(Charleston, WV) - On Wednesday, the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration will publish a rule requiring continuous mining machines used in underground coal mines to be equipped with proximity detection systems. Basically, that means that the machine will be able to detect the presence of personnel or other machinery within a certain distance, and shut itself off when someone gets too close. MSHA says between 1984 and 2010 30 coal miners were killed and 220 injured by the continuous miner machine.
