Just wanted to offer a quick thank-you for my recent appearance at NOSHCON. First, of course, I wish to thank Beatrix for making all the arrangements and taking such good care of me from door to door. I would also like to acknowledge the excellent team at NOSA for organizing such a vibrant event. The sessions, catering, booths, and tone of the entire conference was as good as I've seen.
Finally, I'd like to thank all the delegates for taking time out from their "real" jobs and trusting in us to deliver something of value for your time. I had a wonderful group to speak to with tough questions and a real desire to understand Ergonomics from my perspective.
I hope this isn't the last time I can get together with this group!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Say NO to second hand imitations!
Others try to COPYCAT, but NOSHCON remains the only event on the SHEQ calendar that repeatedly delivers world-class speakers, growing numbers of delegates and record numbers of exhibitors from across the globe and this year is NO different. http://www.noshcon.co.za/programme.html
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Explosion in Pretoria
2010-08-03 11:57
Johannesburg - Paramedics were responding to an industrial explosion in Pretoria on Tuesday morning. The explosion happened at a site on Piet Rautenbach street in Pretoria, said Netcare spokesperson Jeffrey Wicks.
"Details of what has transpired are vague," he said.
SAPA
Johannesburg - Paramedics were responding to an industrial explosion in Pretoria on Tuesday morning. The explosion happened at a site on Piet Rautenbach street in Pretoria, said Netcare spokesperson Jeffrey Wicks.
"Details of what has transpired are vague," he said.
SAPA
Friday, July 30, 2010
New platinum mine safety measures could hit Aquarius output - and others too
Instructions from South Africa's Mines Inspectorate following the Marikana platinum mine accident will force a number of operations to alter their mining plans.
LONDON - The issue of deaths in the South African mining sector has been brought to the forefront again by the recent fall-of-ground accident at Aquarius Platinum's flagship mechanised Marikana platinum mine, and measures now imposed on Marikana, and other similar operations, could have a sharp short to medium term impact on production. UG2 reef mines, like Marikana, are the most likely to be affected as the wider reef widths lend themselves more to this type of mining than the generally narrower Merensky reef.
With regard to Aquarius' Marikana operation itself, its No. 4 shaft area, where the accident occurred, is still shut down while investigations into the cause of the fall-of-ground continue and the company can not yet give a date when operations will be allowed to resume.
Marikana, as well as some of the other platinum mines, but not all, work on the bord (room) and pillar system leaving pillars behind as support for the working areas. Additional support between the pillars is provided by roofbolts. At the moment Aquarius mines leaving 10 m wide rooms, but the company - and others using this method of mining - have been instructed to reduce the room widths to 6 m which will require a change in mining plan which will not be quick, or easy, to implement at short notice. The maximum permitted extraction in these areas will be 75%. While the mines will be allowed time to implement the new restrictions it is unlikely the Mines Inspectorate will allow much prevarication on the changeover. This is bound to have some impact on production.
This latest blitz on mine safety comes as, in fact, South African mine safety is improving - but the death rate is still seen as totally unacceptable - particularly in the country's gold and platinum mines. Interestingly South Africa's coal mining sector is among the world's safest. The gold and platinum mines do have particular problems because of depth-related rockbursts and groundfalls and do have extremely high labour forces - although considerably smaller than they used to be and while the number of deaths are falling, quite drastically - and are nowhere near as bad as those of say mining in China or in a number of other countries which are loath to publicise statistics.
This year, for example, deaths in the platinum mines after a little over half the year are 20% lower than at the same time a year ago - and 63% lower on all mines at this stage so the increased emphasis on safety in the industry, under pressure from the government and trade unions, is beginning to have a significant impact and will almost certainly raise mining costs.
South Africa has around 80% of the world's known platinum reserves and platinum group metals are a hugely important contributor to the country's export earnings.
Extract from http://www.mineweb.co.za/
Mining Accident News No 1021 Editor: Mark Freeman
mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au
LONDON - The issue of deaths in the South African mining sector has been brought to the forefront again by the recent fall-of-ground accident at Aquarius Platinum's flagship mechanised Marikana platinum mine, and measures now imposed on Marikana, and other similar operations, could have a sharp short to medium term impact on production. UG2 reef mines, like Marikana, are the most likely to be affected as the wider reef widths lend themselves more to this type of mining than the generally narrower Merensky reef.
With regard to Aquarius' Marikana operation itself, its No. 4 shaft area, where the accident occurred, is still shut down while investigations into the cause of the fall-of-ground continue and the company can not yet give a date when operations will be allowed to resume.
Marikana, as well as some of the other platinum mines, but not all, work on the bord (room) and pillar system leaving pillars behind as support for the working areas. Additional support between the pillars is provided by roofbolts. At the moment Aquarius mines leaving 10 m wide rooms, but the company - and others using this method of mining - have been instructed to reduce the room widths to 6 m which will require a change in mining plan which will not be quick, or easy, to implement at short notice. The maximum permitted extraction in these areas will be 75%. While the mines will be allowed time to implement the new restrictions it is unlikely the Mines Inspectorate will allow much prevarication on the changeover. This is bound to have some impact on production.
This latest blitz on mine safety comes as, in fact, South African mine safety is improving - but the death rate is still seen as totally unacceptable - particularly in the country's gold and platinum mines. Interestingly South Africa's coal mining sector is among the world's safest. The gold and platinum mines do have particular problems because of depth-related rockbursts and groundfalls and do have extremely high labour forces - although considerably smaller than they used to be and while the number of deaths are falling, quite drastically - and are nowhere near as bad as those of say mining in China or in a number of other countries which are loath to publicise statistics.
This year, for example, deaths in the platinum mines after a little over half the year are 20% lower than at the same time a year ago - and 63% lower on all mines at this stage so the increased emphasis on safety in the industry, under pressure from the government and trade unions, is beginning to have a significant impact and will almost certainly raise mining costs.
South Africa has around 80% of the world's known platinum reserves and platinum group metals are a hugely important contributor to the country's export earnings.
Extract from http://www.mineweb.co.za/
Mining Accident News No 1021 Editor: Mark Freeman
mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Acid water threatens Joburg
2010-07-21 21:52 (Extracted from News24 http://www.news24.com/)
Johannesburg - Millions of litres of highly acidic mine water is rising up under Johannesburg and, if left unchecked, could spill out into its streets some 18 months from now, Parliament's water affairs portfolio committee heard on Wednesday.
The acid water is currently about 600m below the city's surface, but is rising at a rate of between 0.6 and 0.9m a day, water affairs deputy director water quality management Marius Keet told MPs.
"(It) can have catastrophic consequences for the Johannesburg central business district if not stopped in time. A new pumping station and upgrades to the high-density sludge treatment works are urgently required to stop disaster," he warned.
Speaking at the briefing, activist Mariette Liefferink, from the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, said the rising mine water posed an "enormous threat", which would become worse if remedial actions were further delayed.
"This environmental problem is second (in SA) only to global warming in terms of its impact, and poses a serious risk to the Witwatersrand as a whole. At the rate it is rising, the basin (under Johannesburg) will be fully flooded in about 18 months."
Mine drainage
She said the rising mine water had the same acidity as vinegar or lemon juice, and was a legacy of 120 years of gold mining in the region.
Acid water is formed underground when old shafts and tunnels fill up. The water oxidises with the sulphide mineral iron pyrite, better known as fool's gold. The water then fills the mine and starts decanting into the environment, in a process known as acid mine drainage.
Keet said the problem was not just confined to Johannesburg, which is located atop one of several major mining "basins" in the Witwatersrand, known as the Central Basin.
In 2002, acid mine drainage had started decanting from the Western Basin, located below the Krugersdorp-Randfontein area. The outflow had grown worse earlier this year after heavy rains, prompting his department to intervene.
However, a lack of treatment capacity in the area "compelled in-stream treatment as a short-term intervention".
This intervention saw the department pouring tons of lime, an alkali, into the Tweelopies Spruit in an effort to neutralise the acid mine water. This had led to problems with the resulting sludge that had formed in the water course.
The region's Eastern Basin, below the town of Nigel, was also threatened. The last working mine still pumping out water in the area was Grootvlei. Keet said that if the mine stopped pumping, acid water would start decanting into the town "within two to three years".
Legal action
Water Affairs is currently taking legal action against the mine, after it allegedly failed to comply with a departmental directive to treat the pumped water before discharging it.
On stopping the growing threat below Johannesburg, Keet said about R220m was needed to establish pump stations, pipelines and treatment works. Responding to a question, he said there were plans to tackle the problem.
"The idea is to build a pump station; the challenge is where the money will come from," he said.
Liefferink said if the acid mine water rose to the surface in Johannesburg's CBD, it posed a threat to the city's inhabitants, its buildings and the surrounding environment.
She told MPs that residents of many of Gauteng's poorer communities were living alongside, and in some cases on top of, land contaminated by mining activities. They were exposed to high concentrations of cobalt, zinc, arsenic, and cadmium, all known carcinogens, as well as high levels of radioactive uranium.
"In some cases, RDP houses are being erected next to radioactive dumps," she told MPs, who expressed shock and concern at the news.
Liefferink said acid mine drainage was exacerbating the problem, because it dissolved the heavy metals and precipitated them in water sources and wetlands, where people grew crops and abstracted water.
Threat
She also warned that some of the heavily polluted streams drained into the Vaal River system, and posed a threat to the region's water supply.
Liefferink, who backed up her presentation with a series of photographs showing, among other things, shacks erected on top of an old mine tailings dump, received a round of applause from MPs.
Mining started on the Witwatersrand about 120 years ago. More than 43 000 tons of gold and 73 000 tons of uranium have been extracted from the region's mines.
According to Liefferink, this mining activity has left a legacy of about 400km² of mine tailings dams and about six billion tons of pyrite tailings containing low-grade uranium.
"Waste from gold mines constitutes the largest single source of waste and pollution in South Africa... Acid mine drainage may continue for many years after mines are closed and tailings dams decommissioned," she said.
- SAPA
Johannesburg - Millions of litres of highly acidic mine water is rising up under Johannesburg and, if left unchecked, could spill out into its streets some 18 months from now, Parliament's water affairs portfolio committee heard on Wednesday.
The acid water is currently about 600m below the city's surface, but is rising at a rate of between 0.6 and 0.9m a day, water affairs deputy director water quality management Marius Keet told MPs.
"(It) can have catastrophic consequences for the Johannesburg central business district if not stopped in time. A new pumping station and upgrades to the high-density sludge treatment works are urgently required to stop disaster," he warned.
Speaking at the briefing, activist Mariette Liefferink, from the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, said the rising mine water posed an "enormous threat", which would become worse if remedial actions were further delayed.
"This environmental problem is second (in SA) only to global warming in terms of its impact, and poses a serious risk to the Witwatersrand as a whole. At the rate it is rising, the basin (under Johannesburg) will be fully flooded in about 18 months."
Mine drainage
She said the rising mine water had the same acidity as vinegar or lemon juice, and was a legacy of 120 years of gold mining in the region.
Acid water is formed underground when old shafts and tunnels fill up. The water oxidises with the sulphide mineral iron pyrite, better known as fool's gold. The water then fills the mine and starts decanting into the environment, in a process known as acid mine drainage.
Keet said the problem was not just confined to Johannesburg, which is located atop one of several major mining "basins" in the Witwatersrand, known as the Central Basin.
In 2002, acid mine drainage had started decanting from the Western Basin, located below the Krugersdorp-Randfontein area. The outflow had grown worse earlier this year after heavy rains, prompting his department to intervene.
However, a lack of treatment capacity in the area "compelled in-stream treatment as a short-term intervention".
This intervention saw the department pouring tons of lime, an alkali, into the Tweelopies Spruit in an effort to neutralise the acid mine water. This had led to problems with the resulting sludge that had formed in the water course.
The region's Eastern Basin, below the town of Nigel, was also threatened. The last working mine still pumping out water in the area was Grootvlei. Keet said that if the mine stopped pumping, acid water would start decanting into the town "within two to three years".
Legal action
Water Affairs is currently taking legal action against the mine, after it allegedly failed to comply with a departmental directive to treat the pumped water before discharging it.
On stopping the growing threat below Johannesburg, Keet said about R220m was needed to establish pump stations, pipelines and treatment works. Responding to a question, he said there were plans to tackle the problem.
"The idea is to build a pump station; the challenge is where the money will come from," he said.
Liefferink said if the acid mine water rose to the surface in Johannesburg's CBD, it posed a threat to the city's inhabitants, its buildings and the surrounding environment.
She told MPs that residents of many of Gauteng's poorer communities were living alongside, and in some cases on top of, land contaminated by mining activities. They were exposed to high concentrations of cobalt, zinc, arsenic, and cadmium, all known carcinogens, as well as high levels of radioactive uranium.
"In some cases, RDP houses are being erected next to radioactive dumps," she told MPs, who expressed shock and concern at the news.
Liefferink said acid mine drainage was exacerbating the problem, because it dissolved the heavy metals and precipitated them in water sources and wetlands, where people grew crops and abstracted water.
Threat
She also warned that some of the heavily polluted streams drained into the Vaal River system, and posed a threat to the region's water supply.
Liefferink, who backed up her presentation with a series of photographs showing, among other things, shacks erected on top of an old mine tailings dump, received a round of applause from MPs.
Mining started on the Witwatersrand about 120 years ago. More than 43 000 tons of gold and 73 000 tons of uranium have been extracted from the region's mines.
According to Liefferink, this mining activity has left a legacy of about 400km² of mine tailings dams and about six billion tons of pyrite tailings containing low-grade uranium.
"Waste from gold mines constitutes the largest single source of waste and pollution in South Africa... Acid mine drainage may continue for many years after mines are closed and tailings dams decommissioned," she said.
- SAPA
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Mr Mandela has reminded us, “it’s in our hands” to create a better world.
