Through a new safety initiative, MSHA is calling special attention to the potential dangers that shuttle cars and scoops in underground coal mines pose to miners. Between January 2000 and September 2010, nearly 800 miners have been injured and 16 killed in coal mine accidents involving shuttle cars and scoops. Three of those deaths occurred this year.
The deadline to comment on the 582-page document is April 4, 2011, and government safety agencies are urging employers and workers to participate as Australia moves toward harmonized regulations.
"The size of these proposed fines reflects the gravity of these hazards and the fact that two of the employers knew cave-in protection and a ladder were required, yet refused to provide these vital safeguards," said Rosemarie Ohar, OSHA's New Hampshire area director.
OSHA filed 28 citations in all against U.S. Minerals LLC of Dyer, Ind. and said violations have been found at four of its facilities.
The Jan. 25-26 event at Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center will cover the principal causes of damage to underground utilities from excavation projects.
MSHA has launched the second phase of an outreach and enforcement program designed to strengthen efforts to prevent mining fatalities. "Rules to Live By II: Preventing Catastrophic Accidents" was developed from data gathered by reviewing accidents that resulted in five or more fatalities, as well as from incidents caused by fires or explosions that had the potential to result in more fatalities.
The first of the public hearings will be in West Virginia on Dec. 7. The hearings are about the proposed rule published Oct. 19.
The agency's Wichita Area Office will examine grain elevators and other operations for hazards typically associated with grain handling. Two workers died in June when a grain elevator collapsed in Russell, Kan.
On numerous occasions, MSHA officials have attempted to resolve serious safety issues at Massey-owned Freedom Energy, including meetings with upper mine management over recurring roof problems, ventilation and dust control issues. The inspections, citations, and meetings with mine management have not resulted in changes in behavior.
"Excavation is recognized as one of the most hazardous construction operations. However, cave-ins are easily avoided when the proper precautions are taken," said Domenick Salvatore, director of OSHA's Wilmington Area Office.
"Conditions found during the MIOSHA inspection were very serious,” said Acting Director Andrew S. Levin. “They must fulfill their obligations under the MIOSH Act and provide a safe and healthy work environment for their employees.
Fatal incidents where rescue capability is not standing by and available are all too frequent.
When rescuers needed to determine how to safely extract Chilean miners without their fainting and suffering a potentially devastating loss of blood to the brain, they turned to a UT Southwestern Medical Center scientist whose expertise typically is focused on astronauts in space, not mine workers trapped underground.
"We are continuing to find serious threats to miners' safety and health," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "While some operators are finally getting the message, others are not."
"For the safety of all their workers, employers must be vigilant when workers enter confined spaces, and take effective and specific protective action," said Greg Baxter, OSHA's regional administrator in Denver.
The worker was crushed when he became caught between a fixed metal barrier and a large paper roll that was moving on a conveyor. OSHA identified other hazardous conditions that were not related to the fatality; those resulted in two repeat and two serious citations.
"There is no excuse for employees to work in an environment where they are exposed to being crushed while working inside machinery where the energy source was not properly locked out and tagged," said Charles Adkins, OSHA's regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo.
Wind farms are spread across most of the United States, and wind turbine manufacturing operations are spread even more widely, according to maps in a new report posted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The company is being cited with two repeat violations and $56,000 in proposed penalties for failing to inspect a trench after conditions changed. In addition, the company is being cited for exposing workers to engulfment hazards by not having a protective system in place to prevent a trench collapse.
Sixteen organizations receive $2.75 million in one-year grants to develop training materials about nanomaterials, work zone safety, green roofing jobs, beryllium, and several others.