Bluefield Coal Show
The Bluefield Coal Show is in Bluefield WV this week. The show was much larger then I initially anticipated, but it has been a great opportunity to meet some great people and learn even more about the coal industry. The local paper did a little write-up on the show here and the Daily Mail here. As a newly engaged participant I had a very interesting experience, at lunch in the Food Tent I was joined at my table by a well dressed elderly couple. When I had finished my meal, I was glancing through the conference guide and I saw the picture of a seemingly familiar couple. Turns out it was Charles Peters the general chairman of the show and his wife, eating lunch at my table.At 3:00pm I attended the presentation workshops and talked to several organizations about the current state of training in the industry. Obviously, mine safety is on everyone’s mind. Many references to Sago and Aracoma shaped the discussions and several mentioned safety as the only issue that could hold coal mining back in the future.
The primary focus of the show was to enable support contractors to show producers their products and services. Being somewhat new to the industry, the show was basically one education session for me. I learned how bi-directional drilling works, how ropes for escapeways are getting more reflective, and how equipment manufacturers are incorporating safety as a selling point. Is this a good thing for the industry? It seems to me, that having an economic driver of safety features is a positive trend. I am sure it is nothing new to the industry, but a little new to me.
I stopped in Bluefield to grab a picture of this train hauling coal just downtown. The local paper editor introduced one of the speakers on Thursday and made reference to their understanding of how important coal is to the people in their town and the local economy.
I was not able to attend the final day of the show, because I needed to get back home to watch my Mountaineers with my 9 year old, and get some other work done, but I think I attended enough of the show to start to get a real feel for industry and where safety and training is headed. I look forward to gathering more information and integrating our strategy for providing effective learning opportunities for the industry. There are some critical drivers in the industry for effective education and I think it will be exciting to be a part of that.
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No commentsUnsafe Working Conditions?
Sometimes we can make a point, by exaggerating a point. Let’s be safe.
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No commentsMine Safety : Back to Basics
In the environment which that makes up mining one must always be aware that nature abhors a void or an unstable shape. To that end it will always seek to reach a balance . This environment is similar to that of the putting a man in space . In that miners must make there own space and maintain it in such a way that they make work safely to mine the appropriate commodities . In addition, the miners must have ventilation so as to breath and remove harmful , potentially explosive and sometimes poisonous gasses in a safe and efficient manner . While accomplishing this with some of the most sophisticated mining machines in the world . One may liken the equipment as being used by the military being that a combat environment is the one most similar to that of mining . All the while one must remember that this is taking place in mining heights from 30 inches to 70 feet in height .
All of this activity is being done by the most safe and productive miner in the world , The American Miner! We mine more of a commodity with less people, faster with the most modern equipment in the world resulting in the lowest cost per unit of production . When one endeavors to travel the path of a professional miner it must never be forgotten that one has to continually train to enhance there skill sets in Mine Emergency Operations, Emergency Response Planning, First Aid , Fire fighting, Escape and evacuation just to name a few of the more critical topics . We need to raise the training bar, not lower it. Because not all people are suited to be miners just like any other profession and or vocation .
Mine Safety now is being recognized as a discipline in its own right like engineering, production, and maintenance . In closing, I was told by a senior safety professional in an old axiom “ You can tell a companies dedication to safety by how close the Safety Directors office is to that of the Presidents “ I thought this was very profound as I look back on 29 years in the industry with 25 in safety. To that end there is no cost to safety in that it provides a professional service to keep the mine safe and productive. If you think you can not afford safety just imagine your worst case scenario concerning mining and multiply by each person that works there and do the numbers !
Get back to the basics , mining 101 !
Yours in Safety.
T.
No commentsAnnouncing KnowledgeMine
We are about to get KnowledgeMine on it’s proverbial feet. We have been working for sometime now to pull together the right technologies to support various learning and training needs. We will be offering a catalog of content and media resources that will support you in your training efforts.