Being good is commendable, but only when it is combined with doing good, is it useful. In the spirit of Madiba’s recent birthday and Mandela Day celebrations, we call on you to join NOSA and NOSHCON in helping to facilitate and accelerate the process of health and environmental education and awareness.
We are donating a percentage of all NOSHCON registration fees (during the months of June and July) to CHEEA – a women-centered health, environmental and justice non – profit organisation.
Register for NOSHCON before end of July and we will add an additional 6.7% (in honour of Madiba's own 67 years of service to humanity) towards this cause.
http://www.noshcon.co.za/ or chantell@nosa.co.za
We are donating a percentage of all NOSHCON registration fees (during the months of June and July) to CHEEA – a women-centered health, environmental and justice non – profit organisation.
Register for NOSHCON before end of July and we will add an additional 6.7% (in honour of Madiba's own 67 years of service to humanity) towards this cause.
http://www.noshcon.co.za/ or chantell@nosa.co.za
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Africa: Blast at Harmony Mine Kills Three
Extract from the Wall Street Journal, USA
JOHANNESBURG — Three mine workers investigating a possible fire were killed and two others seriously injured in an underground explosion at one of Harmony Gold Mining Co.'s mines in South Africa, the company said Friday.
The explosion occurred about 2,013 meters below the surface late Thursday at the Phakisa mine near the town of Odendaalsrus in the central Free State province.
Management halted operations at the mine and are working to make the area safe, said Esha Brijmohan, a spokeswoman for the company. Investigations to determine the cause of the fire will begin when the area is safe, she added.
The explosion was the second incident at Phakisa in a week after a rockfall about 2,100 meters underground killed a worker early last Saturday.
The explosion happened while employees were investigating a suspected fire in an underground raise, Harmony said. The company, one of South Africa's largest gold producers, said management and officials from the Department of Mineral Resources worked through the night on rescue operations. The two injured employees are being treated in a local hospital, and all other workers underground at the time of the explosion have been accounted for and are safe, Harmony said.
"At this stage, we cannot comment on production," Ms. Brijmohan said. "Our primary concern is for the families of the deceased and the injured employees."
Phakisa came into production in the 2008 financial year and comprises a single shaft system. The mine produced 345,000 kilograms of gold in the three months through March.
Mining Accident News No 1019 Editor: Mark Freeman
mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au
JOHANNESBURG — Three mine workers investigating a possible fire were killed and two others seriously injured in an underground explosion at one of Harmony Gold Mining Co.'s mines in South Africa, the company said Friday.
The explosion occurred about 2,013 meters below the surface late Thursday at the Phakisa mine near the town of Odendaalsrus in the central Free State province.
Management halted operations at the mine and are working to make the area safe, said Esha Brijmohan, a spokeswoman for the company. Investigations to determine the cause of the fire will begin when the area is safe, she added.
The explosion was the second incident at Phakisa in a week after a rockfall about 2,100 meters underground killed a worker early last Saturday.
The explosion happened while employees were investigating a suspected fire in an underground raise, Harmony said. The company, one of South Africa's largest gold producers, said management and officials from the Department of Mineral Resources worked through the night on rescue operations. The two injured employees are being treated in a local hospital, and all other workers underground at the time of the explosion have been accounted for and are safe, Harmony said.
"At this stage, we cannot comment on production," Ms. Brijmohan said. "Our primary concern is for the families of the deceased and the injured employees."
Phakisa came into production in the 2008 financial year and comprises a single shaft system. The mine produced 345,000 kilograms of gold in the three months through March.
Mining Accident News No 1019 Editor: Mark Freeman
mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
SA to launch new mining charter on Wednesday
Reuters Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:30
South Africa will launch a new mining charter on Wednesday to increase black ownership in the sector after the previous agreement failed to do so, the department of Mineral Resources said on Tuesday.
"The leaders of government, business and labour will be signing a declaration as a sign of their support for the strategy," the department said in a statement.
A review of the previous charter was prompted by concerns that a target to transfer 26 percent of ownership in the industry to black people by 2014 may not be met.
The revised charter will seek to speed up black ownership, skills development, employment equity, procurement, housing and living conditions and mining beneficiation
South Africa will launch a new mining charter on Wednesday to increase black ownership in the sector after the previous agreement failed to do so, the department of Mineral Resources said on Tuesday.
"The leaders of government, business and labour will be signing a declaration as a sign of their support for the strategy," the department said in a statement.
A review of the previous charter was prompted by concerns that a target to transfer 26 percent of ownership in the industry to black people by 2014 may not be met.
The revised charter will seek to speed up black ownership, skills development, employment equity, procurement, housing and living conditions and mining beneficiation
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Hazmat team at gas leak site
2010-06-24 12:30
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Hazmat-team-at-gas-leak-site-20100624
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Hazmat-team-at-gas-leak-site-20100624
Fatal gas leak in Vereeniging
2010-06-24 12:00
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Fatal-gas-leak-in-Vereeniging-20100624
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Fatal-gas-leak-in-Vereeniging-20100624
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Vuvuzelas could damage hearing, say doctors
The blast of the vuvuzela plastic horns at World Cup matches is so loud that people in close proximity could suffer hearing damage, experts said on Monday.
The sound emitted by a vuvuzela is equivalent to 127 decibels, according to a South African survey.
That makes it louder than a drum's 122 decibels, a referee's whistle at 121.8 decibels -- and close to the noise of a jet taking off at 300 metres (yards), which is around 130 decibels.
Sound bursts at such high levels "are catastrophic" for hearing, as they destroy hair cells in the inner ear, of which there is a small and non-renewable population of only 15,000, said French specialist Mireille Tardy.
Decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale, which means that every 10-point rise in the scale reflects a tenfold increase in intensity.
At a distance of two metres (six feet), "10 vuvuzelas will be 10 decibels higher and 100 vuvuzelas 20 decibels higher" than a single horn, said Christian Gelis, a professor of biophysics.
"To be exposed to this type of volume raises the risk of immediate inner-ear trauma," with lasting damage to hearing, said Gelis.
At such levels, wearing good-quality earplugs that reduce the noise by 20 decibels will eliminate the worst risks but still not bring the wearer into the safety zone, said Gelis and Tardy.
The sound emitted by a vuvuzela is equivalent to 127 decibels, according to a South African survey.
That makes it louder than a drum's 122 decibels, a referee's whistle at 121.8 decibels -- and close to the noise of a jet taking off at 300 metres (yards), which is around 130 decibels.
Sound bursts at such high levels "are catastrophic" for hearing, as they destroy hair cells in the inner ear, of which there is a small and non-renewable population of only 15,000, said French specialist Mireille Tardy.
Decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale, which means that every 10-point rise in the scale reflects a tenfold increase in intensity.
At a distance of two metres (six feet), "10 vuvuzelas will be 10 decibels higher and 100 vuvuzelas 20 decibels higher" than a single horn, said Christian Gelis, a professor of biophysics.
"To be exposed to this type of volume raises the risk of immediate inner-ear trauma," with lasting damage to hearing, said Gelis.
At such levels, wearing good-quality earplugs that reduce the noise by 20 decibels will eliminate the worst risks but still not bring the wearer into the safety zone, said Gelis and Tardy.
(Read it on Global News: Vuvuzelas could damage hearing, say doctors) (Photo credit: http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/)
Canada: Fatal Accident at Niobec Mine
Press release IAMGOLD Corporation
TORONTO, ONTARIO, -- IAMGOLD Corporation regrets to report the death of an employee in an accident this morning at its Niobec Mine, 25 kilometres northwest of Chicoutimi, Quebec. Investigations are underway by the Company and the Commission de la Sante et de la Securite du Travail du Quebec (CSST).
The Company's onsite emergency response team was immediately activated and external emergency services personnel were called to the site.
The employee's family has been notified. Mining operations have been suspended today out of respect for the family and the Niobec employees. IAMGOLD is offering assistance and support to the employee's family and the entire Niobec workforce. The immediate thoughts of IAMGOLD's Board of Directors and management are with the family, friends and co-workers of the employee.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
TORONTO, ONTARIO, -- IAMGOLD Corporation regrets to report the death of an employee in an accident this morning at its Niobec Mine, 25 kilometres northwest of Chicoutimi, Quebec. Investigations are underway by the Company and the Commission de la Sante et de la Securite du Travail du Quebec (CSST).
The Company's onsite emergency response team was immediately activated and external emergency services personnel were called to the site.
The employee's family has been notified. Mining operations have been suspended today out of respect for the family and the Niobec employees. IAMGOLD is offering assistance and support to the employee's family and the entire Niobec workforce. The immediate thoughts of IAMGOLD's Board of Directors and management are with the family, friends and co-workers of the employee.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Northeast China Finds Coal Mine Blast Cover-up, Six Dead
Extract from CRIENGLISH.com
A coal mine blast in northeast China's Liaoning Province, which caused six deaths, was exposed Tuesday after having been covered up for more than a month by the mine owner.
The explosion happened in a coal mine named Xincheng in Benxi city of Liaoning on April 10, killing six, but the owner concealed the accident, said an official with the provincial administration of coal mine safety.
The administration started investigation into the accident on May 19 after receiving a tip-off about the cover-up, the official said. Investigation into the accident is still underway.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
A coal mine blast in northeast China's Liaoning Province, which caused six deaths, was exposed Tuesday after having been covered up for more than a month by the mine owner.
The explosion happened in a coal mine named Xincheng in Benxi city of Liaoning on April 10, killing six, but the owner concealed the accident, said an official with the provincial administration of coal mine safety.
The administration started investigation into the accident on May 19 after receiving a tip-off about the cover-up, the official said. Investigation into the accident is still underway.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
USA: Massey Worker Calls Mine 'Ticking Time Bomb'
Extract from Wall Street Journal, USA
BECKLEY, W.Va.—A miner working at the Massey Energy Co. mine when an April 5 explosion killed 29 of his co-workers, said the Upper Big Branch mine was a "ticking time bomb," with numerous safety problems, including poor ventilation for diluting explosive methane.
Stanley "Goose" Stewart, who was 300 feet into the mine and forced to evacuate when the explosion occurred, said he worried about ventilation conditions at the mine as far back as July 2009. He also said that Massey supervisors changed the mine's ventilation controls while miners were working, in violation of federal mine laws.
"Mine management never fully addressed the air problem when it would be shut down by inspectors," Mr. Stewart said. "They would fix it just good enough to get us to load coal again." He said that more recently there were "at least two fireballs" at the working face of the mine as a result of pockets of methane.
"That area was a ticking time bomb," Mr. Stewart said.
Massey has denied that there were safety problems at its Upper Big Branch mine. In a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Thursday, Massey Chief Executive Don Blankenship said that the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration had required the company to use a ventilation plan at the mine that was more complex and that company officials resisted. He said he didn't know if that ventilation plan played a role in the April explosion. Mr. Blankenship said that the company doesn't put production ahead of safety.
In emotional testimony Monday before a half dozen members of Congress and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Mr. Stewart and five family members of miners who were killed at the mine testified about poor safety conditions at Massey's mine prior to the accident that they either experienced or heard about from their relatives.
Steve Morgan said his son Adam Morgan, who was 21 years old when he was killed in the accident, would talk to him in the evenings about conditions in the mine. His son was sent home a week prior to the accident because of "high gas levels," Mr. Morgan said.
He said his son also told him about high levels of potentially explosive coal dust and problems with ventilation controls including curtains that were not used properly. Mr. Morgan said management dismissed his son's concerns when he reported problems.
"The boss pulled him to the side and said, 'If you're going to be that scared of your job you need to rethink your career.'" Mr. Morgan said. He added that he tried to talk his son into quitting his job two weeks prior to the accident.
Gary Quarles, father of Gary Wayne Quarles who was killed on April 5, said regulations need to be strengthened to make inspections by MSHA more effective. "When an MSHA inspector comes onto a Massey mine property, the code words go out 'we've got a man on the property,' " Mr. Quarles said.
Mr. Quarles said he currently works for Massey at the Parker Peerless mine but is off work because of trauma he suffered as a result of losing his son. Several other family members who are also miners said they have yet to return to work because of trauma related to losing their family member.
Clay Mullins, the brother of Rex Mullins, paused in his testimony several times as he fought back tears. He said he faulted MSHA as well as Massey for not shutting down the Upper Big Branch mine. "If the operator doesn't get that mine fixed then someone has to come in and say, 'Enough is enough. We're going to shut this until this problem is corrected.' "
Mr. Mullins said he previously worked at the Upper Big Branch mine. "When I was there before, we always took care of the problems that we had," Mr. Mullins said. "But things must have changed since we left."
Rep. John Kline (R., Minn.), of the House Education and Labor Committee holding the hearing, called the testimony "tough" and "compelling." He said, "There are clearly some things that shouldn't have happened based on your testimony."
Rep. George Miller (D., Calif.), chairman of the committee, said that tipping off the company about federal safety inspections "seems like an obstruction of justice."
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin said that more needs to be done to empower miners to speak out about safety issues because many currently fear intimidation by coal operators.
"It's quite disturbing what we're hearing," Mr. Manchin said. "We know from what we're hearing today that it was a time bomb waiting to happen."
Mr. Manchin proposed putting a certified mine safety team in every mine. "I envision teams of miners in each mine that are trained and certified to identify dangerous situations" that would be "protected by law from threats, harassment or intimidation."
During the hearing, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, (D., Calif.) called for stronger mining laws, tougher penalties and better protection for whistle-blowers, in the wake of the explosion.
"It's very clear that we are going to strengthen the mining laws," she said. "We are not up to par as to where we ought to be for 2010." Ms. Woolsey also said there are too many loopholes in the process of identifying and establishing a mine with a pattern of violations and subjecting it to tougher enforcement.
Earlier Monday, Ms. Solis addressed the family members and promised accountability and a thorough investigation into explosion. "We owe them action and we owe them accountability," Ms. Solis said. "We can all honor them that justice is served on their behalf and that an accident on this level never happens again."
