Mining Product: Escape From Farmington No. 9: An Oral History
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Original creation date: May 2009
This training module can be used to educate both inexperienced and veteran miners on important issues related to self-rescue and escape procedures.
On November 20, 1968 a massive explosion rocked the underground workings of Mountaineer Coal Company's Farmington No. 9 Mine in West Virginia. Of the 99 miners who were working in the mine at the time of the explosion, only 21 survived. This group included eight miners who were rescued from the Mahan's Run air shaft. Nearly 40 years after the event, NIOSH researchers conducted oral history interviews with two of the eight survivors rescued from the shaft.
Using excerpts from these interviews, NIOSH has developed a training module to educate both inexperienced and veteran miners on important issues related to self-rescue and escape procedures. The 25-minute video and instructor's guide are designed primarily for use in safety training settings. The target audience is all underground mine workers, regardless of commodity. This training module should help safety instructors better prepare miners for the situations they could encounter should they have to escape an underground mine following an explosion or fire.
The YouTube video, a zip file containing the WMV video file and SRT captions file, and the orderable DVD are available.
Skills reviewed: The trainee will be able to better respond should an explosion occur.
Duration: This video is 25 minutes in duration. A full training session (following the instructor's guide) will take approximately 1.5 to 2 hours.
Materials required
Authors: MJ Brnich, C Vaught
Audience: Miners in annual refresher classes, trainers, responsible persons, command center personnel, researchers
Video - May 2009
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20035884
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2009-142D, 2009 May
This video can be streamed from YouTube or a ZIP file containing a WMV file and a SRT closed caption file can be downloaded for local playback when streaming is not feasible. To use the ZIP file, download it to your computer and expand the contents into a folder of your choice. The SRT caption file will provide closed captions when using a compatible media player.
See Also
- Historical Development of Technologies for Controlling Methane in Underground Coal Mines
- Overview of U.S. Research on Three Approaches to Ensuring That Coal Miners Work Safely: Management, Workplace Design and Training
- Progress Toward Improved Engineering of Seals and Sealed Areas of Coal Mines
- Reducing the Fire and Explosion Hazards of Flame-Cutting and Welding in Underground Coal Mines
- Research Report on Refuge Alternatives for Underground Coal Mines
- Rock Dusting Considerations in Underground Coal Mines
- Technology for Remote Mine Seal Construction
- Technology News 535 - NIOSH Releases New Educational Video: Escape from Farmington No. 9: An Oral History
- Underground Coal Mining Injury: A Look at How Age and Experience Relate to Days Lost from Work Following an Injury
- Use of Occupational Ethnography and Social Marketing Strategies to Develop a Safety Awareness Campaign for Coal Miners
- Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program