Mine safety penalties are pretty meaningless if they aren’t paid, and more so if they aren’t assessed.
A reporter’s request for an MSHA citation is probably the worst case of redaction overkill that I’ve seen.
Investigator Jim Beck got to the bottom of what happened at the Upper Big Branch coal mine disaster. He died last week from cancer.
The Huffington Post investigates how the mining industry cheats worker safety; Seattle set to raise minimum wage to $15; and the death of a hummus plant worker could have been prevented with better safety practices.
The Labor Department announced new regulations to better protect coal miners from developing coal mine dust lung diseases. The are a step in the right direction, but not as stringent as proposed.
Three hours after I wrote this “The US Department of Labor has a plan to eliminate coal mine dust lung disease (a.k.a. black lung.) It’s been stuck in White House review for eight months, under the watch of a reg czar who promised timeliness of reviews,” they announced they were issuing the new rules.
Injury Control & Violence
Boycott! Don Blankenship’s propaganda film about Upper Big Branch disaster
Don Blankenship is marking the 4th anniversary of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster with a propaganda film. Boycott it!
Should fatality investigation reports include the names of the victims? Opinions differ.
Seatbelts save lives. But some workers don’t wear them. We might save some lives if we knew why.
Government
No tsunami of regulations, proposals to improve safety for miners languish in White House review
The Obama Administration continues to let proposals to improve worker safety waste away in internal review.