Thomas Jones Warns Of Mine Hazards

Quite a few Chiefs players get involved with charities and public service organizations – for years they’ve had one of the best community relations departments in the league.

Thomas Jones has joined that group of active Chiefs players, and it’s a very different cause.

Jones has become spokesman for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration and the agency’s “Stay Out-Stay Alive” campaign. For the last 11 years, the idea has been to warn people of the dangers that can be found on mine properties for outdoor enthusiasts and children.

“Both of my parents were coal miners and they instilled in me a respect for the hazards often encountered while working underground,” Jones said. “If you haven’t been properly trained as a miner, you have no business being anywhere near a quarry, gravel pit or mine.”

Abandoned water-filled quarries are frequently deep with unstable banks. The water is usually very cold and deep. Drowning is the most frequent cause of non-occupational death at mines. Old surface mines are often used by all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles. Underground mines have hidden shafts, flooded sections and deadly gas. Plus, tunnels are susceptible to cave-ins.

“Too many young people lose their lives every year in abandoned mine accidents,” Jones said. “Abandoned mines are death traps. Underground mines have shafts as deep as skyscrapers and they can collapse at the slightest disturbance.”