Occupational Health & Safety
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, 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 9, 2007Marty Bennett was a coal miner with 29 years of experience, including work at operations that practiced "retreat mining." He died at age 51 at the Sago mine in January 2006, along with 11 other coal miners. Today, his family organized a letter of support for the Crandall Canyon miners' families from victim-families of previous coal mining fatalities. Their letter was published in the Salt Lake City Tribune. (Full text below) Â
To the families,Â
Not many people can actually say what your hearts are feeling. We want you to know that this family can. We are the family of…
sb admin | August 9, 2007Jeff Lehr at the Joplin Globe reports that a new round of lawsuits has been filed against makers of an artificial butter flavoring used at a microwave popcorn plant in Jasper County, Missouri. Exposure to artificial butter flavoring â in particular, the chemical diacetyl â has been linked to severe obstructive lung disease, and the 44 plaintiffs in the two latest lawsuits allege that exposure to butter flavoring caused severe impairment of their lungs. Lehr explains:
The lawsuits represent a second round of legal action against International Flavors and Fragrances Inc., and Bush Boake Allen,…
sb admin | August 8, 2007Recent events remind us about the difficult and valuable work of rescue and recovery. Celeste Monforton has already taken a look at the mine rescue teams that respond to disasters like the collapse at the Crandall County mine in Utah. Meanwhile, divers are at work in the aftermath of last weekâs bridge collapse. Dee DePass at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune follows the work of a Wisconsin dive crew as they face powerful currents, 82-degree water, and poor visibility that makes it hard to navigate around dangerous debris. In Time Magazine, Mitch Anderson describes the precautions divers have to…
sb admin | August 7, 2007More than 1,900 miles separate the Sago Baptist Church in Buckhannon, WV and the Emery County Senior Citizens Center in Huntington, UT. But the cavalcade of feelings from fear and hope, to uncertainty and despair is something only those who've been in their shoes can understand. In January 2006, it was the families of 12 trapped WV miners who were waiting and praying; today it is six families at a Utah community center. The families in Buckhannon wanted 12 miracles, but there was only one: Mr. Randall McCloy.  If we hear a joyful announcement "They're Alive," I've no doubt that…
sb admin | August 7, 2007As I stay tuned for news on the fate of the six coal miners trapped at the Crandall Canyon mine in Emery County, Utah I've heard numerous tv and radio reporters say "hundreds of mine rescuers" have converged near the worksite to assist with the rescue operation. Who are these "mine rescuers"?
They include the official mine-rescue teams, typically a 6-person group especially trained and equipped to enter a mine after an explosion, fire, roof fall or other catastrophe occurs, as well as scores of other individuals with specialized knowledge or equipment to assist with the rescue…
sb admin | August 3, 2007Back in April we reported that OSHA, facing scrutiny over its failure to protect food and flavoring workers from exposure to the butter flavoring chemical diacetyl, had announced a National Emphasis Program for the microwave popcorn industry. Last week, OSHA published a directive (PDF) to launch this one-year program.
OSHAâs effort will involve âinspection targeting, direction on methods of controlling chemical hazards, and extensive compliance assistance.â The most glaring hole in the program, as we noted earlier, is that it only covers microwave popcorn manufacturing.
In 2000, OSHA was…
sb admin | August 1, 2007Two new studies highlight concerns about what some workers are inhaling on the job. An international study published in the Lancet (free registration required to view summary) found that occupational exposures account for a substantial portion of adultsâ new-onset asthma, and that nurses have a significant excess risk of asthma. An Australian study published in Environmental Science & Technology found that several common models of office laser printers release amounts of ultra-fine particle pollution comparable to those from secondhand tobacco smoke.
In other news related to what workers…
sb admin | August 1, 2007
June and July 2007 has been a dangerous and deadly ones for 13 U.S. miners, and their families and co-workers left behind. So far this summer, 6 mine workers have died at metal mining operations, 4 workers employed at stone quarries and 3 coal miners.  These 11 men were working at mining operations in 11 different States: Alabama, Alaska, California, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon and Tennessee.     Â
As Mike Wright of the United Steelworkers reminded participants at a recent congressional hearing on mine safety, (his oral statement and…
sb admin | July 31, 2007Over at the Weekly Toll blog, Tammy says farewell to Carolyn Merritt, whose five-year term as chair of the Chemical Safety Board is coming to an end. She writes:
Carolyn is a strong, compassionate leader who has been in politics but hasn't let it pilot her ethics. Carolyn has done a terrific job of letting the families be heard and putting the human factor back into the system. God knows I will miss her in her role and I pray she has the same success in her family life that she had during her duration at the CSB.
Also, don't miss the most recent Weekly Toll - writeups of 109 deaths that…
sb admin | July 31, 2007In a post last week entitled Mining Professors Oppose Mine Safety Bill, I invited the signatories of a letter opposing new mine safety legislation to disclose their financial ties to the mining industry (if any) or other related conflicts of interest.  A couple of days later, one of the letter's signers, Larry Grayson, PhD of Penn State University, responded thoughtfully and thoroughly (here and here) to my post.  I respectfully invite the other signatories to follow Dr. Grayson's lead and provide their own disclosures.
Professor Grayson, who holds the George H., Jr. and Anne…
sb admin | July 26, 2007 Does anyone need to worry about asbestos fibers released into the air following the explosion of an 83-year old Manhattan steam pipe last Wednesday? Hopefully not! So far, officials are saying that while asbestos fibers were detected in solid material near the site, they were not found in air samples collected on-site. Still, with the respiratory illnesses of WTC responders fresh in everyoneâs mind, a Staten Island Advance columnist reported that Wednesdayâs responders were quick to don masks and to start asking questions about potential health effects. Read more about the response to the…
sb admin | July 25, 2007A group of 11 "academic experts in mine safety and health" sent a letter today to the leadership of the House Education and Labor Committee urging them to withdraw legislation (HR 2768 and HR 2769) on miners' safety and health. The authors of the letter say that "now is not the right time to pursue" further improvements for miners.
Signers of the letters include several chairs of mining engineering departments, such as professor Larry Grayson, who offered just days ago a similar dire warning about more mine safety protections in an op-ed called Mine Mania (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/22/07).…
sb admin | July 22, 2007Congress has given significant attention over the last 18 months to the dangers facing US coal miners, but many fatal hazards claim the lives of other miners, such as those working at sand and gravel quarries, limestone and salt mines. This year, nearly twice as many miners have died at US metal and non-metal mining operations compared to coal mines.  But, like most workplace fatalities, the deaths typically occur one miner at a time. These means the deaths rarely attract national attention.Â
On Thursday, July 19, Craig Bagley, 27 and Tyler Kahle, 19, were working in a lift…