By Randy Logsdon I woke up shortly before the alarm would have jolted me from my sleep. After some reflexive stretching, I slipped out from under the covers and carefully walked around the corner to the bathroom. The hotel room was still dark, and I reached inside the bathroom doorway to feel for the light switch. One has a sense…
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Citation Vacated Where Employee Failed to Wear Fall Protection
By Ellen Smith An operator cannot be held liable for an employee failing to wear fall protection if the employer supplied fall-protection equipment, trained workers in its use, and required fall protection in all hazardous situations, Review Commission ALJ Priscilla Rae has ruled.
Read MoreMSHA Reports Half-Year Fatality Analysis
From Jan. 1, 2013, to June 30, 2013, 18 miners died in accidents in the mining industry, according to MSHA. Nine died in coal mining accidents and nine in metal and nonmetal mining accidents. In both coal and metal and nonmetal mining, one of the miners killed was a contractor.
Read MoreDouble 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 MoreTwo Birds, One Stone
By Randy Logsdon Don Wilson was the featured keynote speaker for day two of the New Mexico Mine Health and Safety Conference on May 8. Wilson is the vice president of SafeStart, a commercially marketed injury prevention system.
Read MoreALJ Vacate Drilling Citations, Citing an Unreasonable Interpretation
By Ellen Smith MSHA’s interpretation of a drilling standard is erroneous, not worthy of deference, and would lead to extraordinarily dangerous results, according to a recent ruling by Review Commission Judge Pricilla Rae. The case involved MSHA’s interpretation of §56.7012, which requires that drills be “attended” at all times. The dispute centered around the meaning of “attended.”
Read MoreChief ALJ Refuses to Extend Deadlines Where DOL Cut Backlog Staff Due to Sequester and Budget
By Ellen Smith Review Commission Chief ALJ Robert Lesnick has denied a motion filed by an MSHA conference litigation representative to stay a case for 180 days due to a “high rate of contests coupled with MSHA’s limited staff.”
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