As there are no activities for the mine rescue subcommittee to work on at this time, Jeff Kohler made a motion that the subcommittee go on standby until such time that there are. Gerald Davis seconded this motion. He pointed out that the bituminous region established an 890-day record without a fatality and complimented the industry on their team effort. Statistics for 1999 show that the LTAF rate trended down significantly in the bituminous region. Mr. Stickler noted that the Bureau of Deep Mine Safety has increased their accident investigations to 143 in 1999, including 33 accidents that resulted in injury.
Statistics show that the number one classification for serious accidents is fall of roof.
He also noted that the highest accident frequency rate over a 3-year period occurred consistently during the third quarter. Joe Sbaffoni distributed accident reports and summarized 16 serious accidents involving injury to personnel that have been investigated since the meeting last July. Joe Sbaffoni stated that all of the accidents he summarized were a result of an unsafe job procedure or not paying attention. Deep Mine Safety inspectors will continue to inform the industry on the types of accidents that have occurred to advise miners of potential dangers. Line Power has redesigned both the transmitter and receiver cards in the GK-8.