase in CO over previous shifts. Over the next week CO make levels ranged between about 16 and 21 lpm. Good ventilation was the main means of preventing the coal from heating but in this case, it apparently failed to do so. Second, technical instruments were available to test for the presence of certain gases. He phoned Mason at home then went down to check the seals. The idea was that even if the methane started to accumulate in a part of the goaf, there would be no hot coal there as a source of ignition – as long as the space was well ventilated. Moriesen, the ventilation officer arrived and advised moving the brattices to get the air moving. 4. Mason left the mine shortly after and did not return. Long tunnels led to the coalface where continuous mining machines worked at depths reaching 265 meters. Squires had a break at home during the afternoon and returned around 7.30 pm. He looked at them many times during the morning and early afternoon, and showed any miners who seemed interested. This had been the third disaster from underground explosions in the area – 13 miners died at nearby Kianga in 1975  and 12 at Moura mine disaster (Moura No. Then Abrahamse went on sick leave five days later, and in his absence monitoring activity returned to normal. Mason and the deputies all agreed that there was no problem – bringing forward the sealing had been unnecessary. In the first stage known as the advance, the pattern of access roads and solid coal pillars to support the roof was laid out to the extremities of the panel. 4 in 1986 at the time of the explosion in that mine and had been fortunate in leaving the pit just half an hour before it happened. “Windridge left his strongest condemnation for the failure of management to withdraw the miners, especially the Sunday night shift when methane in the sealed paned was known to be approaching the explosive range.”.

He told them about the change of plan – the early sealing was a precautionary measure due to the smells and other signs. Should he call a meeting at the start of the night shift and give them a run clown of what had happened? He phoned Schaus at home, relayed the circumstances around the decision to seal early – he had gone along with Squires but it was overkill.

Just before midnight on 7 August 1994, the first of two explosions ripped through an underground coal mine at Moura in outback Queensland. The largest coal mine in the world by reserves is the North Antelope Rochelle coal mine in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, US. On Friday 17 June, shift deputy Robertson made his way into the mine on his regular inspection, noting a slightly elevated level of CO on his portable monitor. Barraclough was satisfied that the readings were not changing and took no further interest. In the period leading up to the disaster, maintaining production and profits had been difficult. Parker and his crew started work as soon as they arrived.

He went in and met up with two deputies. They even increased the frequency of readings from once daily to every shift without being asked. By then the sealing was finished and the monitoring equipment was in place behind the solid concrete and brick walls that closed off panel 512 from the rest of the mine. Later he made a note of the smell in his shift report. Because of the volume or air circulating through the mine, these could be fleeting or variable. The Westray death toll was Canada’s worst mining disaster since the 1958 “bump” in the Springhill coal mine that claimed the lives of 75 miners. Nine hours of going over the latest from some academic engineer with little or no experience of mining, and even less knowledge of the conditions at Moura! In all, 28 panels had been mined and sealed before work commenced on panel 512 in November 1993. He didn’t notice any more, but kept a close eye on the steady rise of CO and the trend line for methane as it approached the explosive range. Their employer, Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company, was trying to break the pattern bargaining that had taken place for years in the region. He entered the goaf and was shocked by what he found: warm air, a heat shimmy and a smell. Why did they fail to prevent the heating from occurring in the first place, to recognise the symptoms or to do something about it?

He immediately suspended production and phoned Mason who sent McCamley down, at that time the shift undermanager. tulassi.com. Coal mining has always been dangerous work.

But with Abrahamse on sick leave levels were not calculated daily because no one was paying attention. However, some of the men remembered an earlier time when it was standard practice to stay on the surface for a few clays until the methane gas became inert.