Roof and Rib Fall Accident and Cost Statistics: An In-Depth Study

摘要

The purpose of the Bureau of Mines study of U.S. roof and rib (roof-rib) accident statistics and related accident costs is to define current accident trends (1980-84) associated with fatal and nonfatal roof-rib fall accidents. Data were retrieved from a data base containing all recorded U.S. mining accidents, then sorted and normalized utilizing a computer software program. The statistics indicate that roof-rib accidents have significantly declined in the 5-year study period. Moreover, they indicate that there have been increases and/or patterns of roof-rib accidents associated with specific mine characteristics such as seam height, mine size, geographic location, and seasonal variation. Also, roof-rib injury characteristics produced pattern changes involving worker activity, lost workdays, types of injury, and severity of injury. A conservative estimate indicates that there has been a 30% adjusted increase in the cost of a roof-rib accident over the 5-year study period.