At the same time, Ms. Solis defended the investigation by the MSHA. "The MSHA process will allow for unprecedented public participation," Ms. Solis said. "If you have something to say you'll have an opportunity to say it."
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
BECKLEY, W.Va.—A miner working at the Massey Energy Co. mine when an April 5 explosion killed 29 of his co-workers, said the Upper Big Branch mine was a "ticking time bomb," with numerous safety problems, including poor ventilation for diluting explosive methane.
Stanley "Goose" Stewart, who was 300 feet into the mine and forced to evacuate when the explosion occurred, said he worried about ventilation conditions at the mine as far back as July 2009. He also said that Massey supervisors changed the mine's ventilation controls while miners were working, in violation of federal mine laws.
"Mine management never fully addressed the air problem when it would be shut down by inspectors," Mr. Stewart said. "They would fix it just good enough to get us to load coal again." He said that more recently there were "at least two fireballs" at the working face of the mine as a result of pockets of methane.
"That area was a ticking time bomb," Mr. Stewart said.
Massey has denied that there were safety problems at its Upper Big Branch mine. In a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Thursday, Massey Chief Executive Don Blankenship said that the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration had required the company to use a ventilation plan at the mine that was more complex and that company officials resisted. He said he didn't know if that ventilation plan played a role in the April explosion. Mr. Blankenship said that the company doesn't put production ahead of safety.
In emotional testimony Monday before a half dozen members of Congress and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Mr. Stewart and five family members of miners who were killed at the mine testified about poor safety conditions at Massey's mine prior to the accident that they either experienced or heard about from their relatives.
Steve Morgan said his son Adam Morgan, who was 21 years old when he was killed in the accident, would talk to him in the evenings about conditions in the mine. His son was sent home a week prior to the accident because of "high gas levels," Mr. Morgan said.
He said his son also told him about high levels of potentially explosive coal dust and problems with ventilation controls including curtains that were not used properly. Mr. Morgan said management dismissed his son's concerns when he reported problems.
"The boss pulled him to the side and said, 'If you're going to be that scared of your job you need to rethink your career.'" Mr. Morgan said. He added that he tried to talk his son into quitting his job two weeks prior to the accident.
Gary Quarles, father of Gary Wayne Quarles who was killed on April 5, said regulations need to be strengthened to make inspections by MSHA more effective. "When an MSHA inspector comes onto a Massey mine property, the code words go out 'we've got a man on the property,' " Mr. Quarles said.
Mr. Quarles said he currently works for Massey at the Parker Peerless mine but is off work because of trauma he suffered as a result of losing his son. Several other family members who are also miners said they have yet to return to work because of trauma related to losing their family member.
Clay Mullins, the brother of Rex Mullins, paused in his testimony several times as he fought back tears. He said he faulted MSHA as well as Massey for not shutting down the Upper Big Branch mine. "If the operator doesn't get that mine fixed then someone has to come in and say, 'Enough is enough. We're going to shut this until this problem is corrected.' "
Mr. Mullins said he previously worked at the Upper Big Branch mine. "When I was there before, we always took care of the problems that we had," Mr. Mullins said. "But things must have changed since we left."
Rep. John Kline (R., Minn.), of the House Education and Labor Committee holding the hearing, called the testimony "tough" and "compelling." He said, "There are clearly some things that shouldn't have happened based on your testimony."
Rep. George Miller (D., Calif.), chairman of the committee, said that tipping off the company about federal safety inspections "seems like an obstruction of justice."
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin said that more needs to be done to empower miners to speak out about safety issues because many currently fear intimidation by coal operators.
"It's quite disturbing what we're hearing," Mr. Manchin said. "We know from what we're hearing today that it was a time bomb waiting to happen."
Mr. Manchin proposed putting a certified mine safety team in every mine. "I envision teams of miners in each mine that are trained and certified to identify dangerous situations" that would be "protected by law from threats, harassment or intimidation."
During the hearing, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, (D., Calif.) called for stronger mining laws, tougher penalties and better protection for whistle-blowers, in the wake of the explosion.
"It's very clear that we are going to strengthen the mining laws," she said. "We are not up to par as to where we ought to be for 2010." Ms. Woolsey also said there are too many loopholes in the process of identifying and establishing a mine with a pattern of violations and subjecting it to tougher enforcement.
Earlier Monday, Ms. Solis addressed the family members and promised accountability and a thorough investigation into explosion. "We owe them action and we owe them accountability," Ms. Solis said. "We can all honor them that justice is served on their behalf and that an accident on this level never happens again."
At the same time, Ms. Solis defended the investigation by the MSHA. "The MSHA process will allow for unprecedented public participation," Ms. Solis said. "If you have something to say you'll have an opportunity to say it."
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Congratulations to Alton Arendse, SHEQ Manager from ARMSCOR, who recently won a lovely NOSHCON hamper at the World Day for Health and Safety at Work day.
In this picture we have one of NOSHCON's proud speakers, Jan van Burick, presenting Alton with the NOSHCON hamper.
For more information on the confirmed delegates, our speakers and yes, even our stunning conference venue, do visit http://www.noshcon.co.za/ today.
Russia: Fires in Raspadskaya mine put out, it is flooded to oust methane
Extract from ITAR-TASS News Agency
MEZHDURECHENS - Fires in the Raspadskaya coalmine in the Kemerovo region that were detected by mine rescuers now have been totally extinguished, commander of the Novokuznetsk squad of the militarised mine rescue unit Alexander Apalkov told journalists on Sunday.
There was an accident in the Raspadskaya coalmine on the night to May 9 – two methane explosions that killed 66 people, 24 mine workers are still missing.
Tuleyev said earlier that the regional commission for the work with the relatives of the miners that were killed in methane explosions in the Raspadskaya mine was established. Deputy governor Andrei Malakhov was appointed the commission’s chairman. “The regional commission will specifically engage in the settlement of material, housing and other issues of each family of the killed,” Tuleyev explained.
Mr Freeman is one of our esteemed NOSHCON speakers. For more information on Mr Freeman and our other speakers, please visit our website at: http://www.noshcon.co.za/
MEZHDURECHENS - Fires in the Raspadskaya coalmine in the Kemerovo region that were detected by mine rescuers now have been totally extinguished, commander of the Novokuznetsk squad of the militarised mine rescue unit Alexander Apalkov told journalists on Sunday.
He specified that he had in mind the underground fires found before the methane accumulation place beyond which the rescuers were ordered not to go and come to the surface due to the possibility of another explosion. It is due to the high concentration of methane gas that the rescue operations had to be suspended. “We, naturally, cannot tell if there are fires beyond the methane accumulation place. At first we will remove methane and then will again check the mine tunnels,” Apalkov explained.
Water pumping was started into the mine from 10:00, local time (07:00 MSK) and simultaneously the special reagent khladon (freon) is supplied. According to the commander of the mine rescuers’ squad, this is done “for neutralisation of the methane cloud when it will be coming to the surface past possible seats of fire, in order to avoid another explosion.” These operations will continue for about a week, after which rescuers will again descend to the mine.
There was an accident in the Raspadskaya coalmine on the night to May 9 – two methane explosions that killed 66 people, 24 mine workers are still missing.
Meanwhile, governor of the Kemerovo region Aman Tuleyev said that the owners of the Raspadskaya coalmine must bear responsibility for the accident. “I put the blame for the tragedy fully on the owner,” he told reporters on Saturday. “It is outrageous that there is no reaction from the owners, the administration of the Raspadskaya coal mining company. They are silent, though they must not be afraid to meet with people,” he stressed.
A written undertaking not to leave has been taken from the mine management for the period of the investigation into the criminal case opened in connection with the deaths caused by the explosions in the mine on the night to May 9, an investigation source told Itar-Tass. The criminal case is opened on charges of “violation of the safety regulations in mining work that caused deaths of more than two people through carelessness.”
The two explosions killed 66 miners and rescuers. The fate of 24 people is unknown so far. The search operation is suspended due to the complicated situation in the mine, in which methane concentration is high and there are fire outbreaks.
Governor Tuleyev met on Saturday with a group representing the Raspadskaya miners’ interests. He agreed with the workers on their demands and ordered to settle their social problems. The workers told him about the wage situation and other issues related to social welfare. Tuleyev told reporters that he had known “much interesting about activities” of the company management. All the facts are being checked, he added. The governor said he had agreed on the miners’ all demands and ordered his deputies to settle the issues in a short period to time.
According to the governor, the relatives of the killed miners will get 1 million roubles from the owner of the enterprise in accordance with an agreement with the regional administration, as well as 12 salaries plus 3 miner's salaries for the past 3 months. Besides, the children of the killed miners will be annually holidaying in the best sanatoriums of the country free of charge. The owners will bear expenses for the education of children and improvement of housing conditions of the miners’ families. “Students will get a separate stipend until the age of 23,” he stressed. The people injured in the accident will be paid 30,000 to 200,000 roubles each depending on the severity of the injury, Tuleyev said.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
Mr Freeman is one of our esteemed NOSHCON speakers. For more information on Mr Freeman and our other speakers, please visit our website at: http://www.noshcon.co.za/
Monday, May 24, 2010
Mr Dave Feickert - interviewed by Global Times
Bring miners into safety process to avoid tragedy
· Source: Global Times
· [21:57 April 11 2010]
Dave Feickert
The Wangjialing coal mine accident drew new attention to China's accident-prone mines. Despite a substantial reduction in accidents from 2008, over 2,000 miners died last year. How can China avoid such disasters? Global Times (GT) reporter Li Yanjie talked with Dave Feickert (Feickert), an advisor from New Zealand to China's Bureau of Coal Mining Safety, on this issue.
· Source: Global Times
· [21:57 April 11 2010]
Dave Feickert
The Wangjialing coal mine accident drew new attention to China's accident-prone mines. Despite a substantial reduction in accidents from 2008, over 2,000 miners died last year. How can China avoid such disasters? Global Times (GT) reporter Li Yanjie talked with Dave Feickert (Feickert), an advisor from New Zealand to China's Bureau of Coal Mining Safety, on this issue.
GT: It's been reported that there were traces of flooding, and the accident could have been avoided. How do you evaluate China's coal mine safety measures?
Feickert: The rescue of the miners has been an amazing feat of courage and engineering, but we need to remember those who have lost their lives. If you are constructing a coal mine, you need to have a very good system monitoring the conditions around it, especially when you know there are old mines, because if you leave a coal mine abandoned, it will fill with water.
So what happens in Western countries is to drill holes vertically in the ground and monitor water levels in the area around the new mine project. Underground, miners can monitor the water seeping in and check its chemical contents. This gives you information about the water flow, but from media reports, it seems that this wasn't being done at the Wangjialing mine.
The second thing is that you need to find all the plans of the mines around your project. You need to do a risk assessment which includes the information about the whole area around the new project.
Every new project in China must have a risk assessment certificate from the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS). But in developed countries, the responsible mining company conducts a risk assessment every day. This second part does not always happen in China.
At Wangjialing, workers reported there were traces of flooding, but the managers said keep working. The managers were pushing the project too fast, which is bad for safety and economics too.
When water comes into mines, managers should evaluate how serious it is, and the work should be stopped promptly, because it takes some time to get miners out of deep coal mines.
There were 261 people working in Wangjialing coal mine at the time, and 108 of them got out before the trouble, leaving 153 behind.
GT: China has laws and regulations on workplace safety, but coal mine accidents keep happening. Why?
Feickert: Risk assessments in China are often too technical. In developed countries, the risk assessment process continues day by day. All employees take part. Workers will look for water and other dangerous factors.
There need to be changes in safety organization in China's companies, irrespective of ownership. Currently, managers are primarily responsible for production and safety.
Managers have the duty of supervising both production and safety, but if they are forced to choose, they usually choose production. I believe this is what happened in some accidents, probably including the one at the Wangjialing coal mine. They were reportedly trying to get the mine into production as soon as possible.
The authorities should form a safety triumvirate at mine or factory level, which stays in daily contact with the manager at the top supported by a government SAWS inspector and a worker safety representative.
The manager is supported by the owner (government or private company), the inspector is supported by SAWS, and is independent, and the worker safety inspector is supported by the union. This triumvirate then carries out risk assessment every day.
In the event of danger, such as in Wangjialing's case, the indications of possible neighboring water in an abandoned mine, the worker safety representatives and frontline managers on site immediately inform both the responsible manager and the government inspector. The three parties meet to discuss how to solve the problem. If it is judged to be serious, miners should be taken out of the mine immediately and action is taken.
If the manager objects to withdrawal of the workers, the government inspector must have the necessary power to act. In the developed countries, this is what happens, whoever the owner is.
In China, the government inspector does not have this general power, except where a company is not in compliance with all its safety licenses. If it is in compliance and in most large mines they are then the inspector's instruction can be contested by the manager. By the time the inspector has been to court to get his instruction upheld, it may well be too late to save the workers.
Workers at the coal mine need more power to make decisions. Chinese law says workers have the right to stop work when it's unsafe. But how many miners in Wangjialing coal mine know they have this right? How many workers feel they are strong enough to tell the manager who is really the big boss, "We're coming out
GT: How do you evaluate China's merging of coal mines last year?
Feickert: I think the government did the right thing in closing many small coal mines. The mine owners were given the opportunity to improve mine safety, but they didn't. So the government is either closing them or merging them together with the large State-owned coal mines.
A lot of small mines are illegal, but this doesn't mean that large mines will never encounter accidents, as in the explosion at the US Massey mine last week that killed 25 people. Since small mines are often unregistered, this might be one reason why the company in charge of Wangjialing wasn't aware of the nearby mine that caused the flooding.
GT: Does the relatively low level of education among Chinese miners make them hard to train?
Feickert: Yes, many Chinese miners come from countryside and are illiterate. But in Western countries, many miners are even less educated.
Take the US. A lot of new miners come from Central or South America, and they can't speak or read in English. Some of them are even illiterate in their native languages.
