c


    

http://catalog.blr.com/product.cfm/product/OCA


  
    
 
 
3
 
  

 the early 1900s, more tha 3,000 people lost their lives a ually i mi e accide ts i the
U ited States.  2009, that figure was a record low 34 a d it is creepi g toward 60 for 2010.
Despite this year¶s high umbers the patter i dicates a sig ifica t dow ward tre d.

But dramatic i cide ts i rece t weeks u derscore the risk.  Nevada, two gold mi ers lost
their lives at Barrick Goldstrike¶s Meikle Mi e i early August. About 10 days later, Chilea
rescuers made co tact with 33 trapped coal mi ers a d co ti ue worki g to bore a shaft that
will permit them to bri g the me to the surface.

Mi e safety advocates poi t out that despite the i dustry¶s reputatio as highly hazardous, a
umber of other occupatio al groups²like roofers, co structio laborers, a d farmers²
typically experie ce higher umbers of fatalities. However, critics say the i dustry is ot doi g
e ough to protect employees.

For ma y America s who have little or o co ectio to the i dustry, mi i g represe ts a

mysterious black hole. For others, it is a way of life a d a ear-automatic choice of employme t.

This Complia ce Report provides a overview of mi e safety i itiatives a d best practices,

i cludi g ma y applicable to o mi i g employers. t reflects several poi ts of view, i cludi g
those of the Mi e Safety a d Health Admi istratio (MSHA, OSHA¶s sister age cy withi the
Departme t of Labor), two mi e operatio s recog ized for stro g safety performa ce, a d the
U ited Mi e Workers of America.

c  
This article was scheduled mo ths ago with i terviewees selected from a ual MSHA awards
for safe hours worked. O e of the wi ers for 2008(the most rece t year a ou ced) was
Massey E ergy, which ow s 85 mi es, i cludi g three cited for safe performa ce. Massey is
also the ow er of the Upper Big Bra ch Mi e, the site of the multifatality explosio i April i
West Virgi ia.

Despite o goi g i
uiries a d legal a d regulatory fallout li ked to the disaster, we ho ored our
prior decisio to i terview Massey officials about practices that led to the award. We have
followed the same approach with employers i ma ufacturi g a d co structio who have, i
other i sta ces, bee i volved i accide ts a d e forceme t actio s.

Accordi g to MSHA, mi e safety improved sig ifica tly after 1978, whe the age cy bega
operati g u der the ew Mi e Safety a d Health Act. MSHA explai s that its ³culture of
preve tio embeds safety a d health as core values i all i itiatives a d o goi g activities.´

The age cy poi ts to a umber of factors i that progress. These i clude i spectors who direct
their efforts where risk is greatest, stro g e forceme t suppleme ted by efforts to help mi ers
u dersta d a d follow the law, tech ical support, a d educatio a d trai i g.
!" #!$!
The Upper Big Bra ch tragedy has spurred legislative actio . The Robert C. Byrd Mi er Safety
a d Health Act of 2010 (k ow as the Mi er Act) is o its way to a full vote i the House after
passi g the Committee o Educatio a d Labor last mo th. Provisio s of the legislatio , which
was favored by Democratic committee members over Republica s, are the followi g:
X New rules for mi es with serious a d repeat violatio s. Criteria for patter of violatio s
sa ctio s would be revamped for u dergrou d coal mi es a d other gassy mi es to
e sure that operators that repeatedly violate sta dards or have high accide ts rates
improve safety.
a Accou tability for irrespo sible operators. The legislatio would i crease maximum
crimi al pe alties for u dergrou d coal mi es a d would establish a sa ctio for
operators who k owi gly tamper with or disable safety e
uipme t that could kill mi ers.
X Better e forceme t tools. MSHA would gai authority to subpoe a docume ts a d
testimo y a d could seek a court order to close a mi e whe there is a co ti ui g threat
to mi ers. The age cy would also be re
uired to re
uire co tractors, as well as
operators, to report accide ts a d i uries.
X Better whistleblower protectio . Protectio s for workers who speak out about u safe
co ditio s would be stre gthe ed a d would guara tee that mi ers ot lose pay for
safety-related mi e closures.
X E ha ced re
uireme ts. Amo g these are i creased rock dusti g to preve t coal dust
explosio s a d a re
uireme t that preshift reviews of hazards a d violatio s i the mi e
be commu icated to i comi g mi ers. (Dusti g u dergrou d areas with powdered
limesto e dilutes the coal dust i the mi e atmosphere, reduci g explosio hazards.)
Protocols for co ti uous atmospheric mo itori g for metha e a d carbo mo oxide
would be developed by NOSH a d adopted by MSHA.
X MSHA review. The legislatio calls for a i depe de t i vestigatio of the most serious
accide ts, i cludi g a assessme t of a y gaps i MSHA oversight or regulatio .
X Basic protectio s guara tee. Whistleblower protectio s would be stre gthe ed, crimi al
a d civil pe alties i creased, a d hazard abateme t sped up. Also, accide t victims a d
families would have greater rights duri g i vestigatio s a d e forceme t actio s. OSHA
would be allowed to assert co curre t e forceme t urisdictio i states with state pla s
if the state is ot mai tai i g protectio s at least as effective as those of federal OSHA.

