This 1971 color film uses coal mining footage to discuss the causes, effects, and methods of preventing pneumoconiosis, also known as “black lung.” Strategies for detecting and controlling coast dust are explained and illustrated in this short produced for the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Mine Enforcement and Safety Administration in response to the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (TRT: 19:54).
Mine excavation equipment grinds away in a tunnel, producing a cloud of coal dust. A miner wears goggles and a hard hat with a headlamp (0:08). Crossfade to an animated illustration of coal dust particles filling a lung (0:44). Images of lungs infected with pneumoconiosis or “black lung.” A platelet of particles is shown under a microscope, and projected on a microprojector (1:14). A man in a hospital bed struggles to breath. He calls for a nurse. A nurse applies an oxygen hose to his face. A doctor uses a stethoscope and attempts CPR to no avail (1:45). The doctor fills out a death certificate for a Pennsylvania coal miner (2:41). In a lab, technicians use imaging devices and test equipment to investigate “acceptable limits of expirable dust,” according to narration. A rotary blade saws at a chunk of coal (2:55). A coal silo. Miners carry buckets toward a mine’s entrance. Inside a mine, a conveyor belt loaded with coal. A miner reinforces the ceiling of a mineshaft (3:18). A drill bores a hole into a wall of coal. Miners use an MRE, or Mine Research Establishment instrument to take air samples at the work site (4:16). A machine produces a thick haze of coal dust. A nearby miner wears a respirator mask, another does not (5:36). Miners leave the mine after a day’s work (6:16). A small metallic disk carrying a dust sample is evaluated in a lab (6:28). Back in the mine, an excessive amount of coal dust. Miners use a water spray (6:44). Engineers review a map of a mine with a Rapidograph pen. A lab technician tests a transparent ventilation duct. A brochure for Axivane blowers (7:37). Closeup on a ventilation exhaust fan, with a yellow air duct attached (8:05). Animation shows a mining machine at work. Arrows show air flow. A graph shows respirable dust concentrations far in excess of the 1972 standard. The bars of the graph fall, half of them below the permissible limit (8:30). A conveyor belt moves finely ground coal. Coal dumping trips and roadways are also highlighted as points of concern (9:21). Rotating nozzles on a water spraying device. A miner uses a sprinkler attachment (10:59). Water infusion methods are demonstrated. A hollow rod injects a way with pressurized water in an animated illustration (12:01). Miners use a tan labeled “wetting agent.” A detergent foam is pictured as an alternative. Foam accumulates in a pile (13:03). Animation shows hollows drills removing dust as it is produced and applying water (14:01). Exterior views of a mining operation show dust collectors above ground (14:39). A miner uses a facemask respirator. Narration notes a lack of widespread mask adoption due to “discomfort, interference with verbal communications” (15:05). A miner wears a life support system for filtered air (15:37). A hazmat suit and another breathing device are tested (15:49). A silo fills a train hopper car with coal. Coal cars move along railroad tracks (16:36). A miner’s rehabilitation clinic waiting room. Closeups on men’s faces are intercut with shots of them working in a mine (17:09). Sign: “Department of the Interior.” The U.S. Capitol. Title overlay: “Public Law 91-173… An Act: Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969…” A portion of the law scrolls by (18:14). Thanks and acknowledgements (19:23).
The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 was tragically slow to enforcement, as evidenced by the introduction of basic risk mitigation strategies on display in this film. It was subsequently updated by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.