In the US, every new miner needs to be trained. They are sent for training. Training, more training, then retraining. In New Zealand, all miners are trained in gas detection and first aid.
Miners are the most motivated, since it's their lives on the line. They can be trained even if they cannot read. You can show them videos, for example, telling them how to do things.
Worker safety representatives should be workers with at least three and preferably five years' experience and have received training in risk assessment. This can be done quite easily, and the training of trainers for these people is envisaged in the 8 million euro ($11.90 million) EU-China high risk industry safety and health co-operation program
GT: Mining accidents used to be common in developed countries. Is this high-risk phrase just a necessary stage of development? When can the goal of zero accidents be achieved?
Feickert: It's true that many countries have experienced this, but China can learn from developed countries' experience and avoid coal mine accidents as much as possible.
Some mines in my country, New Zealand, didn't have any accidents last year - not just no fatal accidents, but injuries at all. China can definitely reach zero accidents, but when is uncertain. I believe the State Council needs to discuss how to introduce modern risk assessment into the high risk industries. We are happy to help.
GT: You once said Chinese coal mining safety experts are too often inclined to try to find an engineering solution to all problems. Why?
Feickert: When I first came to China in 2004 and discussed why accidents happened, my Chinese colleagues sometimes said it is because there is not an engineering solution to the problem.
But take an automatic system, monitoring methane and gas, which uses computers. To keep computer monitoring going, you have to train people to do the maintenance work and read the information. The human factor is very important. You can't just think in engineering terms.
Everybody, from chief engineers to miners at the bottom, must be involved. There are always engineering solutions to problems but safety organization must include everyone. The managers and engineers are leaders but the miners are their eyes and ears.
We are proud to have Mr Feickert as one of the NOSHCON speakers: "Safety and Health in China's Coal Mines - the Improvements made, the Challenges ahead and how Foreign Experts can help." (9 September 2010 at 09:00)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
At Heart, I'm still an Ergonomist
Over the last 18 years of my career, I have done just about every type of industrial ergonomics work you can imagine. I've worked in mines, turkey processing, bubble gum factories, and for all of the big three. I've analyzed workstations, made suggestions, hammered out the details of implementing better designs, worked with the beneficiary of those good designs, and weathered all types of budget restrictions.
After gathering all that field experience I graduated to a broader view - looking at the systems that need to be in place to ensure that ergonomics can be properly implemented at all levels of the organization. For a while all I did was ergonomic training for every type of industrial player: human resources, HS&E, quality, engineering, maintenance, product designers, and the list goes on.
But then something started sneaking up on me. That something was programming. I have always loved programming and thanks to my Human Factors Engineering background, was able to put together applications that people could actually use. I tricked out Excel, dove into Access, started learning the ropes of data driven web design, and before I knew it I was responsible for just about every shred of data that flowed in to and out of our Health, Safety, and Environment department at Cooper Standard Automotive.
In those dark long nights when debugging code, obsessing about pixel-by-pixel placement of buttons, and teasing out the best method to present the information to a global audience, I had an Epiphany. Actually, the epiphany came at a conference. During the conference, a professional ergonomist whom I respect deeply said two words that I had never considered together before: macro ergonomics.
It was like someone tapped the middle of my forehead and whispered, "no, you are not a programmer - you are an ergonomist." You see, the real goal of ergonomics is constantly choreographing a delicate waltz between humans, systems, requirements, and technology. Lean too heavily on any one of those items and the macro-ergonomics tip over. Build an outstanding incident reporting system, but no one can figure out how to log on - tip. Implement a picture-perfect material delivery system, then expect the worker to press a clip into place requiring 30kg of force -tip. Train an army of engineers on the optimal work height for all workstations but give them no means to justify their improvements - tip.
I have the pleasure of speaking at NOSHCON this year for the first time. I've never been and am really looking forward to it. When I come, I hope to have one of those "Aha!" moments again. And if you should happen to hear my talk, perhaps I can trigger the same for you.
After gathering all that field experience I graduated to a broader view - looking at the systems that need to be in place to ensure that ergonomics can be properly implemented at all levels of the organization. For a while all I did was ergonomic training for every type of industrial player: human resources, HS&E, quality, engineering, maintenance, product designers, and the list goes on.
But then something started sneaking up on me. That something was programming. I have always loved programming and thanks to my Human Factors Engineering background, was able to put together applications that people could actually use. I tricked out Excel, dove into Access, started learning the ropes of data driven web design, and before I knew it I was responsible for just about every shred of data that flowed in to and out of our Health, Safety, and Environment department at Cooper Standard Automotive.
In those dark long nights when debugging code, obsessing about pixel-by-pixel placement of buttons, and teasing out the best method to present the information to a global audience, I had an Epiphany. Actually, the epiphany came at a conference. During the conference, a professional ergonomist whom I respect deeply said two words that I had never considered together before: macro ergonomics.
It was like someone tapped the middle of my forehead and whispered, "no, you are not a programmer - you are an ergonomist." You see, the real goal of ergonomics is constantly choreographing a delicate waltz between humans, systems, requirements, and technology. Lean too heavily on any one of those items and the macro-ergonomics tip over. Build an outstanding incident reporting system, but no one can figure out how to log on - tip. Implement a picture-perfect material delivery system, then expect the worker to press a clip into place requiring 30kg of force -tip. Train an army of engineers on the optimal work height for all workstations but give them no means to justify their improvements - tip.
I have the pleasure of speaking at NOSHCON this year for the first time. I've never been and am really looking forward to it. When I come, I hope to have one of those "Aha!" moments again. And if you should happen to hear my talk, perhaps I can trigger the same for you.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Almost 50!
Not many conferences run for more than 10 years, let alone 50! With next year's 50th NOSHCON, this event will surely make history. I have attended many conferences and events, good ones and then, the not so good ones. What is the 'secret recipe' of a good conference? One can never pinpoint it down to one single success factor - it is a combination of many things - and that is the winning recipe for NOSHCON. It is a combination of quality presentations, relevant content, networking opportunities, socialising and enjoying self development on a 'different level' - away from the office. I have recently attended the NOSCAR banquet, hosted by NOSA and organised by the same team who is responsible for NOSHCON - and if this is the benchmark - I can not wait for NOSHCON 2010. I bet it will be the best ever! I have been fortunate to have been involved in 14 NOSHCONs and every year the claim is made: "this will be the best ever!" And for 49 years they have succeeded in improving and keeping the conference programme innovative and relevant. Fifty years of successful conferencing for NOSHCON - well done NOSA! Half a century of bringing the SHEQ industry together each year - truly amazing!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT FROM A 2009 NOSHCON SPEAKER
In one scene from the movie “Precious,” we see the main character, Clarisse Precious Jones, getting ready for school in the morning. We see this obese African American teen put on a red headband—but looking in the mirror, we see the red headband on a pretty, thin blonde teen. She picks up and puts on jewelry—and we see the blonde teen wearing the jewelry. Although Precious is in reality an overweight child of color, she sees a thin, blue-eyed blonde in the mirror, because she is looking at herself through unrealistic filters—what I call distorting goggles.
I often see a similar phenomenon when looking at management systems—the person in charge of the system has rose-colored glasses on, looking at everything that’s right about the system, and overlooking the not-so-nice. What's worse, is that they often don't see reality at all, but instead see what they want the system to be. Like Precious, these quality managers view their management system through distorting goggles.
Why do people see distorted reality? When looking at a system for the first time, I am usually able to walk in with no preconceptions of what I’ll see. Will the system be robust, innovative, weak, or bureaucratic? I don’t know. There are no distorting goggles in place, coloring the way I look at this system. The next time I look at the system, I may have some preconceptions—“The objectives/targets implementation system is very strong” or “Calibration seems to be a problem for them.” It’s a bit harder to set these preconceptions aside, to remove the distorting goggles and be totally objective. If a trained quality professional, exposed to the system for short period of time has this problem, it’s no wonder that people who work within the system day in and day out develop preconceptions about their own system. It’s our responsibility to recognize that this is a common problem and work to ensure that it doesn’t affect our system.
Although we say that information on a system won’t affect our viewing or assessing of it, human nature shows that we may let it affect our actions as well as our thoughts. A study was done in an elementary school class: The researchers told the teacher ahead of time who the high-performing students were and watched how the teachers interacted with them. Although the teachers professed to have no bias toward any of the students, they were noted as showing these identified "smart" students more attention, scolding them less than others, and so forth. These students indeed scored well on their tests. The irony, of course, was that the students identified as high-performing were actually mid-to low-performing students. However, the teacher treating them as though they were scholastic stars pulled the students’ scores up significantly, and in many cases, the students’ view of themselves. The teachers had put on distorting goggles and acted according to what this distortion showed them.
The same holds true of auditors who have preconceptions about an area or facility that they are auditing. If an auditor reads an audit report and notices that employees aren't aware of the policy, or that documentation is not being followed, they may subconsciously develop a bias about what they may or may not find when conducting the audit.
What are some ways to get around this—how can we remove the distorting goggles? One way is to have someone else look at your system and give you a scorecard (both positives and negatives). A fresh set of eyes—an independent auditor—is helpful in seeing how your system is performing more objectively than you may be able to do yourself. A word of caution: Even external auditors, if not rotated occasionally, may become susceptible to wearing distorting goggles over time.
Let me give you an example: When I was the management representative at IBM, we were registering the facility of 9,000 employees, and the schedule called for the external auditors to stay in one area for a long time. The development auditors stayed in development; the manufacturing auditors stayed in manufacturing; and the office auditors stayed in the office.
At the end of two weeks (remember, 9,000 people, so we had four auditors for a month), one of the auditors came to me to let me know that they were going to be rotating audit paths every week for the remaining two weeks. I asked him, “Is this so you can get experience in all areas of the facility?” He told me, “No, it’s because an auditee got stuck today trying to access your documentation system and I told him how to do it: ‘Press F1, then scroll down and select the document, then….’ I realized I knew the system too well and was anticipating what I’d see. I’d like to go somewhere where I’m not the process expert.”
He had interviewed an average of four to six people a day, and because our documentation system was online, he’d watched approximately 50 people access the system before this latest auditee got stuck. Although it is helpful to have an auditor that is familiar with the system so you don’t have any learning curve to climb, you also have to balance this against the fact that an auditor can anticipate what they’re going to see and possibly miss something that they shouldn’t.
Another way to get around this is to pretend that you don’t know anything about the system, and act as though you’re a first-day hire. In the TV show "Undercover Boss," that’s exactly what the top executive does: He comes into the lowest levels of the organization and works in a variety of jobs. It invariably opens his eyes to the good, the bad, and the ugly. You can take a similar approach by asking “Why do we do it this way?” “How would I find instructions on how to do this job?” “What measurements do we need to take? How often? Why?”
Asking these questions and understanding why we are doing what we are doing will allow us to identify areas for improvement, areas of excellence, and areas where we can be a little more objective. Just maybe, it will help us remove distorting goggles.
About The Author
Mary F. McDonald is CEO and CTO of the McDonald Consulting Group Inc. (www.mcdcg.com) and blogs about process improvement at www.improvemybusinessnow.com. She’s been helping companies streamline their businesses and implement management systems since 1995. She’s the author of five books, a member of the U.S. TAG for both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars. She may be contacted at marymcd@mcdcg.com.
I often see a similar phenomenon when looking at management systems—the person in charge of the system has rose-colored glasses on, looking at everything that’s right about the system, and overlooking the not-so-nice. What's worse, is that they often don't see reality at all, but instead see what they want the system to be. Like Precious, these quality managers view their management system through distorting goggles.
Why do people see distorted reality? When looking at a system for the first time, I am usually able to walk in with no preconceptions of what I’ll see. Will the system be robust, innovative, weak, or bureaucratic? I don’t know. There are no distorting goggles in place, coloring the way I look at this system. The next time I look at the system, I may have some preconceptions—“The objectives/targets implementation system is very strong” or “Calibration seems to be a problem for them.” It’s a bit harder to set these preconceptions aside, to remove the distorting goggles and be totally objective. If a trained quality professional, exposed to the system for short period of time has this problem, it’s no wonder that people who work within the system day in and day out develop preconceptions about their own system. It’s our responsibility to recognize that this is a common problem and work to ensure that it doesn’t affect our system.
Although we say that information on a system won’t affect our viewing or assessing of it, human nature shows that we may let it affect our actions as well as our thoughts. A study was done in an elementary school class: The researchers told the teacher ahead of time who the high-performing students were and watched how the teachers interacted with them. Although the teachers professed to have no bias toward any of the students, they were noted as showing these identified "smart" students more attention, scolding them less than others, and so forth. These students indeed scored well on their tests. The irony, of course, was that the students identified as high-performing were actually mid-to low-performing students. However, the teacher treating them as though they were scholastic stars pulled the students’ scores up significantly, and in many cases, the students’ view of themselves. The teachers had put on distorting goggles and acted according to what this distortion showed them.
The same holds true of auditors who have preconceptions about an area or facility that they are auditing. If an auditor reads an audit report and notices that employees aren't aware of the policy, or that documentation is not being followed, they may subconsciously develop a bias about what they may or may not find when conducting the audit.
What are some ways to get around this—how can we remove the distorting goggles? One way is to have someone else look at your system and give you a scorecard (both positives and negatives). A fresh set of eyes—an independent auditor—is helpful in seeing how your system is performing more objectively than you may be able to do yourself. A word of caution: Even external auditors, if not rotated occasionally, may become susceptible to wearing distorting goggles over time.
Let me give you an example: When I was the management representative at IBM, we were registering the facility of 9,000 employees, and the schedule called for the external auditors to stay in one area for a long time. The development auditors stayed in development; the manufacturing auditors stayed in manufacturing; and the office auditors stayed in the office.
