Published: April 24, 2006 09:59 pm         

Mine safety

Expect different reaction when new rules are aired in W.Va.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) held the first of four public hearings Monday in Colorado to receive input on new emergency rules that would require companies to notify the governing agency within 15 minutes of a mining accident.

Officials with a Colorado group representing mining operations, as well as a representative from a private coal company, were critical of the measure, which was adopted as an emergency safety regulation following the fatal mine accidents at Sago and Aracoma in January.

Melissa Young, a spokesperson for the Colorado Rock Products Association, said the new regulation could be impractical or dangerous and could potentially “distract miners from life-saving duties.”

We disagree and believe quicker notification likely increases the chances for survival of miners involved in accidents.

While we’re not really sure what these representatives of private industry are getting at, it sure seems like they want to skirt the issue.

Three more MSHA meetings are planned before May 30 when the public comment period on these regulations will end. The future hearings are slated to be held in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.

We certainly don’t expect to hear similar reaction from those future meetings. With the spotlight squarely on how the federal government is going to handle notification and dispatching of rescue teams for future mining mishaps, and given that West Virginia has already adopted a new series of mine safety initiatives including the accident notification time, expect something totally different.

It seems to us that when a mining mishap occurs, someone designated by the company owning the operation should be able to get the word out to federal and state officials in short order, without delay.

We’re talking about saving lives here and in Colorado it sounds like the industry representatives want to talk about saving something else.