Already the blame game is under way over the mine incident on the Coast.
No one is to blame & that is one thing we have to get out of. Forget the blame & start focussing on why it happened & what could be done better next time.
One issue that probably came to a head last night was why no one went into the mine early.
Now I only seen the head of mine rescue three times at briefings but it was clear to me at the first one, by his body langauge there was something he wasn't happy about or wanted to get out but was not allowed too.
All Nine Alive: The Dramatic Mine Rescue That Inspired and Cheered a Nation
Last night he revealed that the pipe that took gas out of the mine had been ruptured & had been leaking methane back into the mine at an alarming rate. Had that information been released early on then there would of been less criticism of decision to wait.
Compare that to the early 'rumour' of three other men making their way out of the mine which the media copped a lot of flak for was actually part of a police media release.
Just another lesson to learn from & look to ensure it doesn't happen in future.
Now there was a lot said about how the experts were giving information & people should stop listening to amateurs. Well a lot of the information was coming from amateurs who had survived a mine explosion & some were even ex mine rescue.
What I had done was take that then use the internet to see what other information there was. Funny though when I went back to double check something I had noticed last night you could no longer access that information. Also whilst initially some of it had come up straight away with the search it was now buried under associated material of the current incident.
Nova: Emergency Mine Rescue
Now why I was rechecking was to confirm information I had supplied from what I had gathered in an earlier search. It also tells you why miners were saying you need to get in fast.
In an earlier post I had said that at Strongman Mine after the explosion it had been found miners did not die in the blast but from the gas afterwards.
Later when looking at something else I found something on the Brunnerton explosion which for much of it was almost word for word the information I had read on the Strongman mine.
So last night I thought I better check on this. Couldn't access those items, but from what I had read & what I did find last night was very revealing.
National Mine-rescue and First-aid Conference Pittsburgh
Ended up back with the Kaitangata mine incident of 1879. Compared to most this was a very shallow mine at the time. Many of the men were wandering around with candles looking into areas believing for some reason that mines in New Zealand were not afflicted by the gas menace of the UK. Though there was concern of one person sticking a lighted candle right into certain areas.
Because it was only 200 metres in when the mine exploded everyone knew about it. The only person killed by the actual explosion was the boy & his pit pony that were entering the mine at the time.
There was a period whilst they waited for other miners to come to carryout a rescue. What they found was interesting. Inside the mine no one appeared to have been killed by the explosion but by a sudden on rush of gas as they tried to in many case crawl out using what oxygen there was. It seems they realized what was about to happen having maybe struck a pocket of gas.
CO?-absorption characteristics of mine rescue breathing apparatus
One of the wives who lost her husband at Kaitangata was to loose her second husband at Brunnerton.
Something of debate here in Christchurch of late post the earthquake was the reaction of animals prior to a quake.
On the morning of the Brunnerton mine explosion the pit ponies initially refused to go into the mine which they had never done before & so had to be forced.
Those near the point of explosion in this mine were killed by it & signs showed that. But of the remainder again people appeared to be untouched by the blast but were found to have been either crawling or hiding in the crevice where the damaged ventilation device was(this sort of reaction probably lead to the idea of air stations in modern mines)& again had died of gas.
National first-aid and mine rescue contest
Then the Strongman mine which last night was hard to find except accounts by those there. One told of how they were the only person to come out of the area where the explosion occurred because he had walked around the corner & wet patches had stopped the fireball going further. He was blown of his feet & his recollection was all had died in the blast.
But they could of been knocked unconscious & then died as the gas got to them.
At Brunnerton two men were found a wee way in suffering such, but as they were not revived at the time but carried straight to fresh air, the fresh air was said to have killed them.
At Kaitangata mention was made of what appeared to be silmilar occurences.
History -- Man, Moment, Machine Mine Rescue Mask
The most telling comment from that survivor was "our rescue guys went straight in." You have too. But it was no waiting to test for gas. It was breathing apparatus on then take the canary in. When the Canary died you got out. Waited then grab another canary & get back in.
As was said to be happening at recent incident gas ebbed & flowed.
So on that type of repeated experience people were offering their opinion. Whether knowing the fact the pipe was damaged would of changed things I am not sure, but it would of helped people cope with the waiting.
Mine rescue work and organization
People tend to forget that Health & Safety is to mitigate possible hazards not eliminate them as you just can't. People do irrational things & Papatuanuku(Earth mother)does what she wants too & no man can control that as much as they like to think they can.
In todays world with the types of communication available information needs to be got out quickly or it could over take you but it needs to be accurate. When you withhold relevant information it just stokes the fires of frustration & anger.
Newswire Photo (XL): Oxygen helmets in mine rescues
But no blame should be pointed at any of those involved in the rescue. Though I don't agree with the process or procedure(with the information now of the damaged gas pipe it would likely be seen as a very very good option though)those who battled so hard to deliver should be held as good role models. I fear though at least one will become the scapegoat to appease anger.
One thing that has accompanied all previous inquiries of mine disasters is blame, counter blame accustions of cover ups & often blaming of the dead. In fact the reason for the Brunnerton mine & Strongman were almost identical. Shot in wrong location.
In Brunnerton the Prime Minister of the time one 'King' Dick Seddon was accussed of medling in the inquiry & even worse the miners felt betrayed by him as he was a former West Coast coal miner.
Principles of mine rescue (SuDoc L 38.17/3:16/995)
It might be asking a lot but can we this time put the blame aside, use the lessons to make things better in the future & take our processes back to a place where right from the start those in charge have a greater freedom of choice.
Many of those affected by this incident have been affected before. When I was going back through the mine incidents I suddenly realized with horror that the cousin who lost a son in law this time it seems, also lost an immediate family member in the Strongman incident.
On a policing & security front there will have to be a lot of leeway shown on the Coast over the next wee while as peoples reactions to this will show up in many different ways.
http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz
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