Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) - Accident Prevention Program Safety Ideas

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Mine Safety and Health Administration
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Mine Type: All Surface Mines

Category: General Safety

MSHA's Accident Prevention Program Safety Ideas Life Jackets Printer Friendly Version

Life Jackets (also known as personal flotation devices or PFDs) are appropriately named - they truly can save your life. Sadly, miners working on dredges or around ponds and lakes sometimes fail to wear them for a variety of reasons. Consider the following when working around water.

Establish and enforce policies for wearing PFD.
Consider only Type I and Type V PFDs. Type I PFDs are designed to turn most unconscious wearers face-up.
Consider employee's size and weight when selecting PFDs.
Replace worn or damaged PFDs immediately.

Eighteen drowning accidents have occurred that involved miners on the job since January 1995. Sixteen were NOT wearing a personal flotation device (PFD). In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard reported that approximately 90 percent of the 484 victims involved in drowning accidents in 2004 were NOT wearing a PFD / lifejacket.

MSHA extends a thank you and a tip of the hardhat to
TERRY TYSON,
a winner of a limited edition sticker and patch.

If you have a tip you would like to pass on, you can email it to zzMSHA-MinersTips@dol.gov.
If your tip is selected, you will receive credit in this space.

Issued:	12/12/2005
Tag #	AP2005-S91740


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