Insurance Journal » Mine Safety and Health Administration

Congressmen Renew Push for Tougher Federal Mine Safety Laws

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:00:59 +0000

With five coal mining fatalities in West Virginia so far this year, Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall is renewing his push for tougher federal laws. He and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., are co-sponsoring a new version of legislation that’s languished …

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Research Panel Recommends Steps to Help Mine Workers Escape in Emergencies

Vicki Smith — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:18:19 +0000

Federal regulators and safety officials should consider requiring more backup air supplies and work to develop better breathing devices that would help the nation’s coal miners escape underground emergencies, a panel of experts said in a new report. The report …

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West Virginia Coal Mines Shut Down to Review Safety Following Deaths

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:57:21 +0000

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin on Wednesday asked coal companies to halt production for an hour to review safety procedures following the state’s fourth mining fatality in two weeks and the sixth since November. Tomblin signed an executive order …

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U.S. Issues Mine Safety Rule on Patterns of Violations

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:21:48 +0000

Labor Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced a final rule to strengthen safety in the nation’s most dangerous mines. Solis said that the rule, which revises the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s pattern of violations regulation, seeks to ensure …

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Supreme Court Hears West Virginia Mine Widows’ Plea

Lawrence Messina — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:00:10 +0000

Federal inspectors must share the blame — and therefore face a lawsuit — for a 2006 West Virginia coal mine fire that killed two miners, a lawyer for their widows argued at the state Supreme Court on Wednesday. Lawyer Bruce …

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Mining Deaths Down in First Half of 2012

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:10:02 +0000

Nineteen mining deaths occurred during the first six months of the year, the second-lowest midyear toll ever recorded, federal regulators said. Fourteen miners died during the same period last year. The Mine Safety and Health Administration said 10 of this …

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West Virginia High Court to Decide Mine Inspectors’ Liability for Deaths

Vicki Smith — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 14:08:17 +0000

A federal appeals court said this week that the state Supreme Court should decide whether Mine Safety and Health Administration inspectors can be held liable for coal miners’ deaths, calling it “a matter of exceptional importance for West Virginia.” The …

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Black Lung Protections for Miners Failing; Cases Continue to Rise

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:25:30 +0000

Black lung diagnoses have doubled in the last decade, and a new investigation blames a combination of factors, including operators who cheat the system and lax enforcement by regulators. Experts have warned of the resurgence since 1995, but an investigation …

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Kentucky Governor Promoting New Drug Law for Miners

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:16:55 +0000

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear is promoting a newly passed law that permanently revokes the credentials of miners who fail drug tests. Beshear was in Pikeville on Tuesday where he said the law sends a clear message that drug and alcohol …

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West Virginia Mines Cited During May Safety Inspections

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 16:57:07 +0000

The Mine Safety and Health Administration says it issued 254 citations, 19 orders and one safeguard during special inspections at West Virginia coal mines last month. Among those targeted was Argus Energy’s Deep Mine No. 8 in Wayne County, where …

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10 Miners Have Died in Job-Related Accidents Thus Far in 2012

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:20:32 +0000

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said 10 miners died in work-related accidents at the nation’s mines during the first quarter of 2012, and half of those occurred on five consecutive weekends. MSHA chief Joe Main said that three …

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New Federal Safety Rules for Mines Finalized

Vicki Smith — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:39:15 +0000

Federal regulators are issuing a final set of rules for underground coal mine examinations that aim to hold operators more accountable for finding and fixing dangerous conditions — and preventing the deaths of their workers. The Mine Safety and Health …

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Inspections Improving Mine Safety, Says U.S. Official

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:00:40 +0000

Aggressive inspections at troubled mines are helping create safer working environments for coal miners, the head of the federal government’s mine safety agency said during a visit to Kentucky. U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration Director Joe Main met with …

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Judge Won’t Dismiss Massey Shareholder Suit Over Safety

Vicki Smith — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:00:57 +0000

A federal judge refused Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit by former Massey Energy shareholders who say they were deliberately misled about the company’s safety record before the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in West Virginia killed 29 men in 2010. …

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Regulators Say West Virginia Mines Warned of Inspectors

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:56:37 +0000

Three times in a month, regulators have caught West Virginia coal companies illegally warning miners that federal inspectors were onsite. Mine Safety and Health Administration director Joe Main says such warnings let workers disguise conditions that could endanger their lives. …

