Under an agreement with U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice and New York State, Lafarge North America Inc. has agreed to fund $1.5 million in projects to reduce air pollution in the community surrounding its Ravena, N.Y., cement plant. The agreement also provides Lafarge additional time to reduce air pollution from the cement plant. A March 2010…
Read MoreCategory: Key Issues
Double Check for Your Safety
By Randy K. Logsdon First Quiz Question: The electrical equipment in your work area suddenly quits. Nothing seems to be working right today. You make the trek over to the motor control center and discover that the circuit breaker for the equipment has tripped. What is your next course of action?
Read MoreRecent MSHA Outreach with Metal/Nonmetal Stakeholders
By Joseph A. Main One of my initiatives when I arrived at MSHA was to get out into the mining community and meet with our stakeholders to share what we are doing at MSHA and discuss how we could improve mine safety and health. We have attended many stakeholder events across the country since then. Working with our stakeholders, we…
Read MoreVPID Formula Skews Fines for Small Operators
By Ellen Smith In a decision rejecting the way MSHA determines penalties, ALJ Michael Zielinski essentially threw out MSHA’s use of “violations per inspection day” for small operations, stating that the federal agency’s formula skews the violation history of small mines, and can lead to higher penalties.
Read MoreMSHA Touts Record-Low Fatality, Injury Rates
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced the release of final data for 2012 that indicate the lowest fatality and injury rates in the history of U.S. mining, along with the lowest rate of contractor fatalities since the agency began calculating those rates in 1983.
Read MoreKobelco’s Back
By Mark S. Kuhar Kobelco Construction Machinery USA held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new Houston-based North American Headquarters following the relaunch of the brand as an independent product line earlier this year. The event was attended by nearly all of Kobelco’s recently signed dealers, a host of local and national media and several local officials, as well as Kobelco…
Read MoreOff-Highway Diesel Prices
The national estimated average price-per-gallon for off-highway diesel fuel as of July 31 is $3.647. That is higher than the previous comparison price-per-gallon of $3.603.
Read MoreWay to Goat!
By Mark S. Kuhar On April 22, Graniterock welcomed a herd of goats and their kids along with the guard dog “Baby” and her puppies “in training” at the Santa Cruz Sand Plant. The goats are being used as part of a holistic management plan to decrease the amount of non-native grasses in the area and encourage growth of natives,…
Read MoreWhen is an Emergency Emergent?
A Recent Decision May Have ‘Significantly And Substantially’ Changed The Way In Which We Evaluate Penalties Associated With MSHA Citations.
Read MoreKansas Quarry will not Face Restrictions
Residents who live near the Hamm Buchheim Quarry in western Douglas County, Kan., walked away frustrated after county commissioners declined to put any new restrictions on how the quarry operates, according to the Lawrence Journal-World.
Read More