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Events/Law or policy · 1969

Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act signed

Law or policy, 30 December 1969, United States.

What happened

President Nixon signed the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 on 30 December 1969.1,2

Why it matters

It set federal health and safety rules for coal mines.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Coalbrook colliery disaster, South Africa

    Wikidata lists 435 to 437 deaths in one of the worst coal mine disasters on record in Africa.3

  2. Centralia mine fire starts

    Centralia mine fire starts.4

  3. Aberfan disaster

    Aberfan disaster. Wikidata records 144 deaths.5

  4. Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act signed

    It set federal health and safety rules for coal mines.1,2

  5. Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act 1969

    The Act is the British statute on the security of tips. The opened page does not link it to Aberfan.6,7

  6. South Bulli Colliery gas outburst

    The regulator uses it as a case study of gas outbursts at the coalface.8,9

  7. Westray mine explosion

    The inquiry report is titled A Predictable Path to Disaster.10,11

  8. Gretley Colliery inrush

    The inquiry led to changes in how mine plans are checked in New South Wales.12,13

Open the full timeline

Where next

Events

An example ofConsol No. 9 mine explosion at FarmingtonSigned 30 December 1969, a year after Farmington killed 78.14An example ofPeak year for US coal mining deathsUS coal deaths hit 3,242 in 1907, before federal regulation.15ExamplesScotia mine explosionsSeven years after the 1969 Act, two Scotia blasts killed 26, including inspectors.1

Sources

  1. Statement on signing the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (30 Dec 1969) American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara)
  2. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Wikidata item Q19903859 (Coalbrook mining disaster)
  4. Wikidata item Q16256909 (Centralia mine fire starts)
  5. Wikidata item Q384291 (Aberfan disaster)
  6. Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act 1969 (c. 10), arrangement of sections UK National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
  7. London (item Q84), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  8. 1991 South Bulli Colliery Outburst case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  9. Bulli (item Q4996904), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  10. The Westray Story: A Predictable Path to Disaster, executive summary Government of Nova Scotia
  11. Westray Mine (item Q3314812), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  12. 1996 Gretley Colliery Inrush case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  13. Newcastle (item Q57278), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  14. Fact Sheet 95-8: Historical Data on Mine Disasters in the United States US Mine Safety and Health Administration
  15. Coal fatalities, 1900 to date US Mine Safety and Health Administration

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Chuquicamata from the ISS by Alexander Gerst (ESA), CC BY-SA 2.0.