At the end of two weeks (remember, 9,000 people, so we had four auditors for a month), one of the auditors came to me to let me know that they were going to be rotating audit paths every week for the remaining two weeks. I asked him, “Is this so you can get experience in all areas of the facility?” He told me, “No, it’s because an auditee got stuck today trying to access your documentation system and I told him how to do it: ‘Press F1, then scroll down and select the document, then….’ I realized I knew the system too well and was anticipating what I’d see. I’d like to go somewhere where I’m not the process expert.”
He had interviewed an average of four to six people a day, and because our documentation system was online, he’d watched approximately 50 people access the system before this latest auditee got stuck. Although it is helpful to have an auditor that is familiar with the system so you don’t have any learning curve to climb, you also have to balance this against the fact that an auditor can anticipate what they’re going to see and possibly miss something that they shouldn’t.
Another way to get around this is to pretend that you don’t know anything about the system, and act as though you’re a first-day hire. In the TV show "Undercover Boss," that’s exactly what the top executive does: He comes into the lowest levels of the organization and works in a variety of jobs. It invariably opens his eyes to the good, the bad, and the ugly. You can take a similar approach by asking “Why do we do it this way?” “How would I find instructions on how to do this job?” “What measurements do we need to take? How often? Why?”
Asking these questions and understanding why we are doing what we are doing will allow us to identify areas for improvement, areas of excellence, and areas where we can be a little more objective. Just maybe, it will help us remove distorting goggles.
About The Author
Mary F. McDonald is CEO and CTO of the McDonald Consulting Group Inc. (www.mcdcg.com) and blogs about process improvement at www.improvemybusinessnow.com. She’s been helping companies streamline their businesses and implement management systems since 1995. She’s the author of five books, a member of the U.S. TAG for both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars. She may be contacted at marymcd@mcdcg.com.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
HIV/Aids in the Workplace
Tsebo takes wellness to heart
Alan Brand, Group Wellness Manager (HIV/AIDS) of Tsebo Outsourcing Group, has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the Group’s AIDS Management Programme. Through the programme, Brand and his team of Peer educators strive to increase and maintain awareness of HIV/AIDS among Tsebo staff. Living openly with his HIV status, Brand has helped to change the mindsets of many, and has pioneered the business to business approach in addressing the nutritional needs of people living with HIV and AIDS. Here, he discusses the issue that affect our industry . . .
I am undoubtedly a very optimistic guy. Yet despite my optimism about essentially everything in existence, I'm beginning to think the term "chronic, manageable condition," when applied to HIV/AIDS, may be overly optimistic - or at least misleading - particularly for many of us who are HIV positive and struggling to co-exist with a virus that wants nothing more than to plant us six feet under!
If you're involved in the management of HIV/AIDS in the workplace you will be aware that, although treatment has provided the tools to greatly improve the health and prognosis of many, it would be far from the truth to say that all is under control.
While I admit that many of us who are HIV positive no longer feel we have one foot in the grave, I wonder: Do we really have a "chronic, manageable condition?" Personally, I tend to think of halitosis, haemorrhoids or even "the heartbreak of psoriasis" as examples of chronic manageable conditions. But HIV/AIDS? I'm not so sure.
In South Africa we have the largest number of people accessing treatment for HIV than any country in the world - we also have the highest number of people infected with HIV in the world. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected by HIV. In 2008, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 67% of HIV infections worldwide, 68% of new HIV infections among adults and 91% of new HIV infections among children. The region also accounted for 72% of the world’s AIDS-related deaths in 2008.
Much has been written about the virtues of life-sustaining drugs – called Antiretrovirals or ARVs – with the authors proclaiming that HIV/AIDS is now a "chronic (ongoing), manageable condition", like hypertension or diabetes. ARV advertising campaigns fuel this notion with glossy photos suggesting that taking pills would transform a frail HIV positive individual. This might be true - but it is not a holistic picture, because without careful monitoring, care and support, ARV therapy can increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes and many other additional complications.
Workplace programmes that simply provide ARV treatment without ensuring a holistic employee wellness management approach will result in a greater chance that patient will become non-compliant. Ensuring that base line cholesterol, blood glucose levels are conducted, as well as regular monitoring and evaluation of kidney and liver function, are all key to holistically managing the wellness of the HIV patient.
In 2002/3, the Department of Health (DoH) conducted a national research project that investigated the impact of HIV/AIDS on the hospitality sector. This research project consisted of two parts:
• A Knowledge, Attitudes & Practices (KAP) Survey, conducted among 4 500 employees; and
• An assessment of the impact of HIV/AIDS on 450 businesses
Results clearly pointed to the hospitality sector's critical need for practical tools and guidance on developing and actioning an HIV/AIDS strategy. For management to better understand the dire need for wellness programmes in the HIV arena, they need to know the effects of HIV/AIDS on any business, which include:
Increased costs:
• Insurance
• Training
• Recruitment
• Administration
• Medical care
Reduced productivity:
• Illness
• Family care/concerns
• Funeral leave
• Labour turnover
• Absenteeism
• Low morale
Concerns for the hospitality industry in particular include the fact that it is labour intensive; training costs are high; it has largely a mobile workforce; many employees are young and single; and there are a high number of unskilled workers. Customers' perceptions too, need to be managed – including ignorance about the transmission of HIV/AIDS and perceived risks.
The Tsebo Outsourcing Group Employee Wellness and Assistance Programmes recognise that personal and family problems can negatively influence work performance as well as affect employees, colleagues and supervisors. The most effective response to these problems is early intervention, especially when it comes to complying with medicine regimens. In designing the programme, we included the following:
• HIV/AIDS Awareness
• Peer Educator Programme – Counselling and Care Giving
• TB Awareness
• Managing Employee Wellness – Absenteeism
• Incapacity Management
• Chronic Disease Management
• Food Borne Diseases – Food handlers
• Nutritional Initiative
• Treatment literacy – Adherence
• Occupational Exposure
• Universal Precautions - First Aid
The Employee Wellness and Assistance Programme is committed to maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of employees and adherence to legislation, labour law and policy is strictly observed.
Way back in April 2004, Fedics - one of three primary operating divisions in the Tsebo Outsourcing Group - became the first South African company specifically to create and offer nutritionally enhanced menus designed to boost the immune systems of people living with HIV/AIDS. All client recipes and menus have been engineered to proactively address nutritional intake, with particular attention to immunity-boosting foods. It was then - and still is - a ground-breaking approach to assisting with treatment. Menus have a red ribbon next to items that are considered nutritionally supportive of HIV treatment, allowing people to order them without having to make their status known to those around them.
While many organisations have some form of in-house HIV management program, few consider the benefit of directly addressing the nutritional intake of employees infected with HIV. It's about focusing on living with HIV, not dying of AIDS and while good nutrition won't cure HIV/AIDS, it most certainly can help maintain and improve health.
Fedics is renowned for its initiatives that support its staff and clients in both health and productivity, enabling clients to pass on good health to their consumers. We are proud of the Group's Wellness programme and will continue to innovate and meet the needs of those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
Alan Brand (Group Wellness Manager (HIV/AIDS)): Tsebo Outsourcing Group Fedics, Drake and Scull
Mr Brand is one of our NOSHCON speakers! Please view the final programme at: http://www.noshcon.co.za/programme.html
Alan Brand, Group Wellness Manager (HIV/AIDS) of Tsebo Outsourcing Group, has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the Group’s AIDS Management Programme. Through the programme, Brand and his team of Peer educators strive to increase and maintain awareness of HIV/AIDS among Tsebo staff. Living openly with his HIV status, Brand has helped to change the mindsets of many, and has pioneered the business to business approach in addressing the nutritional needs of people living with HIV and AIDS. Here, he discusses the issue that affect our industry . . .
I am undoubtedly a very optimistic guy. Yet despite my optimism about essentially everything in existence, I'm beginning to think the term "chronic, manageable condition," when applied to HIV/AIDS, may be overly optimistic - or at least misleading - particularly for many of us who are HIV positive and struggling to co-exist with a virus that wants nothing more than to plant us six feet under!
If you're involved in the management of HIV/AIDS in the workplace you will be aware that, although treatment has provided the tools to greatly improve the health and prognosis of many, it would be far from the truth to say that all is under control.
While I admit that many of us who are HIV positive no longer feel we have one foot in the grave, I wonder: Do we really have a "chronic, manageable condition?" Personally, I tend to think of halitosis, haemorrhoids or even "the heartbreak of psoriasis" as examples of chronic manageable conditions. But HIV/AIDS? I'm not so sure.
In South Africa we have the largest number of people accessing treatment for HIV than any country in the world - we also have the highest number of people infected with HIV in the world. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected by HIV. In 2008, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 67% of HIV infections worldwide, 68% of new HIV infections among adults and 91% of new HIV infections among children. The region also accounted for 72% of the world’s AIDS-related deaths in 2008.
Much has been written about the virtues of life-sustaining drugs – called Antiretrovirals or ARVs – with the authors proclaiming that HIV/AIDS is now a "chronic (ongoing), manageable condition", like hypertension or diabetes. ARV advertising campaigns fuel this notion with glossy photos suggesting that taking pills would transform a frail HIV positive individual. This might be true - but it is not a holistic picture, because without careful monitoring, care and support, ARV therapy can increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes and many other additional complications.
Workplace programmes that simply provide ARV treatment without ensuring a holistic employee wellness management approach will result in a greater chance that patient will become non-compliant. Ensuring that base line cholesterol, blood glucose levels are conducted, as well as regular monitoring and evaluation of kidney and liver function, are all key to holistically managing the wellness of the HIV patient.
In 2002/3, the Department of Health (DoH) conducted a national research project that investigated the impact of HIV/AIDS on the hospitality sector. This research project consisted of two parts:
• A Knowledge, Attitudes & Practices (KAP) Survey, conducted among 4 500 employees; and
• An assessment of the impact of HIV/AIDS on 450 businesses
Results clearly pointed to the hospitality sector's critical need for practical tools and guidance on developing and actioning an HIV/AIDS strategy. For management to better understand the dire need for wellness programmes in the HIV arena, they need to know the effects of HIV/AIDS on any business, which include:
Increased costs:
• Insurance
• Training
• Recruitment
• Administration
• Medical care
Reduced productivity:
• Illness
• Family care/concerns
• Funeral leave
• Labour turnover
• Absenteeism
• Low morale
Concerns for the hospitality industry in particular include the fact that it is labour intensive; training costs are high; it has largely a mobile workforce; many employees are young and single; and there are a high number of unskilled workers. Customers' perceptions too, need to be managed – including ignorance about the transmission of HIV/AIDS and perceived risks.
The Tsebo Outsourcing Group Employee Wellness and Assistance Programmes recognise that personal and family problems can negatively influence work performance as well as affect employees, colleagues and supervisors. The most effective response to these problems is early intervention, especially when it comes to complying with medicine regimens. In designing the programme, we included the following:
• HIV/AIDS Awareness
• Peer Educator Programme – Counselling and Care Giving
• TB Awareness
• Managing Employee Wellness – Absenteeism
• Incapacity Management
• Chronic Disease Management
• Food Borne Diseases – Food handlers
• Nutritional Initiative
• Treatment literacy – Adherence
• Occupational Exposure
• Universal Precautions - First Aid
The Employee Wellness and Assistance Programme is committed to maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of employees and adherence to legislation, labour law and policy is strictly observed.
Way back in April 2004, Fedics - one of three primary operating divisions in the Tsebo Outsourcing Group - became the first South African company specifically to create and offer nutritionally enhanced menus designed to boost the immune systems of people living with HIV/AIDS. All client recipes and menus have been engineered to proactively address nutritional intake, with particular attention to immunity-boosting foods. It was then - and still is - a ground-breaking approach to assisting with treatment. Menus have a red ribbon next to items that are considered nutritionally supportive of HIV treatment, allowing people to order them without having to make their status known to those around them.
While many organisations have some form of in-house HIV management program, few consider the benefit of directly addressing the nutritional intake of employees infected with HIV. It's about focusing on living with HIV, not dying of AIDS and while good nutrition won't cure HIV/AIDS, it most certainly can help maintain and improve health.
Fedics is renowned for its initiatives that support its staff and clients in both health and productivity, enabling clients to pass on good health to their consumers. We are proud of the Group's Wellness programme and will continue to innovate and meet the needs of those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
Alan Brand (Group Wellness Manager (HIV/AIDS)): Tsebo Outsourcing Group Fedics, Drake and Scull
Mr Brand is one of our NOSHCON speakers! Please view the final programme at: http://www.noshcon.co.za/programme.html
Monday, May 10, 2010
Death toll in Russian mine blasts hit 30
http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/12-dead-83-trapped-after-blasts-hit-Russian-mine-480019.php
NOSCAR'S
Friday night the 7th May saw the 30th time that the NOSCAR’s have been hosted by NOSA. Over 80 companies were recognised for achieving what is the highest level of excellence in managing their occupational health, safety and environmental risk.
It was fantastic to have many first time winners with notable newcomers represented by companies from Namibia and Zimbabwe. We also honoured our longest achieving company who received their 28th NOSCAR. This is a truly unbelievable achievement considering the extremely high level of compliance necessary to achieve a NOSCAR.
The evening was not only about the awards but also the entertainment. The theme for this year’s banquet was “Soccer Mania” and had a truly South African flavour, featuring local artists. If this event was anything to go by, the FIFA World Cup scheduled to begin in the next month or so, is going to be a huge success.
NOSCAR is fast becoming a social event on everyone’s calendar and the night was danced away by the award winners and NOSA staff. The next major banquet for the NOSCAR achievers is scheduled for September at NOSHCON. NOSHCON is the premier conference in occupational risk management and also Africa’s largest conference on Occupational Risk Management. With 29 international and local speakers addressing the delegates, one can be sure to leave NOSHCON enriched with both the latest information as well as relationships to assist them in the management of their systems and careers.
I hope that many of you will be able to join us at Champagne Sports Resort in the mighty Drakensberg for NOSHCON 2010.
