Confined Space @ TPH
sb admin | August 24, 2007Four months ago, Mr. Dale Jones, 51 and Mr. Michael Wilt, 38 were killed in a massive highwall collapse at a surface coal mine near Barton, Maryland. The two miners were buried under 93,000 tons of rock, and it took rescue crews three days to recover the men's bodies. Â
This week, MSHA assessed a monetary penalty of $180,000 against the mine operator Tri-Star Mining, Inc. (Their accident investigation report was issued six weeks ago.)Â
In a news release announcing the fine, MSHA's Assistant Secretary Richard Stickler said:
"Two miners lost their lives because federal safety…
sb admin | August 24, 2007If you haven't seen it yet, go read Edward Cody's Washington Post article on a recent Chinese mine disaster. It begins with a description from a survivor:
XINTAI, China, Aug. 23 -- The first sign of trouble was a stream of water that burst from a wall deep in the mine, Wang Kuitao recalled. Within minutes, he said, the water was everywhere, rushing down the shaft carrying tons of mud. Another disaster was on the way, Wang quickly concluded, one more in the cruel rhythm of China's deadly coal fields.
"I said to myself, 'Something terrible has happened,' " Wang recounted later to a group of…
sb admin | August 22, 2007These three men were killed while trying to rescue six miners trapped at Crandall Canyon in Utah:
Dale Ray Black, 48, of Huntington, Utah (read more about him from the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret Morning News)
Brandon Kimber, 29, of Price, Utah (read more about him from USA Today and the Washington Post)
Gary Jensen, 48, of Redmond, Utah (read more about him from 9NEWS)
In other news:
New York Times: Firefighters Joseph Graffagnino, 33, and Robert Beddia, 53, died battling a blaze in the Deutsche Bank building at Ground Zero.
Associated Press: UFCW president Joseph Hansen has called for a…
sb admin | August 22, 2007The Mountain Eagle's Tom Bethell pulls no punches in today's editorial with an in-your-face critique of the coal industry and their investment (not!) in safety technology. He writes:
"Name five U.S. coal companies that have generously supported research to develop a two-way PED, hardened wireless two-way phone systems, and a tracking system capable of instantly locating miners. You canât, because none has."
"Worse yet, the coal industry isnât spending a dime to help undercapitalized entrepreneurs move their promising products from bench-testing to mine-testing and then through the final…
sb admin | August 21, 2007Mr. Eleazar Torres-Gomez, 46, was killed at an Oklahoma Cintas laundry plant on March 6, 2007, when he was dragged into an industrial dryer because of an unguarded conveyor. Federal OSHA investigated the fatality and, this week, proposed a $2.78 million penalty for, among other things, 42 willful violations of its lockout/tagout standard.
OSHA's Asst. Secretary stated:
"Plant management at the Cintas Tulsa laundry facility ignored safety and health rules that could have prevented the death of the employee."
The CEO of Cintas, Scott Farmer, expressed the familiar:
"Any accident is one too…
sb admin | August 20, 2007By Liz BorkowskiÂ
Although work has begun on a fifth borehole into the Crandall Canyon mine, officials acknowledged yesterday that the six miners may not be found. This LA Times article describes the anguishing choice between leaving the miners underground â a notion âakin to soldiers leaving comrades on the battlefieldâ â and risking more fatalities in a rescue operation thatâs already claimed three lives.
In todayâs Washington Post, Karl Vick and Sonya Geis report that the focus has now shifted to determining the cause of collapse, and the retreat mining techniques being used are the first…
sb admin | August 20, 2007When MSHA's Gary Jensen, 53, died last week in a rockburst at the Crandall Canyon mine, it had been 26 years since a federal mine inspector had died in the line of duty. Mr. Jensen joined MSHA in 2001 as an inspector. He had worked for nearly 30 years as a coal miner, and was especially skilled in roof control.Â
He is survived by a wife and four children, with one remarking that one of his father's trademarks was putting himself before others. Â
In a 2003 document marking MSHA's 25th anniversary, the agency offered a small tribute to the 16 federal inspectors who lost their…
sb admin | August 19, 2007For the first year on the job, a new underground coal miner wears a red-colored hardhat to signal to everyone on the crew that he (or she) is a rookie. These so-called "red hats" receive 40 hours of safety training before they are allowed to take on any mining duties, on topics ranging roof control, mine gases, evacuation procedures, and their rights provided by the Mine Act (1978). By tradition, after one year on-the-job, "red hats" earn a black hard hat. I've heard stories of some young miners keeping track inside their dinner buckets the number of days until they can shed…
sb admin | August 17, 2007MSHA reports:
"At approximately 8:39 pm (EDT) Thursday night, a significant bounce occurred at the mine. Three rescue workers are confirmed dead, including one MSHA inspector. Six others remain hospitalized. At this time, all rescue efforts have been suspended."
The MSHA inspector who was fatally injured in this latest coal-pillar rockburst was Mr. Gary Jensen, who worked out the MSHA's Price, Utah office. Gary was a member of MSHA's mine rescue team. Before joining MSHA, he worked as a coal miner for SUFCO Coal and had also been part of that company's mine rescue team.
Another…
sb admin | August 16, 2007Join an on-line chat at 1:00 pm today (8/16) on technology to locate trapped miners.
