r/Damnthatsinteresting 8d ago

Video Coal mining

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u/NotBrianGriffin 8d ago

My dad is a coal miner here in the US. When he goes underground he wears a hard hat, safety glasses, steel toed boots, gloves, long sleeve work shirt with reflective tap, a self rescuing respirator, a wireless transmitter that connects to an underground tracking system so he can be tracked anywhere in the mine, and a lunch bucket with probably 5k calories of food. Seeing these guys shirtless with loafers on makes my head spin. I feel sorry for them.

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u/I_Feel_Rough 8d ago

I bet he doesn't use electric tools like that either. Everything must be certified intrinsically safe before it can be taken underground, at least in Australia.

37

u/OrganicLandscape7218 8d ago

Because of explosive gasses and/or particulates?

18

u/HeyBoone 7d ago

Used to work in a mine and had to calibrate all of the gas sensor stations as well as perform ventilation surveys on a weekly basis. This ensured that every working area had ample air flow for all of the equipment that was running and that no areas were exposed to harmful levels of toxic gases. Everyone wore gas detectors as well which would alert if they sensed explosive gases.