Nonfatal Injuries and Illnesses
Magnitude and Trend
Which sectors of the mining industry posed the highest risks of nonfatal injury to mine workers during 1998–2002?
 | Table 4-2 Number and 5-year average rate of lost-workday injuries by type of employer and commodity at various work locations, 1998-2002. During 1998-2002, both the highest numbers and rates of lost-workday injuries occurred in the underground work areas of underground mines. Within underground work areas, the highest rates were observed for coal mine operator and coal mine contractor workers, who together accounted for 88% (17,260) of all the lost-workday injuries in underground work areas. Within surface locations, the highest injury rates were in stone and nonmetal dredge locations. High numbers and rates of injuries were also experienced by stone mine operator workers at both surface production areas and processing (mill) work areas. (Sources: MSHA [2003]; NIOSH [2003a].) |
Type of Employer and Commodity
Surface
How did the rate of lost-workday injuries change for surface mining operations during 1993–2002?
 | Figure 4-9 Rate of lost-workday injuries for surface mining operations by type of employer and commodity, 1993-2002. From 1993 to 2002, the rate of lost-workday injuries declined overall for operator workers in all commodities and for metal/nonmetal-independent contractor workers. Throughout this 10-year period, the highest rates of lost-workday injuries were consistently observed for stone operator workers. (Sources: MSHA [2003]; NIOSH [2003a].) |
Underground
How did the rate of lost-workday injuries change for underground mining operations during 1993–2002?
 | Figure 4-10 Rate of lost-workday injuries for underground mining operations by type of employer and commodity, 1993-2002. During 1993-2002, underground coal operator workers and underground coal-independent contractor workers consistently had the highest rates of lost-workday injuries. Although marked by slight increases and decreases during this 10-year period, lost-workday injury rates for underground nonmetal operator workers and underground stone operator workers have remained relatively constant. (Sources: MSHA [2003]; NIOSH [2003a].) |
Work Location and Type of Incident
How and where were mine workers injured during 1998–2002?
 | Figure 4-11 Rate of lost-workday injuries by type of incident and work location, 1998-2002. During 1998-2002, miners at underground locations generally had higher nonfatal injury rates than those working on the surface. Injuries to miners at both surface and underground locations were most frequently associated with handling materials and slip or fall of person. Miners working underground also had relatively high rates of injury from fall of ground incidents (caving rock), or in incidents involving powered haulage or machinery. (Sources: MSHA [2003]; NIOSH [2003a].) |
Age
How were injured mine workers distributed by age in 2002?
 | Figure 4-12 Distribution of lost-workday injuries by age of worker and type of employer and commodity, 2002. The proportion of injured workers above age 44 at the time of injury was highest among coal and metal operator workers and lowest among coal-independent contractor workers. Conversely, the proportion of injured workers under age 25 was highest among coal-independent contractor workers, sand and gravel operator workers, and stone operator workers. (Sources: MSHA [2003]; NIOSH [2003a].) |
Sex
How did the proportion of injured male and female mine workers differ by type of employer and commodity in 2002?
 | Figure 4-13 Number of lost-workday injuries by sex of worker and type of employer and commodity, 2002. In 2002, only 2% (190) of all nonfatally injured mine workers were female, whereas 14.6% of the entire mining workforce was female (Chapter 1, Table 1-4). The highest proportion of female workers with lost-workday injuries was reported by metal operators (6%), and the lowest proportion was reported by metal/nonmetal-independent contractors (1%) and coal operators (2%). (Note: Percentages shown within the bars represent the proportion of male workers with lost-workday injuries.) (Sources: MSHA [2003]; NIOSH [2003a].) |
Severity
What was the median number of lost workdays due to nonfatal lost-time mining injuries during 1998–2002?
 | Figure 4-14 Median number of lost workdays due to nonfatal lost-time mining injuries by work location and selected types of incidents, 1998-2002. During 1998-2002, the median number of lost workdays due to nonfatal lost-time mining injuries was 21 for miners injured underground and 14 for miners injured at surface locations. At surface locations, falls of ground (e.g., rock dislodging from a highwall) accounted for the highest median number of lost workdays. At underground locations, powered haulage and slip or fall of person accounted for the highest median number of lost workdays. (Sources: MSHA [2003]; NIOSH [2003a].) |
Experience
How were lost-workday injuries distributed among mine workers by years of total mining experience in 2002?
 | Figure 4-15 Distribution of lost-workday injuries among miners by type of employer and commodity and years of total mining experience, 2002. In 2002, the proportion of workers with lost-workday injuries was highest among coal operator workers with more than 5 years of experience, and lowest among coal operator workers with less than 1 year of experience. Of the mine workers with less than 1 year of mining experience, independent contractor workers had the highest proportions of lost-workday injuries. These differences must be interpreted with caution, since years of mining experience were not reported for 10% of cases. (Sources: MSHA [2003]; NIOSH [2003a].) |
Metal/Nonmetal Mines
How did the number of nonfatal injuries and illnesses vary in metal/nonmetal mines by years of total mining experience during 1991–2000?
 | Figure 4-16 Number of nonfatal injury and illness cases in metal/nonmetal mines by years of total mining experience for 1991-1995 and 1996-2000: (A) mine operator cases, and (B) independent contractor cases. During 1991-2000, the role of total mining experience was fairly consistent and stable over time among mine operator worker cases of nonfatal injury or illness in metal/nonmetal mines. The number of cases was characteristically reduced during the second year of experience and followed by an upsurge for the next 3 to 4 years. A steady decline thereafter suggests that experience continually reduces risk for miners. The later period (1996-2000) showed some improvement over the early period (1991-1995). Metal/nonmetal-independent contractor cases showed a similar pattern, but with higher case counts for the least experienced miners. (Sources: MSHA [2002]; NIOSH [2003b].) |
Coal Mines
How did the number of injuries and illnesses vary in coal mines by years of total mining experience during 1991–2000?
 | Figure 4-17 Number of injury and illness cases in coal mines by years of total mining experience for 1991-1995 and 1996-2000: (A) mine operator cases, and (B) independent contractor cases. Coal mining showed a distinctly different pattern from metal/nonmetal mining for 1991-2000. Mine operators reported increasing numbers of cases with increasing years of mining experience up until 20-24.9 years. As with metal/nonmetal mining, a dramatic drop in overall case count occurred for coal miners between the early and late 1990s. The shift in the experience group with the highest case count may reflect the aging of the mining workforce. The role of experience among independent contractor workers was similar but more pronounced for new miners. Note that case counts alone may be misleading. Incidence rates (cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers) may show different patterns, but they could not be developed because employment by years of experience was not available. (Sources: MSHA [2002]; NIOSH [2003b].) |
Hearing Loss
How did the hearing loss of sand and gravel workers compare with that of a group unexposed to workplace noise?
 | Figure 4-18 Mean hearing thresholds over a range of frequencies (0.5-6.0 kilohertz) among black and white male sand and gravel workers and a population unexposed to workplace noise, by age, 2000. Hearing loss among black and white male sand and gravel workers was greater than hearing loss among a population that was unexposed to workplace noise. Different patterns of hearing loss were observed for black and white workers: Most statistically significant differences in hearing thresholds occurred among the younger white workers (those aged 20-29 and 30-39) and among the older black workers (those aged 40-49 and 50-59). (Sources: Royster and Thomas [1979]; Royster et al. [1980]; NIOSH [2003a,c].) |
