Mining Program Area: Machine Safety The machine safety program
develops interventions, control technologies, design guidelines,
and improved hardware to reduce injuries to personnel working
near machinery and mobile equipment. The goal of this program
area is to eliminate machine related fatalities and injuries.
Large, powerful machinery and equipment is used across the U.S.
mining sector to process thousands of tons of coal, ore, and
rock on a daily basis. Because this work takes place in the
poorly lit and confined work areas of underground mines and in
the potentially adverse weather conditions of surface
operations, mining can be a hazardous occupation. The three most
common machine safety injuries involve being struck against or
by a machine; being caught in, under, or between machines; and
completing machine maintenance and repair. These accidents are
frequently the result of poor visibility near mining equipment,
machinery entanglements, slipping and tripping, operator error,
and hazards associated wit