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Massey Mine Superintendent Charged with Conspiracy in West Virginia Blast

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:46:57 +0000

The former superintendent of the West Virginia coal mine where 29 workers died in a 2010 explosion was charged on Wednesday with felony conspiracy by tipping off mine operators to safety inspections, allowing them to conceal dangerous violations, authorities said. …

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Mine Safety Chief Seeks to End Complacency Over Safety

Vicki Smith — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:41:02 +0000

If there’s one lasting cultural change Mine Safety and Health Administration Director Joe Main wants to make in both the federal agency and the industry it regulates, it’s ending the cycle of intensity and complacency. After every high-profile disaster, regulators …

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Coal Mines Becoming Safer But Some Still ‘Don’t Get It,’ Says U.S. Regulator

Vicki Smith — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:58:25 +0000

Coal operators across the country are changing the way they work, and mines are becoming safer, but the head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said Thursday there are still too many who “don’t get it.” In a …

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Questions Raised About Federal Probe of West Virginia Mine Blast

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:26:33 +0000

Newly disclosed records show U.S. Labor Department officials stopped independent investigators from questioning how federal regulators handled methane leaks from the floor of the Upper Big Branch mine several times before last year’s disaster. In April 2010, 29 men died …

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Firm to Pay $209M Over West Virginia Blast That Killed 29

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 07:41:42 +0000

Coal miner Alpha Natural Resources has agreed to pay $1.5 million to each of the families of 29 miners killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia last year. The payments – part of a …

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Kentucky Reports Year’s 7th Miner Death

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:57:36 +0000

A foreman has been killed at an underground mine in eastern Kentucky, the third mine-related fatality in the state in 10 days. State officials said in a statement that due to the recent deaths, analysts from the Office of Mine …

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Alpha Says Safety Improving at Massey Mines

Andrew G. Simpson — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:45:02 +0000

The number of mine injuries has been cut in the five months since Alpha Natural Resources bought Massey Energy, which had owned the coal mine where 29 men died in a blast last year, Alpha’s CEO said Thursday. “The year-to-date …

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Ex-Mine Official Convicted in Deadly West Virginia Disaster

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 01:53:59 +0000

The former security chief at a West Virginia coal mine where 29 miners died last year was convicted of two felonies Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Hughie Elbert Stover, 60, was convicted by a federal jury of making false …

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Safety Crackdown Not Harming Mining Industry: Official

Vicki Smith — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:49:17 +0000

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration’s continuing crackdown on the coal industry hasn’t deterred the industry’s growth, director Joe Main said Friday. From April 2010 to June 2011, the number of underground mining employees grew by about 11 percent, …

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Mining Industry Launches Safety Program

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:16:22 +0000

The National Mining Association says it’s launching a program to get companies collaborating so mine operators with poor safety records can learn from those with good ones. The goal is to eliminate deaths and cut injuries in half within five …

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14 Mining Deaths Reported Thus Far in 2011

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:24:20 +0000

Federal mine safety regulators said that eight miners have been killed in coal mining operations, and six in the metal and nonmetal sector this year through the end of June. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration …

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Federal Report: Coal Dust, Deception in Fatal West Virginia Mine Blast

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:59:26 +0000

The blast that killed 29 men in a West Virginia coal mine last year was probably caused by coal dust ignition, compounded by safety failings, intimidation and deception by the mine’s owner, the U.S. mine regulator said Wednesday. The Mine …

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Mine Owner Massey Kept 2 Sets of Safety Records: NPR

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:36:17 +0000

The owners of the West Virginia coal mine where 29 men died in a blast last year kept two sets of safety records, one that it concealed from federal safety officials, National Public Radio reported Wednesday, The government-subsidized radio network …

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Coal Industry Blasts New Federal Mine Safety Rules

Tim Huber — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:54:03 +0000

Coal industry officials this week roundly criticized two sets of new safety rules proposed by federal regulators following an explosion that killed 29 West Virginia miners last year. The West Virginia Coal Association and Alpha Natural Resources, the third-largest U.S. …

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Feds Demand Workplace Injury Records from Mining Firms

Tim Huber — Thu, 26 May 2011 12:43:34 +0000

An administrative law judge has ordered two major coal producers, Massey Energy Co. and Peabody Energy Corp., to turn over information about coal mine accidents, injuries and work-related illnesses, federal regulators said. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said …

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