WorldWide Drilling Resource

Blasting Apps Adapted from Information by the International Society of Explosives Engineers - ISEE Several mobile applications, and reviews for those applications, can be located at: www.isee.org Blaster’s App is an all-in-one application with calculators and tools for today’s profes- sional explosives engineers. The (CFR) Code of Federal Regulations App allows you to remove volumes of publi- cations to use in the field. 30 DECEMBER 2013 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® 2012 Mining Statistics Show Improvement Adapted from Information by the Department of Labor The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced the final data for 2012 has been released. It indicates 2012 experienced the lowest fatality and injury rates in the history of U.S. mining, along with the lowest rate of contractor fatali- ties since the agency began calculating those rates in 1983. Here is a brief rundown of the data: * 36 miners died on the job; 20 of which worked in coal mines and 16 in metal/nonmetal, equaling the re- cord low set in 2011. * 5 contractors died in mining acci- dents in 2012, compared to 11 in 2011. "While more needs to be done to pro- tect the nation's miners, we are moving mine safety in the right direction. The actions undertaken by MSHA and the mining community were the key to the continuing improvements we saw in 2012," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for Mine Safety and Health. "All miners deserve the safest possible work- ing conditions." Compliance with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 also con- tinued to improve in 2012, with an 18% reduction in violations since 2010. As a result, penalties for violations dropped. Although the number of mines in the United States decreased slightly (from 14,176 in 2011 to 14,093 in 2012), the number of miners increased from 381,209 to 387,878. The number of citations and orders issued declined, from 93,330 in 2011 to 79,250 in 2012, a 15% reduction. The coal industry saw a decrease in the number of mines (from 1973 to 1871) and production (from 1095 to 1018 million tons) between 2011 and 2012. The num- The December 6, 1907 explosions at the Monongah, West Virginia mines, which killed 362 miners, remains the worst mine disaster in the history of the U.S. ber of coal miners also decreased from a decades-long high of 143,437 in 2011 to 137,650 in 2012, it was the second highest for any year since 1994. In metal and nonmetal mining, the number of citations and orders issued dropped from 63,472 in 2011, to 60,520 in 2012, a 5% reduction. While the num- ber of metal and nonmetal mines re- mained steady in 2012, at 12,193, the number of miners increased from 237,772 in 2011 to 250,228 in 2012.