Assessing health and safety conditions and practices: A comparative analysis of two prominent U.S. coal basins using inspector field survey reports

Coal miners are experiencing significantly elevated morbidity and premature mortality of the debilitating lung diseases coal worker’s pneumoconiosis (CWP). A disparity is evident between miners and their industry counterparts across the U.S., with most disease cases concentrated in the Central Appalachian states of Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. The researchers of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) explored potential factors and practices within the U.S. underground coal mining sector that are relevant to respirable coal mine dust (RCMD) generation and exposure control. This paper presents the results of a data-driven approach to unveil potential causes behind the rise in CWP cases. A comparative analysis was performed of coal mining practices in the Central Appalachian (CAPP) Coal Basin versus the Illinois (IL) Basin using over 600 confidential Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) Respirable Dust Sampling and Monitoring Data forms. These unpublished reports are indispensable field surveys, capturing major dust control parameters observed and measured during inspections. This investigation aims to show the disparities in mining practices and operating parameters between two main mining regions. The other goal is to disseminate vital insights to mine operators, improving their awareness of the divergent practices and best strategies employed by neighboring mines to proactively protect their workforce from respiratory hazards. These endeavors pave the way to understand the collective impact of dust control practices and parameters on miners’ RCMD exposure.