MSHA inspectors turn up a variety of violations in July
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) said its inspectors issued 149 citations and 16 orders during special impact inspections conducted at nine coal mines and four metal/nonmetal mines last month.
In one case, a foreman seen riding as a passenger in the bucket of a rubber-tired scoop earned the Affinity Coal Company of Raleigh County, W.Va. an imminent danger warning. A miner riding in the bucket of a scoop can be thrown from the bucket and crushed (there have already been two fatalities involving scoops this year at the Affinity Mine).