Mine Manager Pleads Guilty to Second-Degree Manslaughter

An upstate New York court accepted a mine manager’s guilty plea today to manslaughter in the second degree, a Class C felony. Anthony Valente, a mine manager at a Grafton limestone quarry, admitted to causing Darren Miller’s death in October 2022 by recklessly disregarding and overriding safety features of a crane Valente was operating, which resulted in a piece of…

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Department of Labor to Honor Workers Whose Jobs Claimed Their Lives

When the nation first observed Workers Memorial Day on April 28, 1970, an estimated 38 U.S. workers suffered fatal on-the-job injuries each day and many more endured debilitating respiratory diseases and other life-altering illnesses related to workplace exposures. Today, work-related injuries in the U.S. claim about 15 people’s lives a day. In 2022, a reported 5,486 workers suffered fatal injuries,…

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MSHA Silica Rule Draws Ire of Industry

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued a final rule to “better protect the nation’s miners from health hazards associated with exposure to respirable crystalline silica, also known as silica dust or quartz dust.” The final rule lowers the permissible exposure limit of respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cu. meter of air for…

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Show Me Your Badge!

Here’s A Story About An Operator Who Called Local Law Enforcement 
On A Field Office Supervisor Who Refused To Present His Credentials. By Brian Hendrix A reader in the industry recently asked me for my take on his practice of asking MSHA inspectors for their credentials. He explained that he asks for an inspector’s credentials, either an authorized representative (AR)…

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