On day 11, the rescue efforts continue for the six trapped miners at a Utah coal mine. A third borehole (2") punctured the mine workings yesterday afternoon to allow a camera to be lowered into the mine to scan for any sign of the miners. With each borehole drilled and each camera-search, the questions being repeated across the nation are "where are the miners?" and "why don't we know more precisely where they are in the mine?"Â
After the Sago disaster, family members, worker advocates and coal…
sb admin | August 15, 2007The Salt Lake Tribune reports that a third borehole has reached a cavity in the Crandall Canyon mine, but efforts to lower a microphone into it have failed so far. The Tribune has the most extensive coverage of the rescue efforts, and in a blog post yesterday Arianna Huffington contrasts its performance to that of the New York Times:
⦠the Times has been thoroughly scooped by the Salt Lake Tribune, which uncovered a memo revealing that there had been serious structural problems at the Crandall Canyon Mine in March -- in an area just 900 feet from the section of the mine that collapsed last…
sb admin | August 15, 2007The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its preliminary numbers on 2006 fatal occupational injuries, and Katherine Torres at Occupational Hazards reports on what they show. The rate of fatal work injuries declined slightly, from 4 per 100,000 in 2005 to 3.9 in 2006, but some industries showed increases:
â¢Â The 47 coal mining fatalities, many of them from major disasters such as Sago, is more than double the 22 fatalities from that industry in 2005.
â¢Â The 415 aircraft-related fatalities represented a 44% increase over last yearâs total of 149.
â¢Â Construction was the industry sector…
sb admin | August 15, 2007by Tom Bethell                                                                                                     (Posted with permission from The Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY)
As we go to press, six coal miners remain trapped in Murray Energyâs Crandall Canyon Mine, near Huntington, Utah. Nothing has been heard from them since a portion of the mine caved in on August 6, and the heartbreakingly slow efforts to reach them have yielded no sign of whether they are alive. We join with mining…
sb admin | August 14, 2007In "Memo shows mine already had roof problems," (Aug 12) the Salt Lake Tribune's Robert Gehrke first reported on a history of rockbursts at the Crandall Canyon mine.* I first learned this on NPR's Morning Edition (Aug 14) when Frank Langfitt reported that in March of this year, another severe rockburst occurred at the Crandall Canyon coal mine. Apparently, no miners were injured by that mining "bump," which Langfitt described "like an explosion as the floor buckles and coal shoots out from the pillars that hold up the ceiling," but the situation was severe enough, that Murray …
sb admin | August 13, 2007OSHA's Area Office in Pittsburgh issued 46 citations, including 16 repeat violations and one willful against Shane Felter Industries, Inc. of Uniontown, PA. A proposed penalty of $166,400 accompanied the citations.  OSHA's Area Director Robert Szymanski said:
"Shane Felter Industries' refusal to remove hazards ultimately threatens the safety and health of its employees. It is imperative that this employer correct these violations to prevent a potential tragedy."
The company has 62 employees.
The offending firm fabricates steel beams used in bridge and road construction. A quick…
sb admin | August 13, 2007In Indiana on Friday, three men died from a 500-foot plunge down an air shaft being built at a coal mine:
Christopher Todd Richardson, 38, of Cedar Bluff, Virginia
Daniel McFadden, 66, of Greybull, Wyoming
Jarred A. Ashmore, 23, of Henderson, Kentucky
The Associated Press reports:
The trip [into the shaft] in the open-top bucket Friday was routine, but the bucket was somehow upset as it was descending, said George Zugel, director of safety and health for Frontier-Kemper Constructors Inc. The company is building the 550-foot vertical ventilation shaft at the Gibson County Coal mine in…
sb admin | August 13, 2007Ellen Smith, Managing Editor of Mine Safety and Health News reported at 5:30 pm (EST, 8/12) on the status of the operation to rescue the six trapped miners at the Crandall Canyon mine in Emery County, Utah. She wrote that MSHA Assistant Secretary Richard Sticker, said they are dealing with
"the most difficult ground conditions -- ever"
and conditions are getting much more difficult.
Ellen Smith's report continues:
There continue to be severe bumps and outbursts along the ribs. They have explored four entries in the active working section, but because of the adverse conditions, they…
sb admin | August 11, 2007by Ken Ward, Jr. (This item first appeared on Nieman Watchdog; posted with permission)
Often after accidents like the one at Crandall Canyon, Utah, mine operators claim their mines had relatively few violations. Even if thatâs trueâand often it isnâtâârelatively fewâ just isnât good enough in a risky venture like coal mining. As I write this, the news out of Crandall Canyon, Utah, is not looking good. The Associated Press reports that a tiny microphone lowered deep into the earth early Friday picked up no evidence that six coal miners caught in cave-in four days ago were still alive. …
sb admin | August 10, 2007In the last few days, we have all been in a state of shock over the situation in Utah. Like several of my colleagues, I have been praying for the trapped Utah miners and their families and friends. I have been tuning in to the press conferences with mine owner Bob Murray, and I have been refreshing CNN's website over and over again to get the latest news on the rescue efforts.
Today, I walked passed a yellowed newspaper article from the Washington Post we hung on the side of a filing cabinet 20 months ago, in January 2006.
"Senators Say Budget Cuts Have Left Mines Unsafe" the headline…
sb admin | August 10, 2007While weâre all sending our thoughts and hopes to the miners and their families at Crandall Canyon, we also owe it to all coal miners to highlight the conditions that make such mining disasters more likely and to pressure those in charge to correct them.
Tula Connell at Firedoglake delves into the mineâs citation record, mine owner Robert Murrayâs political connections, and recent trends in mine safety. At Daily Kos, Devilstower explains (from experience) the tricky aspects of drilling down to trapped miners, and the mineâs use of retreat mining. David Roberts at Gristmill also criticizes…