One Hundred Years of Federal Mining Safety and Health Research

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Figure 7. Rescuers (nicknamed “helmet men” because of the devices they wore) equipped with newly developed air supply apparatus at the Cherry Mine disaster. 2.3 The Origins of the USBM and the Organic Act As a response to tragedies such as those at the Monongah Mine and Cherry Coal Mine, the sentiment in favor of government regulation increased further and led Congress to pass an act (36 Stat. 369) creating the USBM in the Department of the Interior. The act that established the USBM was approved by Congress on May 16, 1910, and became effective on July 1, 1910. The general aim of the Bureau under the original Organic Act of 1910 was “to increase health, safety, economy, and efficiency in the mining, quarrying, metallurgical, and miscellaneous mineral industries of the country.” The words “safety” and “efficiency” were prominent on the seal of the USBM (see Figure 8). In creating the Bureau, the Organic Act also transferred the employees and functions of the technological branch of the USGS. Originally headquartered at 8 th and G Streets NW in Washington, DC, the Bureau began with 124 employees and expanded to 230 in its first year. The first mining experiment station resided at 40 th and Butler Streets in Pittsburgh. The Bureau also maintained six mine safety stations and seven mine rescue cars distributed among coal fields throughout the country. Following his tenure with the USGS technological branch, Dr. Joseph A. Holmes, who had also formerly been the state geologist for North Carolina, was appointed as the first director of the Bureau on September 3, 1910 (see Figure 9). 7
Figure 8. Official seal of the United States Bureau of Mines, established in 1910. Figure 9. Photo of Dr. Joseph A. Holmes. Originally, the Bureau had two divisions—one for studying mine explosions and the other for analysis and testing of mineral fuels. The budget for the first year of operations was $502,200 (about $11 million in 2009 dollars), with $310,000 of that earmarked for mining safety studies. The annual salary of the Director of the Bureau was set by Congress at $6,000. Beginning with 1911, the Bureau Director produced an annual report for each fiscal year. These annual reports continued after the Bureau was transferred to the Department of Commerce in 1925, then transferred back to the Department of the Interior in 1934. After that year, the annual reports for the Bureau were absorbed into section of longer reports of the Secretary of the Interior. In 1912, both the Bureau Director, Dr. Joseph A. Holmes, and the assistant to the director, Van H. Manning, were based at the Bureau headquarters in Washington, DC. The mining experiment station at Pittsburgh was headed by the engineer-in-charge, H. M. Wilson, assisted by the chief mining engineer, G. S. Rice, the head of the mining division at Pittsburgh. This division was responsible for health and safety investigations, miner training, and inspection of mines in the territory of Alaska. 8
Page 1 and 2: Department of Health and Human Serv
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Page 5 and 6: 4.3.7 Spokane Mining Research Labor
Page 7 and 8: Figure 26. Joy loading machine in 1
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Page 11 and 12: The origins of the USBM were in the
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developed several new illumination
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which disturbs and exploits the lan
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1996 Appropriations Bill stated in
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Novel approaches undertaken by NIOS
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esearchers reanalyzed data from the
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other applications. The Libby mine
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6.2.8 Ground Control Ground falls i
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To facilitate the application of th
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on refuge alternatives [NIOSH, 2007
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6. Reduce ground failure fatalities
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7. Conclusion: Lessons Learned The
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8. References Amandus HE, Piacitell
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National Research Council and Insti
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Appendix A: Joseph A. Holmes Biogra
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Table 1. U.S. Bureau of Mines appro
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Table 3. Metal/Nonmetal Fatalities,
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