Resources
Awesome guide on escaping mines - https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/escape-mines.pdf
Interesting stuff - 56 The ways out of the mine should already be clearly marked to meet the requirements of regulation 3 of The Mines (Safety of Exit) Regulations 1988. Normally, this will be by green reflective signs. However, emergency wayfinder beacons (flasher units) are now available to help people trying to escape in low visibility (see Figure 1). These are spaced at intervals along a roadway and, when activated, produce an audible signal, together with a green, high-intensity, flashing light on one side and a red one on the other. The green lights indicate the route to follow and the red lights warn disorientated people against going in the wrong direction, away from safety
Many mines will have flasher flights, that are boxes on the wall or on the floor and have two sides. A green side and a red. Green means - Go this way to get out of the mine. Red means go this way to get deeper into the mine.
According to the Escape Mines safety guides, Miners are issued standard 'self-rescuer' devices, in case they run across gases. These are basically air tanks or filters they can use. For instance, if digging and suddenly there is a rush of air from digging into a wall, maybe the air is poisonous.
So put on your self rescuer, which should give 90 mins of air. Then start looking for a safe haven.
Safe havens are special places, marked with special signs, where workers can find safety supplies like water, and special air pumps connected right to the surface. Don't forget to look out for these to get supplies or call for help!
They are required to have reflective Yellow and black signs and borders and reflective signs wih the words 'Safe haven' on them.
Source Page 21 of the Safety Guide
They are required to have lots of supplies like :
■ environmental monitoring pipes, such as Dräger tubes, to test the atmosphere outside the safe haven; ■ drinking water; ■ plans showing escape routes to fresh air or other safe havens; and ■ basic first-aid equipmen
Page 32 has a list of things that went wrong in other mining disasters, we can use this to come up with a good plan for what works.
99 The provision of safe havens and changeover facilities (see Figures 6, 7 and 8) is a new concept for UK coal mines. However, in the past, the then National Coal Board provided equipment at some mines prone to large firedamp emissions, mainly in South Wales and South Yorkshire, to help people survive in atmospheres which were potentially oxygen-deficient. Dedicated compressed-air pipes were installed from the surface to those parts of the mine where people were at risk from this potential hazard. Below ground, special valves were located at intervals in the air ranges in roadways and in the air hoses which ran along coal faces. Workers could access the air supply by pulling out a plastic tube attached to a valve. This had the effect of turning the top of the valve through 90° and releasing a regulated stream of air through the plastic tube. Workers were trained to direct air into their upturned helmets so that two or three persons could breathe at the same time from one helmet
Mine Safety and Health Administration
The mining safety and health association published a letter, clarifying the new requirements for escaping of mine! All mines in order to be certified by insurance must have at least two escape ladders, and one of them has to be located at the lowest level of the mine
So if you get stuck in a newer mine, you could use this info to know that there is guaranteed to be a safety escape hatch at the lowest level.