For years the coal industry has been sowing doubt about an air sampling device that is mandated in a regulation to address black lung disease. Last week a National Academies’ panel put to rest industry assertions about the accuracy of the device.
The CEO of an investment company with coal mine holdings has ludicrous ideas about worker safety. He thinks coal miners should rely on their natural instincts to be safe. He says emergency breathing equipment, rescue chambers, and proximity detectors are a waste of money.
The Labor Department’s mine safety chief has a warning for mine operators who don’t pay their monetary penalties: We’ll shut you down until you pay, and you’ll have to pay your workers while your closed.
President Trump boasted yesterday at a photo op of his plans to cut the “red tape of regulations.” His regulatory agenda ignores his crush on coal miners by threatening current rules to prevent black lung disease.
The Steelworkers union is challenging the Trump administration’s plan to diminish mine safety improvements and a 1969 law is on their side.
The Supreme Court is not interested in hearing former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s claim that he didn’t get a fair trial.
Injury Control & Violence
Trump’s mine safety nominee defends MSHA inspectors, calls silicosis “unacceptable”
Pres. Trump’s nominee to head the nation’s mine safety agency testified today at a Senate confirmation hearing. David Zatezalo answered questions about an epidemic of lung disease among coal miners and the adequacy of MSHA’s inspection force.
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced this week that he cannot support President Trump’s nominee to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Will Manchin be able to convince any Republican colleagues that Trump’s pick is not right for the job?
A reporter goes undercover to expose the conditions facing temp workers; West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin comes out against Trump’s MSHA pick; carpenters union confronts Industrial Commission of Arizona on leniency toward violators; and a Philadelphia union joins an opioid lawsuit against drug companies.
The Trump administration’s deregulatory zeal has infiltrated the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Trump’s appointee is insisting that a safety examination performed while miners are working is as protective as one performed before miners begin their work.