The legislatio goes a lo g way toward desired protectio s but ot far e ough, accordi g to Bill
Ba ig, director of gover me t affairs for the U ited Mi e Workers of America (UMWA). ³The bill
that came out of the Educatio a d Labor committee defi itely makes a umber of
improveme ts a d we totally support it.´ Ba ig poi ts specifically to a ticipated cha ges i the
patter of violatio s status, whistleblower protectio s, a d stre gthe i g of e forceme t.

But the u io , which also represe ts employees i health care, trucki g, ma ufacturi g, a d the
public sector, is ot as satisfied about other provisio s i the Mi er bill. Accordi g to Ba ig, the
proposal does ot give mi ers¶ represe tatives the right to full participatio i i vestigatio s a d
other regulatory matters. He adds, ³Ultimately, we feel the best protectio for a y worker is to
have a u io represe ti g them.´

While UMWA has bee highly critical of Massey E ergy a d other sectors of the i dustry, Ba ig
says the u io feels that most mi e operators ³are doi g a very good ob. Just a small
perce tage of operators co ti ue to have these disasters.´ He sees the problem as a
overemphasis o productio a d a failure to realize ³that havi g a safe mi e is also a very
productive mi e.´ While the u io will always have differe ces with MSHA, Ba ig believes the
curre t leadership is doi g a very good ob.
 !! c% %! 

The first Se ti els of Safety award was a ou ced by former Preside t Herbert Hoover, a
mi i g e gi eer, whe he was Secretary of Commerce i 1925. The a ual safety competitio
has co ti ued u i terrupted to the prese t day a d is curre tly cospo sored by MSHA a d the
Natio al Mi i g Associatio . The 2009 wi ers will be amed this fall.

The awards go to mi e operatio s with a mi imum of 4,000 i ury-free hours a d are awarded
i 10 categories.  2008, Massey E ergy was the o ly compa y to receive three awards. We
talked with Sta Suboleski, a former executive, curre t member of the Massey board of
directors, a d co sulta t to the compa y. From 2003 to 2006 Suboleski served as a
commissio er of the Mi e Safety a d Health Review Commissio .

³ thi k mi i g gets a bad rap. t obviously has a lot of i here t da gers that, if you were free to
e gi eer your ow workplace, you would ot desig i to it. These i clude co fi ed spaces, the
prese ce of gas, a d a roof, floor, a d walls with u defi ed e gi eeri g properties.´ A other
hazard, a d a sig ifica t differe ce from ma ufacturi g e viro me ts, is that from day to day,
e
uipme t is i a differe t place a d the mi e itself cha ges shape.´

Despite such co ditio s, Suboleski says a review of the statistics reveals that accide t rates i
mi i g are typical of those i ma ufacturi g a d co siderably better tha rates i health care
a d other sectors. U dergrou d vehicle traffic is o e of the biggest causes of accide ts.

Speaki g of the effort to reduce risk, he says, ³ thi k we¶ve gotte a whole lot better, although 
ever thought we¶d see the type of accide t we saw at Upper Big Bra ch. We still have a lo g
way to go.´

Drilli g dow i to specifics, Suboleski poi ts to roof support e ha ceme ts. ³What we do to
support mi e roofs these days is to try to tur the rock i to a replica of rei forced co crete as
early as we ca .´ That i volves drilli g holes i a 4-foot patter , the i serti g a
uick-dryi g,
epoxy-type resi a d i set bolts to literally bi d the roof.

