The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs has issued a final rule that revises the Black Lung Benefits Act in order to give miners greater access to their health information.
Federal mine enforcement officers issued 157 citations, one order and two safeguards during the special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and six metal and nonmetal mines in March.
The one year sentence handed down yesterday to former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship for his role in the Upper Big Branch mine disaster is not enough, say miners and occupational safety advocates.
Guilty verdict was a landmark occupational safety case
April 6, 2016
Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was sentenced today to a year in prison for his role in the Upper Big Branch mine disaster that killed 29 miners.
Donald Blankenship, former CEO of Massey Energy, will be sentenced April 6 for his role in the Upper Big Branch mine tragedy – and federal prosecutors want him to do jail time.
The failure of a mine rescue mission on Sunday in northern Russia left six rescue workers and 26 miners dead. The miners had been trapped underground by a cave-in caused by methane explosions and fires.
From 1986 to 2010, 10 deadly explosions occurred in underground coal mines in the United States. The risk of explosion involves an interrelated chain of events. A source of heat (such as a spark) ignites methane gas in the air of the coal mine tunnel.
Last year saw the fewest U.S. mining deaths since such data was recorded, but events so far this year suggest that 2016 will not be nearly as safe for coal miners.
Preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration indicate that 28 miners died in 2015 in work-related accidents at the nation’s mines, down from 45 in 2014.
A new study at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) underscores the importance of anticipating respiratory disease, including black lung disease and loss of lung function, in former coal miners to allow them to receive an appropriate diagnosis and medical care.