RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORK PLACE AND WORKER CHARACTERISTICS AND SEVERITY OF INJURIES IN U.S. UNDERGROUND BITUMINOUS COAL MINES, 1975 - 1981

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the severity of injuries experienced in U.S. underground bituminous coal mines from 1975 to 1981 and a variety of work place and worker characteristics. Data for this research were obtained from the accident and injury files compiled by the Health and Safety Analysis Center (HSAC) of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Department of Labor. Analyses were conducted on 83,297 underground bituminous coal mining injuries. Three criterion variables were used as an indication of the severity of injuries: degree of injury, the number of actual days lost from work and the statutory days charged. The following variates were examined in this study: mining method, miner age, total mining experience, job experience, specific mine experience, job classification, time elapsed from start of work to accident, accident location and year of injury.;The findings were of two types: variates that showed a distinct relationship with the criterion variables; and those which were significant because they did not show any relationship with the criterion variables. Of the former, supervisory and maintenance personnel were found to have fewer chances of severe injuries than "other job" classifications. The shaft/slope location was less likely to be the site of severe injuries than the face area. In addition, when an injury occurred, the probability of it being a serious one was found to be greater for each succeeding year studied.;The following variates showed no relationship with the criterion variables. Mining method was found unrelated to injury severity. Older miners had the same probability of serious injuries as younger miners. No relationship was found between the three experience variates and the measures of severity. Mobile equipment operators had the same chance of severe injuries as "other job" classifications. The intersection and "other" locations had the same likelihood as the face of serious injuries. Finally, there was no relationship between time elapsed before an injury and the measures of severity.;Two methods of analysis were applied to the data. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between the variates and the criterion variable, degree of injury. TOBIT regression methods were used to determine the relationship between the variates and the criterion variables, days lost from work and statutory days charged. It should be noted that all analyses were conducted with data from injured miners only.