Kind regards,
Justin Hobday
Managing Director of NOSA
It was fantastic to have many first time winners with notable newcomers represented by companies from Namibia and Zimbabwe. We also honoured our longest achieving company who received their 28th NOSCAR. This is a truly unbelievable achievement considering the extremely high level of compliance necessary to achieve a NOSCAR.
The evening was not only about the awards but also the entertainment. The theme for this year’s banquet was “Soccer Mania” and had a truly South African flavour, featuring local artists. If this event was anything to go by, the FIFA World Cup scheduled to begin in the next month or so, is going to be a huge success.
NOSCAR is fast becoming a social event on everyone’s calendar and the night was danced away by the award winners and NOSA staff. The next major banquet for the NOSCAR achievers is scheduled for September at NOSHCON. NOSHCON is the premier conference in occupational risk management and also Africa’s largest conference on Occupational Risk Management. With 29 international and local speakers addressing the delegates, one can be sure to leave NOSHCON enriched with both the latest information as well as relationships to assist them in the management of their systems and careers.
I hope that many of you will be able to join us at Champagne Sports Resort in the mighty Drakensberg for NOSHCON 2010.
Kind regards,
Justin Hobday
Managing Director of NOSA
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
USA: West Virginia Proposes New Mine-Safety Rules
Extract from the Wall Street Journal, USA
The West Virginia Board of Coal Mine Safety and Health will issue new proposed regulations intended to make the state's mines safer following the explosion this month at a Massey Energy Co. mine that killed 29 miners.
The board will propose three rules aimed The West Virginia Board of Coal Mine Safety and Health will issue new proposed regulations intended to make the state's mines safer following the explosion this month at a Massey Energy Co. mine that killed 29 miners.
The board will propose three rules aimed at improving maps, evacuations and drills related to mine fires, two rules adding requirements for mine rescue teams and a rule mandating that each mine office has a barometer to monitor air pressure changes that can affect methane concentrations inside mines. Another rule would require that methane monitors on machines be tested and calibrated every 15 days.
Methane, an explosive gas that occurs naturally in coal seams, was believed to have played a role in this month's fatal explosion.
Joel Watts, health and safety administrator for the board, said the rules will be officially proposed Thursday morning when he delivers a draft to West Virginia's secretary of state. That action will begin a 30-day public comment period, before the board will respond to those comments.
Mr. Watts declined to say if the new rules are a direct result of the April 5 accident at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine in Mont coal, W.Va., or any preliminary findings by investigators. "I cannot say one way or the other because the investigation is still ongoing," he said.
Federal mine-safety officials have said that the massive explosion at the mine was likely caused by an accumulation of methane gas and could have been made more severe by coal dust. At one point during the rescue efforts, mine rescue teams had to be withdrawn from the mine when methane levels increased as a weather front approached and barometric pressure dropped.
The six-member board is made up of three industry representatives and three union representatives, all appointed by the West Virginia governor. The board is charged with making sure the state's coal mining health and safety regulations are effective. The board can write new rules, or alter or eliminate others.
Meanwhile, federal mine-safety regulators said Wednesday they began an "inspection blitz" over the weekend focusing on 57 underground coal mines with a history of problems involving ventilation and methane accumulation, among other things.
More than 275 Mine Safety and Health Administration coal-mine enforcement personnel were sent to the mines, more than half of which were located in West Virginia and Kentucky, the agency said. The agency said results of the inspections would be made public as they become available.
MSHA began the review after the explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine.
"The purpose of these inspections is to provide assurance that no imminent dangers, explosions, hazards or other serious health or safety conditions and practices are present at these mines," Joe Main, the head of MSHA, said in a statement. "Just last week, we pledged to the president that we will do whatever it takes to make sure another tragedy like the one that claimed 29 miners' lives at Upper Big Branch never happens again."
Of the 57 mines subject to the inspections, nine are owned by Massey. Five are owned by Consol Energy Inc. Another five are owned by Patriot Coal Corp., while three are owned by Peabody Energy Corp. and two by Alpha Natural Resources LLC. Most of the remaining mines are owned by privately held companies.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
The West Virginia Board of Coal Mine Safety and Health will issue new proposed regulations intended to make the state's mines safer following the explosion this month at a Massey Energy Co. mine that killed 29 miners.
The board will propose three rules aimed The West Virginia Board of Coal Mine Safety and Health will issue new proposed regulations intended to make the state's mines safer following the explosion this month at a Massey Energy Co. mine that killed 29 miners.
The board will propose three rules aimed at improving maps, evacuations and drills related to mine fires, two rules adding requirements for mine rescue teams and a rule mandating that each mine office has a barometer to monitor air pressure changes that can affect methane concentrations inside mines. Another rule would require that methane monitors on machines be tested and calibrated every 15 days.
Methane, an explosive gas that occurs naturally in coal seams, was believed to have played a role in this month's fatal explosion.
Joel Watts, health and safety administrator for the board, said the rules will be officially proposed Thursday morning when he delivers a draft to West Virginia's secretary of state. That action will begin a 30-day public comment period, before the board will respond to those comments.
Mr. Watts declined to say if the new rules are a direct result of the April 5 accident at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine in Mont coal, W.Va., or any preliminary findings by investigators. "I cannot say one way or the other because the investigation is still ongoing," he said.
Federal mine-safety officials have said that the massive explosion at the mine was likely caused by an accumulation of methane gas and could have been made more severe by coal dust. At one point during the rescue efforts, mine rescue teams had to be withdrawn from the mine when methane levels increased as a weather front approached and barometric pressure dropped.
The six-member board is made up of three industry representatives and three union representatives, all appointed by the West Virginia governor. The board is charged with making sure the state's coal mining health and safety regulations are effective. The board can write new rules, or alter or eliminate others.
Meanwhile, federal mine-safety regulators said Wednesday they began an "inspection blitz" over the weekend focusing on 57 underground coal mines with a history of problems involving ventilation and methane accumulation, among other things.
More than 275 Mine Safety and Health Administration coal-mine enforcement personnel were sent to the mines, more than half of which were located in West Virginia and Kentucky, the agency said. The agency said results of the inspections would be made public as they become available.
MSHA began the review after the explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine.
"The purpose of these inspections is to provide assurance that no imminent dangers, explosions, hazards or other serious health or safety conditions and practices are present at these mines," Joe Main, the head of MSHA, said in a statement. "Just last week, we pledged to the president that we will do whatever it takes to make sure another tragedy like the one that claimed 29 miners' lives at Upper Big Branch never happens again."
Of the 57 mines subject to the inspections, nine are owned by Massey. Five are owned by Consol Energy Inc. Another five are owned by Patriot Coal Corp., while three are owned by Peabody Energy Corp. and two by Alpha Natural Resources LLC. Most of the remaining mines are owned by privately held companies.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
America's dark history of coal
Miners have clashed, sometimes violently, with owners. Will it be deja vu in West Virginia?
Watching the events unfold around Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch coal mine the last few weeks created an uneasy sense of deja vu. And it had less to do with 29 miners' bodies below ground than with power plays and corporate hubris above it.
The deadly West Virginia mine explosion came four days after the 100th anniversary of the start of a lengthy Colorado coal strike that eventually led to open guerrilla warfare between miners and the Colorado National Guard. The nadir of that showdown was what came to be called the Ludlow Massacre when, at the end of a daylong gun battle on April 20, 1914, National Guardsmen torched a strikers' tent colony where 11 children and four mothers were hiding in a large pit beneath the wooden floor of one of the tents. All but two of the mothers perished.
Few people these days have heard of the Ludlow Massacre. Fewer still know about the circumstances in which it occurred. In the face of abject regulatory failure, at least 75 people were killed over a seven-month period during the strike, as several thousand coal miners openly rebelled against a corrupt local political and economic system.
West Virginia has its own history of violent mining confrontations, including the 1921 march on Blair Mountain when 13,000 armed miners faced off against mine guards, local militia and government troops. Sixteen men, most of them miners, were killed before the U.S. government sent in one of its newest weapons — planes — to intimidate the miners into retreating. It worked.
But there had been no defusing the conflict in Colorado, where the mine owners — led by the Rockefellers' Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. — were so powerful that they effectively created their own laws, stole elections at will and installed mine superintendents to rule small fiefdoms enforced by hired thugs.
As if short-circuiting democracy wasn't bad enough, the coal operators ignored government safety regulations, considering them an intrusion on their right to make a profit. In the eyes of the Rockefellers' man in Colorado, Lamont Montgomery Bowers, the miners had a simple choice: Work under the operators' terms or find another job, safety be damned.
Don Blankenship, who runs Massey Energy, would have fit right in among those Colorado coal barons. Media reports have detailed Blankenship's efforts to dominate state politics, including trying to stack the state Supreme Court as it was considering cases involving Massey.
Other media reports have detailed widespread safety violations at Massey mines. In one internal memo, Blankenship warned mine managers that they were to ignore any directive "to do anything other than run coal. … This memo is necessary only because we seem not to understand that the coal pays the bills."
Bowers would have been proud.
The Colorado strike began in the northern mines on April 1, 1910. After it faltered, the United Mine Workers expanded the strike in September 1913 to southern Colorado, covering the eastern foothills of the Rockies. Most of the miners' demands were already required under Colorado law, including that they be paid for "dead work" they had been doing for free — namely, shoring up mine roofs with timbers so they wouldn't collapse and kill them.
"The companies created a condition which they considered satisfactory to themselves, and ought to be to the workmen, and jammed the workmen into it, and thought they were philanthropists," Ethelbert B. Stewart, a top investigator for the new Department of Labor, wrote at the time. "That men have rebelled grows out of the fact that they are men."
The expanded strike was a nasty, brutal affair, and after a series of attacks and murders on both sides, Gov. Elias M. Ammons sent in the National Guard as peacekeepers. At the same time, state budget problems began delaying paychecks, which led many of the Guardsmen to walk away. The hated private mine guards took their places, and the peacekeepers morphed into the miners' enemy.
Then came the deaths at Ludlow on April 20, 1914. Over the next 10 days, amid a national union "call to arms," thousands of marauding miners and their supporters went on a rampage of retribution. At least 30 people were killed as the makeshift guerrilla army seized control of 275 miles of the Colorado Front Range.
Unable to stem the insurrection, Ammons sought help from President Woodrow Wilson, who sent in the Army to supplant the National Guard. The miners, with their immediate enemy gone, laid down their arms on May 1, and the fighting was over, with the miners winning the war but losing. It would take another 13 years and the Wobblies to gain union recognition there.
Yet much of the political and economic oppression in the region ended. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, a little revolution wasn't a bad thing for the miners of Colorado. Let's hope it doesn't take the same kind of action to redress the very deep grievances in West Virginia.
Scott Martelle is the author of "Blood Passion: The Ludlow Massacre and Class War in the American West."
http://www.scottmartelle.com/
Watching the events unfold around Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch coal mine the last few weeks created an uneasy sense of deja vu. And it had less to do with 29 miners' bodies below ground than with power plays and corporate hubris above it.
The deadly West Virginia mine explosion came four days after the 100th anniversary of the start of a lengthy Colorado coal strike that eventually led to open guerrilla warfare between miners and the Colorado National Guard. The nadir of that showdown was what came to be called the Ludlow Massacre when, at the end of a daylong gun battle on April 20, 1914, National Guardsmen torched a strikers' tent colony where 11 children and four mothers were hiding in a large pit beneath the wooden floor of one of the tents. All but two of the mothers perished.
Few people these days have heard of the Ludlow Massacre. Fewer still know about the circumstances in which it occurred. In the face of abject regulatory failure, at least 75 people were killed over a seven-month period during the strike, as several thousand coal miners openly rebelled against a corrupt local political and economic system.
West Virginia has its own history of violent mining confrontations, including the 1921 march on Blair Mountain when 13,000 armed miners faced off against mine guards, local militia and government troops. Sixteen men, most of them miners, were killed before the U.S. government sent in one of its newest weapons — planes — to intimidate the miners into retreating. It worked.
But there had been no defusing the conflict in Colorado, where the mine owners — led by the Rockefellers' Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. — were so powerful that they effectively created their own laws, stole elections at will and installed mine superintendents to rule small fiefdoms enforced by hired thugs.
As if short-circuiting democracy wasn't bad enough, the coal operators ignored government safety regulations, considering them an intrusion on their right to make a profit. In the eyes of the Rockefellers' man in Colorado, Lamont Montgomery Bowers, the miners had a simple choice: Work under the operators' terms or find another job, safety be damned.
Don Blankenship, who runs Massey Energy, would have fit right in among those Colorado coal barons. Media reports have detailed Blankenship's efforts to dominate state politics, including trying to stack the state Supreme Court as it was considering cases involving Massey.
Other media reports have detailed widespread safety violations at Massey mines. In one internal memo, Blankenship warned mine managers that they were to ignore any directive "to do anything other than run coal. … This memo is necessary only because we seem not to understand that the coal pays the bills."
Bowers would have been proud.
The Colorado strike began in the northern mines on April 1, 1910. After it faltered, the United Mine Workers expanded the strike in September 1913 to southern Colorado, covering the eastern foothills of the Rockies. Most of the miners' demands were already required under Colorado law, including that they be paid for "dead work" they had been doing for free — namely, shoring up mine roofs with timbers so they wouldn't collapse and kill them.
"The companies created a condition which they considered satisfactory to themselves, and ought to be to the workmen, and jammed the workmen into it, and thought they were philanthropists," Ethelbert B. Stewart, a top investigator for the new Department of Labor, wrote at the time. "That men have rebelled grows out of the fact that they are men."
The expanded strike was a nasty, brutal affair, and after a series of attacks and murders on both sides, Gov. Elias M. Ammons sent in the National Guard as peacekeepers. At the same time, state budget problems began delaying paychecks, which led many of the Guardsmen to walk away. The hated private mine guards took their places, and the peacekeepers morphed into the miners' enemy.
Then came the deaths at Ludlow on April 20, 1914. Over the next 10 days, amid a national union "call to arms," thousands of marauding miners and their supporters went on a rampage of retribution. At least 30 people were killed as the makeshift guerrilla army seized control of 275 miles of the Colorado Front Range.