³Also, we¶ve gotte pretty good at desig i g out high stresses,´ says Suboleski. He credits a
NOSH roof co trol group that studied pillar desig a d roof failures a d used their co clusio s
to desig more-scie tific roof co trol guideli es.

 
& $
  
Beyo d i dustry i ovatio s, Suboleski says Massey¶s safety developme t group has take the
lead o a umber of high-value safety improveme ts. The team reviews every lost time accide t
with the goal of e gi eeri g out similar hazards.

³For example, we oticed that we were havi g o e or two people a year hit by pieces of falli g
rock as they were traveli g i or out of the mi e,´ reports Suboleski. The safety group
recomme ded, a d the compa y impleme ted, a re
uireme t that all rail vehicles (rail is the
primary method of tra sporti g people a d materials) must be outfitted with ca opies.

A other hazard the compa y is worki g to elimi ate i volves strai s a d sprai s, especially of
backs a d fi gers. The a swer i this case was a 48-i ch u dergrou d forklift, which is ow i
use at every Massey mi e. Suppliers palletize supplies to fit mi e ope i gs; usi g these ³short´
forklifts helps preve t back strai s a d fi ger i uries i volved with movi g materials.
The oisi ess of u dergrou d mi es a d coal processi g pla ts is a lo gsta di g problem.
Massey employees are re
uired to use heari g protectio outfitted with built-i radios. The
devices serve to e ha ce commu icatio while guardi g agai st high oise levels.

³We¶ve do e simple thi gs, too, like re
uiri g all workers to wear reflective clothi g.´ Suboleski
says this was ot commo i the early 1990s whe Massey bega to re
uire it, but has si ce
become fairly sta dard. Employees wear yellow a d ora ge reflecti g clothi g a d visitors wear
gree to e sure that care is take arou d them.

Massey also re
uires protective gloves, footwear, a d ma datory eye protectio that go beyo d
MSHA re
uireme ts.

Suboleski is amo g those a ticipati g i troductio of proximity detectors to help avoid the risk of
i dividuals bei g ru over by ³co ti uous mi ers.´ These are the huge, largely remotely
co trolled trucks that literally rip coal off the mi e walls.

MSHA, NOSH, a d mi e operators have bee worki g to perfect detectors to elimi ate
accide ts that result whe operators ca ot detect the prese ce of i dividuals i the path of the
e
uipme t.

 February, MSHA issued a re
uest for i formatio o the be efits of usi g these devices.
Massey is movi g ahead with pla s to i stall detectio systems i all its mi es.

ü   '()*

³We recog ize that we still do ¶t k ow what caused this accide t.´ Referri g to the Upper Big
Bra ch Mi e explosio , Massey E ergy board member a d former executive Sta Suboleski
says the compa y is ow worki g o ³a pretty good theory´ about what caused the i cide t that
took the lives of 29 mi ers i April.

Accordi g to Suboleski, mi e officials believe a large crack i the floor of the mi e a d a

resulti g gas i u datio may have caused the i cide t. MSHA has publicly stated that its
specialists do ot co cur. Suboleski explai s that se sors that co ti uously mo itor a d report
o co ditio s i side the mi e revealed a very sudde cha ge i atmosphere at the time of the
explosio .

³You had o e readi g that showed zero carbo mo oxide a d metha e, the 3 mi utes later
both of those are µpegged out,¶ so you k ow that whatever happe ed happe ed very sudde ly,´
he says. The leaki g substa ce fou d a ig itio source before the prese ce of high
co ce tratio s could be i dicated by the se sors. Normally, the se sors would have respo ded
to the high levels by killi g power to the affected sectio of the mi e.

Suboleski described the type of mi i g bei g do e i the area as a specialized, high volume
process k ow as ³lo g wall mi i g.´ A 2-mile-lo g block of coal is laid out a d ³a gia t cheese
slicer is put over it, which ru s back a d forth co ti ually.´ The resulti g coal falls o to a
co veyor a d is tra sported out of the mi e.

After the explosio , MSHA re
uired certai cha ges at a other Massey site where the lo g wall
process was bei g used. The compa y disagreed with the age cy a d respo ded by closi g
that mi e. Suboleski says MSHA has si ce resci ded the re
uireme ts, permitti g the mi e to
be reope ed. As the Upper Big Bra ch i
uiry co ti ues, Suboleski says the compa y is ot
ruli g out a y possible causes.