Department of Environmental Resources, Bureau of Deep Mining Safety, Bituminous Fatal Accident Mining Reports, 1946 Continued-1952 (excluding 1950-1951), This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER LIBRARY: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education., Grouped by anthracite or bituminous region, then chronologically by year, and then alphabetically by surname within specific years. Reports, sketches, correspondence, and other files relative to fatalities at mining facilities in both the anthracite and bituminous coal regions, excluding the years 1936-1937, 1964-1968 for anthracite and 1950-1951 for bituminous. The reports are very detailed, presenting a variety of information concerning all aspects of fatal incidents that occurred both inside and outside of Pennsylvania collieries. A report from the Department of Mines is nearly always present, many times accompanied by an additional one from the Department of Labor and Industry's Bureau of Workmen's Compensation. The template of the main Department of Mines synopsis, and the information given, changed slightly over time. There were also different forms for different types of accidents, such as a specific form for deaths resulting from a fall of rock, one for "general" inside or outside fatalities, etc. The following data is generally provided on each report: name of mine inspector, mine district number, date of report, mine operator, name of colliery or facility, mine name, location, names of the foreman and superintendent, date and time of accident, date the victim died, name and address of victim, citizenship status, country of birth, whether the miner could understand English, age, marital status, number of children under the age of sixteen, regular occupation, occupation when injured, length of experience in mines, length of experience working at occupation when injured, what the victim was doing when the accident occurred, if accident occurred above or below ground, exact location of accident, was the place or machine provided with a protecting device, how the accident could be prevented, order issued for prevention of a similar accident, nature of injury, judgment regarding responsibility for the accident, sketch where accident occurred, and a detailed description of how the accident occurred. Occasionally other documents, such as additional accident reports, autopsies, and death certificates, are included. These reports dovetail with the accident registers for both the anthracite and bituminous districts in Record Group 45, which have been converted into databases and are available online. These databases should be the first resource used by researchers when looking for information relative to a miner who suffered a fatal mining-related accident. If the name of a fatally injured miner is found on the database, this series of accident reports can be consulted for detailed information on both the miner and the accident.
