Coal Miners: A Source of Pride ~ knowledgeIQ

Coal mining is dark, dirty, and dangerous work.

It's not for everyone - it's for the few who love to descend into bowels of the Earth to extract “black Gold”. Even as they face the risk of mines collapsing, or catching on fire, or the long term health threats like black lung.Coal mining is one of the toughest professions and to highlight the situation of people working in coal mines Coal Miners Day is observed every year on May 4.

Coal miners are some of the great unsung heroes of Industrial and modern civilization, who spend every day digging tunneling and extracting coal from the mines.

On this Coal Miners Day, here are some Coal mining facts which highlight the difficulties faced by the coal miners.

Being a miner is a proud feeling like every day when you go underground you're seeing a part of the earth nobody is else is seeing ever.

Down in a Coalmine, there’s no such thing as a “nine to five”.

Some head down before sunrise and return anywhere from seven to 12 hours later. There are three eight-hour shifts, but each one ends up taking 10 hours, because of the two hours it takes to get to the site before miners can get to work.

Inside a mine, there's no natural light.

With all of the technology, it's no longer as dark as once it was. "But when you shut everything off it's as dark as dark gets.

Miners descend thousands of feet into the earth to get to the coal.

Getting underground is quick — it might take four minutes in an elevator. It depends on how depth your work is carried out. But it can take two hours, along rail tracks, for miners to get to the working section of the mine. They are paid for this time.

There are also deadly gases in the mines, like carbon monoxide and methane.

Miners no longer take canaries down to test air quality, though. It was replaced by an electric detector that provides a digital reading of gases. Monitoring the mines is necessary, because methane doesn’t have a smell, and it can’t be seen. Typically the deeper a mine goes, the more methane is released, because of there more pressure. When methane mixes with coal dust the combination can be explosive.

A big draw for miners is the high pay.

According to a source In the US, you don't need a college education to be paid well. In Kentucky, in 2011, if a miner was willing to work overtime, they could be bringing in $100,000 a year, plus overtime.

The danger of the job also makes it a matter of pride

It's in part due to coal being the most polluting fossil fuel.

Coal currently fuels just under 40% of the world’s electricity. It’s the most polluting fossil fuel, but its also cheap and relatively plentiful. Alternatives, like wind and solar power, have become more feasible, and funding has been diverted.

Since miners inhale coal dust continuously, it gets deposited on the lungs over the years and the lungs appear black in color.

In China, 4.3 million people are employed in coal mines, and the country uses 50% of the world's coal. It's also invested heavily in solar and wind power. China was the most unsafe place for coal mining. It produced 40% of the world's coal but had 80% of all coal mining deaths.

Coal mining directly employs over 7 million workers and benefits millions more through indirect jobs globally.

At present, about 485,000 coal miners are involved in India in the production of over 700 million tonnes of coal annually.

In India, which is the third biggest coal producer, there are private, unregulated mines, which show quite a different scenario from Global mines.

A rat-hole mine involves digging of very small tunnels, usually only 3-4 feet deep, in which workers, more often children, enter and extract coal. Since rat-hole mining is illegal, it is practiced behind closed doors.

In Poland's largest mine, Pniowek, before work begins miners cross themselves in front of Saint Barbara, the payron of miners and they never say good morning to their peers, because it's bad luck. Instead, they say, "God bless."

In Germany, they say "Glueck Auf," which roughly translates to "good luck," because of how uncertain the coal miner's life is.

Thank you for reading Happy Miner's Day.

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