Unable to stem the insurrection, Ammons sought help from President Woodrow Wilson, who sent in the Army to supplant the National Guard. The miners, with their immediate enemy gone, laid down their arms on May 1, and the fighting was over, with the miners winning the war but losing. It would take another 13 years and the Wobblies to gain union recognition there.
Yet much of the political and economic oppression in the region ended. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, a little revolution wasn't a bad thing for the miners of Colorado. Let's hope it doesn't take the same kind of action to redress the very deep grievances in West Virginia.
Scott Martelle is the author of "Blood Passion: The Ludlow Massacre and Class War in the American West."
http://www.scottmartelle.com/
USA: Serious problems found at Massey mines since blast
Extract from Associated Press, USA
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Federal inspectors have found more than 60 serious safety violations at Massey Energy operations since the explosion that killed 29 miners, adding to fallout from the disaster that includes a wrongful death lawsuit by one of the men's widows.
Inspectors visited more than 30 underground Massey coal mines in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia after the April 5 blast, according to records from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The agency has tentatively blamed preventable accumulations of explosive methane gas and coal dust for the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970.
The miner's widow accuses the company of a history of safety violations that amount to negligence in the first wrongful death lawsuit over the explosion, which she filed Thursday.
Investigators were reviewing records from the site of the blast and waiting for dangerous gases to be ventilated before going underground at the Upper Big Branch mine. It will probably be another week until investigators can safely go in, MSHA Administrator Kevin Stricklin said.
To tally violations at other Massey sites, The Associated Press checked inspection records for all of the company's approximately 70 underground coal mines in the U.S. from April 5 through Thursday. Mines operated by other companies also were inspected during the same period.
Stricklin said the MSHA hasn't been disproportionately targeting Massey since the blast, nor has it increased the pace of inspections. He did say inspectors have responded to hazard complaints at two Massey mines.
"We're just going about our regular business," Stricklin said. "I didn't give any instructions to go and look at Massey mines."
Still, Stricklin sharply criticized the company for violations found in the last 10 days.
The violations include conveyor belt problems at Massey's Aracoma Alma No. 1 mine in West Virginia, where a belt fire killed two men in 2006.
"I'm very disappointed," Stricklin said. "You would think that personnel associated with Massey would be really more careful."
The company's Solid Energy No. 1 mine in Kentucky was cited for allowing coal dust to pile up on three occasions since the explosion.
"That's very troubling," Stricklin said. "Pitiful."
Mines are required to keep methane well below explosive levels with sophisticated ventilation systems and control coal dust by keeping it from piling up and covering it with noncombustible material.
Stricklin has told district managers to look more closely at all mine ventilation systems and the buildup of methane, and to move rock dusting surveys to the front end of the quarterly inspection.
Stricklin said he was embarrassed the industry wasn't able to prevent the Upper Big Branch tragedy.
"An explosion of this magnitude basically sends us back 40 years. All explosions are preventable," he said.
Massey is facing its first wrongful death lawsuit over the blast, filed by Marlene Griffith in Raleigh County Circuit Court. The lawsuit also targets Performance Coal, the Massey subsidiary that operated the underground mine.
The lawsuit claims Massey's handling of working conditions at the mine, plus its history of safety violations, amounted to aggravated conduct that rises above the level of ordinary negligence.
Griffith and her husband, William Griffith, were planning to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary April 30, the lawsuit said.
Mark Moreland, a Charleston lawyer representing Griffith, said that William Griffith was concerned about safety in the mine and had avoided serious injury during a rock fall there a week before his death.
"He told his wife on more than one occasion that if anything happened to him in that mine, that she needed to get a lawyer," Moreland said Friday.
Massey did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday on the lawsuits or the violations.
The West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training started its own safety sweep of the state's nearly 200 underground mines Friday. Administrator Terry Farley declined to say whether the agency is targeting Massey.
MSHA issued the recent citations while conducting spot checks and routine inspections at the Massey operations.
Agency records show the problems were not universal; several Massey mines weren't cited at all after the inspections.
Among those that came up clean is Massey's Tiller No. 1 mine in Virginia. Federal inspectors had warned Massey to improve safety at the mine last fall or face heightened enforcement for a pattern of serious violations.
President Barack Obama has ordered a sweeping review of coal mines with poor safety records and called for stronger mining laws.
Mines in West Virginia were asked to stop producing coal Friday and concentrate on safety in memory of the Upper Big Branch victims.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Federal inspectors have found more than 60 serious safety violations at Massey Energy operations since the explosion that killed 29 miners, adding to fallout from the disaster that includes a wrongful death lawsuit by one of the men's widows.
Inspectors visited more than 30 underground Massey coal mines in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia after the April 5 blast, according to records from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The agency has tentatively blamed preventable accumulations of explosive methane gas and coal dust for the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970.
The miner's widow accuses the company of a history of safety violations that amount to negligence in the first wrongful death lawsuit over the explosion, which she filed Thursday.
Investigators were reviewing records from the site of the blast and waiting for dangerous gases to be ventilated before going underground at the Upper Big Branch mine. It will probably be another week until investigators can safely go in, MSHA Administrator Kevin Stricklin said.
To tally violations at other Massey sites, The Associated Press checked inspection records for all of the company's approximately 70 underground coal mines in the U.S. from April 5 through Thursday. Mines operated by other companies also were inspected during the same period.
Stricklin said the MSHA hasn't been disproportionately targeting Massey since the blast, nor has it increased the pace of inspections. He did say inspectors have responded to hazard complaints at two Massey mines.
"We're just going about our regular business," Stricklin said. "I didn't give any instructions to go and look at Massey mines."
Still, Stricklin sharply criticized the company for violations found in the last 10 days.
The violations include conveyor belt problems at Massey's Aracoma Alma No. 1 mine in West Virginia, where a belt fire killed two men in 2006.
"I'm very disappointed," Stricklin said. "You would think that personnel associated with Massey would be really more careful."
The company's Solid Energy No. 1 mine in Kentucky was cited for allowing coal dust to pile up on three occasions since the explosion.
"That's very troubling," Stricklin said. "Pitiful."
Mines are required to keep methane well below explosive levels with sophisticated ventilation systems and control coal dust by keeping it from piling up and covering it with noncombustible material.
Stricklin has told district managers to look more closely at all mine ventilation systems and the buildup of methane, and to move rock dusting surveys to the front end of the quarterly inspection.
Stricklin said he was embarrassed the industry wasn't able to prevent the Upper Big Branch tragedy.
"An explosion of this magnitude basically sends us back 40 years. All explosions are preventable," he said.
Massey is facing its first wrongful death lawsuit over the blast, filed by Marlene Griffith in Raleigh County Circuit Court. The lawsuit also targets Performance Coal, the Massey subsidiary that operated the underground mine.
The lawsuit claims Massey's handling of working conditions at the mine, plus its history of safety violations, amounted to aggravated conduct that rises above the level of ordinary negligence.
Griffith and her husband, William Griffith, were planning to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary April 30, the lawsuit said.
Mark Moreland, a Charleston lawyer representing Griffith, said that William Griffith was concerned about safety in the mine and had avoided serious injury during a rock fall there a week before his death.
"He told his wife on more than one occasion that if anything happened to him in that mine, that she needed to get a lawyer," Moreland said Friday.
Massey did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday on the lawsuits or the violations.
The West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training started its own safety sweep of the state's nearly 200 underground mines Friday. Administrator Terry Farley declined to say whether the agency is targeting Massey.
MSHA issued the recent citations while conducting spot checks and routine inspections at the Massey operations.
Agency records show the problems were not universal; several Massey mines weren't cited at all after the inspections.
Among those that came up clean is Massey's Tiller No. 1 mine in Virginia. Federal inspectors had warned Massey to improve safety at the mine last fall or face heightened enforcement for a pattern of serious violations.
President Barack Obama has ordered a sweeping review of coal mines with poor safety records and called for stronger mining laws.
Mines in West Virginia were asked to stop producing coal Friday and concentrate on safety in memory of the Upper Big Branch victims.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
Friday, April 23, 2010
International Health and Safety at Work Day
With International Health and Safety Day on 28 April 2010, NOSA and NOSHCON wish everyone a safe and proactive day.
Ask questions, be proactive and see to it that you play a part in securing an optimal healthy and safe future for your loved ones, colleagues and our environment.
Ask questions, be proactive and see to it that you play a part in securing an optimal healthy and safe future for your loved ones, colleagues and our environment.
The silent ... invisible killer
Have you ever stopped to think of the difficult and dangerous circumstances of a blind person, unable to see any life threatening elements? Just having to depend on his natural instincts to guide him through everyday obstacles.
And here we are, healthy and thinking how wonderful it is to be able to hear, see, feel , smell and even taste the elements around us. The very same elements that I could either make full use of or that could possibly harm me, my dear ones and not even to mention our environment. The terrible truth of such a situation is that it without being able to make use of our ever so trusted senses; devastating consequences will be the final outcome.
Items like this could also be called lethal killers within our day to day sphere are identified as hazardous gasses and chemicals that we use in our daily life’s and even allow our children to use and interact with. So many new developments are being made in the industries and manufacturing processes, that it is impossible to list all of the gasses, vapours, hazardous chemicals and liquids that could cause or has the potential to cause serious or even fatal injuries.
It is also difficult to always classify many a substance as either flammable or explosive, as under certain conditions some may not burn at all, but the same substances under altered conditions, these materials, may burn slowly, rapidly or even cause an explosion with devastating effects. Other gasses liquids, vapours and chemicals may not cause harm immediately but with time, could still be life threatening.
With this then in mind, it is safe to say that all gasses chemicals vapours fumes can then be classified as FLAMABLE, NON-FLAMABLE ANESTHETICAL IRRITANT OR EVEN ADDICTIONAL.
All these items discussed are not always neatly kept in secure containers with proper control system in place. At times they could be found as household objects and detergents and even in the nature as part of self degeneration of components forming methane gas.
Recently local mine workers tried to unblock and clean out a sewage drain system where they used chlorine flakes to clean and deter the smell; with this not working they added some swimming-pool acid. This deadly mixture with the added drain sewage - now formed chlorine gas which over powered the workers and resulted that everyone present had to be hospitalized.
REMEMBER if you can’t SEE it, SMELL or TASTE it – it does not necessarily mean that it isn’t there.
Author: Jan van Burick (janb@nosa.co.za / +27 83 259 1151).
And here we are, healthy and thinking how wonderful it is to be able to hear, see, feel , smell and even taste the elements around us. The very same elements that I could either make full use of or that could possibly harm me, my dear ones and not even to mention our environment. The terrible truth of such a situation is that it without being able to make use of our ever so trusted senses; devastating consequences will be the final outcome.
Items like this could also be called lethal killers within our day to day sphere are identified as hazardous gasses and chemicals that we use in our daily life’s and even allow our children to use and interact with. So many new developments are being made in the industries and manufacturing processes, that it is impossible to list all of the gasses, vapours, hazardous chemicals and liquids that could cause or has the potential to cause serious or even fatal injuries.
It is also difficult to always classify many a substance as either flammable or explosive, as under certain conditions some may not burn at all, but the same substances under altered conditions, these materials, may burn slowly, rapidly or even cause an explosion with devastating effects. Other gasses liquids, vapours and chemicals may not cause harm immediately but with time, could still be life threatening.
With this then in mind, it is safe to say that all gasses chemicals vapours fumes can then be classified as FLAMABLE, NON-FLAMABLE ANESTHETICAL IRRITANT OR EVEN ADDICTIONAL.
All these items discussed are not always neatly kept in secure containers with proper control system in place. At times they could be found as household objects and detergents and even in the nature as part of self degeneration of components forming methane gas.
Recently local mine workers tried to unblock and clean out a sewage drain system where they used chlorine flakes to clean and deter the smell; with this not working they added some swimming-pool acid. This deadly mixture with the added drain sewage - now formed chlorine gas which over powered the workers and resulted that everyone present had to be hospitalized.
REMEMBER if you can’t SEE it, SMELL or TASTE it – it does not necessarily mean that it isn’t there.
Author: Jan van Burick (janb@nosa.co.za / +27 83 259 1151).
Friday, April 16, 2010
From the Events Coordinators' pen!!
Dear Followers
I am not the type that will take hours to write an article or come up with creative wording... no, I leave this type of thing to my dear colleague, Chantell!
I do however feel a kind of guilt creeping up, when I see all the stunning articles our NOSHCON speakers publish on our Blog and I have a "hands up" attitude - a new fun phrase I learned from my brother this week.
So now I am typing away and after reading 2 paragraphs, you must think, this girl has no talent in writing at all, she has not said a thing... Well, here is the THING. NOSHCON is the THING, IT is a passion, not only for NOSA, but for ME... I am obsessed in a good way. I love it and eventhough is tortures me during my Birthday month, July (remember) as it is soooooooooo close to the event and things are piling up and I am snowed under, stressed out and Twinsavers are my new best friend, I can't get enough.
The best thing about this addiction... it is not only me!! Clients and SHEQ managers from all over South Africa can't wait for this annual event and I am the lucky girl organsing it!!
So, here is what you can do, to improve the event and awareness - refer all your colleagues and friends to our Blog and get them posting some comments and articles... it will be fun to hear everyone's opinion, remark and concerns in SHE and get everyone obsessed! Even better, don't just leave it at getting them to write on the Blog, but get them to attend our prestigious event, NOSHCON 2010.
I wish for numerous posts when I open our precious Blog again... I feel a bit like Julie Powell in Julia and Julie, the addictiveness to go on your blog everyday and see who said what - haha!
Now I have 2 obsessions, NOSHCON and Blogging!
I told you, it is not going to be creative - that I leave for my events :-)!
Have a safe weekend!!
NOSHCON Coordinator
Beatrix
I am not the type that will take hours to write an article or come up with creative wording... no, I leave this type of thing to my dear colleague, Chantell!
