Carbon Monoxide Death in an Underground Copper Mine 1973

The primary danger with carbon monoxide is that it cannot be easily detected. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas, and thus gives its victims no advance warning. Commonly referred to as "coal gas" or "white damp," carbon monoxide comes from the incomplete burning of gasoline, wood, coal, oil, propane gas, or anything else that contains carbon. The poisonous gas consists of just two elements, carbon and oxygen, and mixes readily with air. Poisoning occurs entirely from inhalation of the toxic compound from the air. For more on the hazards of carbon monoxide in the workplace, go to the CWA website at:
http://www.cwa-union.org/issues/osh/articles/page.jsp?itemID=27338946 . This is clipped from the 1973 Bureau of Mines film, Breathe and Live: Ventilation in Metal and Nonmetal Mines (21 minutes).

Category:

Education

Tags:

• carbon
• monoxide
• toxic
• acute
• OSHA
• NIOSH
• MSHA
• NIEHS
• hazwoper
• fatality
• occupational
• hazard
• gas
• industrial
• hygiene
• safety
• worker
• memorial
• day

[gm16v149]

That video is chilling because in 1972 I was operating a Wagner ST5 at Mt Isa Mines which looks identical to that machine. The engine gave out because of lack of oxygen in a cross-cut with no ventilation. Fortunately we used face masks fed by air from bottles mounted on the machine, but later I was told if I had taken the air mask off I would have been dead very quickly.

[markdcatlin]

@gm16v149 Thanks for adding in your history. Mark

[gm16v149]

@markdcatlin No probs. If we were operating without a mask or just a conventional dust mask in bad ventilation, we got a stinking headache and were out of there pretty quick. I'm surprised these guys didn't get any forewarning.