Electrical hazards in mines

The use of open-type electrical equipment, which fails to safeguard against the transmission of sparks and flame to gaseous and dusty atmospheres in coal mines, constitutes a real menace to the American miner, according to the Department of the Interior. Records of the Bureau of Mines covering 26 coal mine disasters and fires due to unsafe electrical apparatus show the loss of 500 human lives in addition to great damage to property. An open-type electric coal drill used in a gaseous mine in West Virginia was the probable cause of the death of 27 miners, the Bureau points out. A half-safe type of electric coal-cutting machine used in a gaseous mine in Pennsylvania was probably the cause of the death of 36 men. An unapproved, unsafe type of flame safety lamp used in a gaseous and dusty mine in Utah was the alleged cause of the death of 171 men. All three disasters happened within the past six months, and would seem to have been avoidable if proper equipment had been used.