I do however feel a kind of guilt creeping up, when I see all the stunning articles our NOSHCON speakers publish on our Blog and I have a "hands up" attitude - a new fun phrase I learned from my brother this week.
So now I am typing away and after reading 2 paragraphs, you must think, this girl has no talent in writing at all, she has not said a thing... Well, here is the THING. NOSHCON is the THING, IT is a passion, not only for NOSA, but for ME... I am obsessed in a good way. I love it and eventhough is tortures me during my Birthday month, July (remember) as it is soooooooooo close to the event and things are piling up and I am snowed under, stressed out and Twinsavers are my new best friend, I can't get enough.
The best thing about this addiction... it is not only me!! Clients and SHEQ managers from all over South Africa can't wait for this annual event and I am the lucky girl organsing it!!
So, here is what you can do, to improve the event and awareness - refer all your colleagues and friends to our Blog and get them posting some comments and articles... it will be fun to hear everyone's opinion, remark and concerns in SHE and get everyone obsessed! Even better, don't just leave it at getting them to write on the Blog, but get them to attend our prestigious event, NOSHCON 2010.
I wish for numerous posts when I open our precious Blog again... I feel a bit like Julie Powell in Julia and Julie, the addictiveness to go on your blog everyday and see who said what - haha!
Now I have 2 obsessions, NOSHCON and Blogging!
I told you, it is not going to be creative - that I leave for my events :-)!
Have a safe weekend!!
NOSHCON Coordinator
Beatrix
Monday, April 12, 2010
NOSHCON - The golden word in health safety and environmental matters
Where do we stand when it comes to this most important concept , pertaining to the health and safety of our biggest asset ,the human factor within our company, immaterial how big or small we are. How do we look at our employees ,contractors ,visitors and even those people not known to us, but seen as the community and our neighbours.
Have we ever stopped to think of the legal complication that we might have to consider , if things do go wrong .Vicarious liability is such an unknown word ,so small ,but yet with such big consequences, to one and all of us, if we are seen as part of management.
The Occupational Health and Safety ACT 85 of 1993 a governing document that gives us the POWER to ensure that we understand hazards and risks within our workplace, and to ensure that we are able to give unto our employers and employees the workplace that is without these hazards or risks, a document with a positive or negative outcome depending in how we look at it or in how we are using it. The Occupational Health and Safety ACT, as a document, is it used as book stopper or just another book to give some image to our bookshelf to those visiting our office.
Looking at my bookshelf i realised that the copy of my act really looks like an overused “waslappie” ,something used every day and even sometimes used more than once, as much as 70 times 7 as the scripture says ,should this not be our Alpha and Omega in our work's environment and industry. It is with this document as minimum requirement that we stand as leaders in our field.
How easy is it for us to relate to this document and all its pros and cons ,are we really conversant with the law in its full context .Is this document a real benefit to me in my work and works environment or has it become a millstone around my neck.
If this is the case perhaps we should revisit the word NOSHCON because it is there that you would find the hub of all the relevant health, safety, environmental and general occupational risk management matters.
So act now - pick up the phone and speak up, be Proactive and not Reactive and understand the concept of the “A B C “ of the ACT “AVOID BEING CAUGHT”. See you at NOSHCON!
Author: Jan van Burick (janb@nosa.co.za / +27 83 259 1151).
Jan van Burick is of NOSHCON 2010's valued break away session speakers. For more information on NOSHCON's speakers or the conference program, please visit http://www.noshcon.co.za/
Have we ever stopped to think of the legal complication that we might have to consider , if things do go wrong .Vicarious liability is such an unknown word ,so small ,but yet with such big consequences, to one and all of us, if we are seen as part of management.
The Occupational Health and Safety ACT 85 of 1993 a governing document that gives us the POWER to ensure that we understand hazards and risks within our workplace, and to ensure that we are able to give unto our employers and employees the workplace that is without these hazards or risks, a document with a positive or negative outcome depending in how we look at it or in how we are using it. The Occupational Health and Safety ACT, as a document, is it used as book stopper or just another book to give some image to our bookshelf to those visiting our office.
Looking at my bookshelf i realised that the copy of my act really looks like an overused “waslappie” ,something used every day and even sometimes used more than once, as much as 70 times 7 as the scripture says ,should this not be our Alpha and Omega in our work's environment and industry. It is with this document as minimum requirement that we stand as leaders in our field.
How easy is it for us to relate to this document and all its pros and cons ,are we really conversant with the law in its full context .Is this document a real benefit to me in my work and works environment or has it become a millstone around my neck.
If this is the case perhaps we should revisit the word NOSHCON because it is there that you would find the hub of all the relevant health, safety, environmental and general occupational risk management matters.
So act now - pick up the phone and speak up, be Proactive and not Reactive and understand the concept of the “A B C “ of the ACT “AVOID BEING CAUGHT”. See you at NOSHCON!
Author: Jan van Burick (janb@nosa.co.za / +27 83 259 1151).
Jan van Burick is of NOSHCON 2010's valued break away session speakers. For more information on NOSHCON's speakers or the conference program, please visit http://www.noshcon.co.za/
Friday, April 9, 2010
WA: Mesh invention promises better mine safety
(Extract from ABC Online, Aus)
The University of Western Australia (UWA) says its latest mining technology invention could improve safety conditions for miners around the world.
A high energy absorbing mesh is made of recycled scrap metal and is designed to act as a barrier to protect miners from underground rock blasts.
UWA will now collaborate with a company specialising in mining technology to market the product.
Inventor and university professor Yves Potvin says the technology could protect miners working in tough conditions in the Goldfields and Pilbara.
"In these conditions the normal ground support usually fails and that's how you get people getting injured or fatalities due to rock bursts," he said.
"So this new system, because it's stronger than normal mesh, would have a better chance to sustain these natural explosions."
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
The University of Western Australia (UWA) says its latest mining technology invention could improve safety conditions for miners around the world.
A high energy absorbing mesh is made of recycled scrap metal and is designed to act as a barrier to protect miners from underground rock blasts.
UWA will now collaborate with a company specialising in mining technology to market the product.
Inventor and university professor Yves Potvin says the technology could protect miners working in tough conditions in the Goldfields and Pilbara.
"In these conditions the normal ground support usually fails and that's how you get people getting injured or fatalities due to rock bursts," he said.
"So this new system, because it's stronger than normal mesh, would have a better chance to sustain these natural explosions."
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
USA: Experts say mining safety has improved since Crandall disaster
Extract from fox13now, Utah, USA
SALT LAKE CITY - Standards have certainly changed since the 2007 Crandall Canyon mining disaster, says Mining Engineering Dept. Chairman, Mike Nelson. "Last year in 2009 had the fewest number of fatalities ever in the mining industry," Nelson says. "They're definitely not where we want them to be -- the accident rate for the mining industry. We look at the lost time per 100 workers per year and its around four. We'd like to see it much less, close to one or zero." Ed Havas, who represents the families of miners killed in Utah, says that on a personal level, for the family of miners trapped "it's emotionally, just such a gut wrenching, trying time. Mostly the waiting and the not knowing for those that are waiting word about their loved ones."
Havas thinks lawsuits are likely in the case of the recent West Virginia mine collapse.
"Lawsuits are highly likely probability for a case like this because for there to be a disaster of this magnitude something went wrong somewhere and if that turns out to have been the failing of the company or some entity that should have taken better care then they need to be held responsible," said Havas.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
SALT LAKE CITY - Standards have certainly changed since the 2007 Crandall Canyon mining disaster, says Mining Engineering Dept. Chairman, Mike Nelson. "Last year in 2009 had the fewest number of fatalities ever in the mining industry," Nelson says. "They're definitely not where we want them to be -- the accident rate for the mining industry. We look at the lost time per 100 workers per year and its around four. We'd like to see it much less, close to one or zero." Ed Havas, who represents the families of miners killed in Utah, says that on a personal level, for the family of miners trapped "it's emotionally, just such a gut wrenching, trying time. Mostly the waiting and the not knowing for those that are waiting word about their loved ones."
Havas thinks lawsuits are likely in the case of the recent West Virginia mine collapse.
"Lawsuits are highly likely probability for a case like this because for there to be a disaster of this magnitude something went wrong somewhere and if that turns out to have been the failing of the company or some entity that should have taken better care then they need to be held responsible," said Havas.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
This week in mining accident history
2 April 1898
Pudley-Hill Coal Pit
Old Park, Shropshire, UK
Underground Coal Mine
Fall down shaft
1 dead
Source: www.shropshirecmc.org.uk/papers/index.html
Pudley-Hill Coal Pit
Old Park, Shropshire, UK
Underground Coal Mine
Fall down shaft
1 dead
Source: www.shropshirecmc.org.uk/papers/index.html
WA: Fortescue seeks death case dismissal
Fortescue Metals is applying to have charges relating to it workers’ deaths and injuries during Cyclone George dismissed as the miner was charged under the wrong laws.
It is applying to have all the charges dismissed as both the miner and its subsidiary The Pilbara Infrastructure’s (TPI) mines were exempt from the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Instead, Fortescue claims its safety management procedures come under the Mines Safety and Inspection Act of 1994, rather than the previous act under which it was charged.
It would aim to have the case dismissed as the charges failed to identify the measures Fortescue should have taken to effectively avoid risks, according to the West Australian.
Fortescue and its subsidiary TPI have pleaded not guilty to the charges of failing to provide adequate safety measures in the event of a cyclone.
Two people were killed after Cyclone George hit Fortescue’s camp 100 km south of Port Hedland, on 9 March 2007.
Fortescue is the first of several companies to go to court over charges arising from the cyclone.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
It is applying to have all the charges dismissed as both the miner and its subsidiary The Pilbara Infrastructure’s (TPI) mines were exempt from the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Instead, Fortescue claims its safety management procedures come under the Mines Safety and Inspection Act of 1994, rather than the previous act under which it was charged.
It would aim to have the case dismissed as the charges failed to identify the measures Fortescue should have taken to effectively avoid risks, according to the West Australian.
Fortescue and its subsidiary TPI have pleaded not guilty to the charges of failing to provide adequate safety measures in the event of a cyclone.
Two people were killed after Cyclone George hit Fortescue’s camp 100 km south of Port Hedland, on 9 March 2007.
Fortescue is the first of several companies to go to court over charges arising from the cyclone.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
USA: Two Mine Accidents Reported in West Virginia
(Extract from WSAZ.com, USA)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Two miners are in the hospital after two separate accidents in West Virginia.
The latest accident happened around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday at the New Town Energy Eagle Mine in Comfort. That's in Boone County.
Jama Jarrett with the Mine Safety Office tells WSAZ.com a mining operator got pinned between a machine and mine wall. The miner was taken to CAMC General with serious injuries.
The other mining related accident happened at the Pinnacle Mine in Wyoming County around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Jarrett tells WSAZ.com a contract worker was working on a mine shaft when he fell through the floor. The man suffered injuries to his head and upper body.
Clifford Natural Resource owns that mine in Wyoming County.
No names have been released at this time.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Two miners are in the hospital after two separate accidents in West Virginia.
The latest accident happened around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday at the New Town Energy Eagle Mine in Comfort. That's in Boone County.
Jama Jarrett with the Mine Safety Office tells WSAZ.com a mining operator got pinned between a machine and mine wall. The miner was taken to CAMC General with serious injuries.
The other mining related accident happened at the Pinnacle Mine in Wyoming County around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Jarrett tells WSAZ.com a contract worker was working on a mine shaft when he fell through the floor. The man suffered injuries to his head and upper body.
Clifford Natural Resource owns that mine in Wyoming County.
No names have been released at this time.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
Philippines: 3 killed in Benguet mine cave-in
(Extract from abs-cbnNEWS.com)
MANILA, Philippines - Three miners were killed in a mining accident in Luneta village, Itogon, Benguet Tuesday night, officials said.
John Latungan, vice-president of Luneta Miners Association, identified two of the fatalities as Rudy Petra Corta Gilles, 40; and Edgar Sucalo, 36. The name of the third miner has been withheld until his immediate family has been notified.
He said at least 20 miners were working in the underground goldmine in groups starting at 7 p.m, Tuesday. He said only 6 miners were at the bottom of the 80-foot mine when it caved in before midnight.
Three of the miners were rescued while the rest died.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
MANILA, Philippines - Three miners were killed in a mining accident in Luneta village, Itogon, Benguet Tuesday night, officials said.
John Latungan, vice-president of Luneta Miners Association, identified two of the fatalities as Rudy Petra Corta Gilles, 40; and Edgar Sucalo, 36. The name of the third miner has been withheld until his immediate family has been notified.
He said at least 20 miners were working in the underground goldmine in groups starting at 7 p.m, Tuesday. He said only 6 miners were at the bottom of the 80-foot mine when it caved in before midnight.
Three of the miners were rescued while the rest died.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
Thursday, April 8, 2010
WA: Mount Keith wins mine safety gong
(Extract from ABC Online, Aus)
BHP Billiton's Nickel West division has been recognised at the Chamber of Minerals and Energy's annual Safety and Innovation Awards.
Nickel West's Mount Keith operation won the chamber's Engineering Safety Award for a
mobile communications structure which removesthe need for working at heights.
The Industry Road Safety Alliance won the People category for its work in improving road safety in and around mine sites.The chamber's David Todd says the awards highlight the progress.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
BHP Billiton's Nickel West division has been recognised at the Chamber of Minerals and Energy's annual Safety and Innovation Awards.
Nickel West's Mount Keith operation won the chamber's Engineering Safety Award for a
mobile communications structure which removesthe need for working at heights.
The Industry Road Safety Alliance won the People category for its work in improving road safety in and around mine sites.The chamber's David Todd says the awards highlight the progress.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
USA: Manchin offers W.Va. help with Chinese mine rescue
(Extract from Phillyburbs.com)
Gov. Joe Manchin is offering to help rescuers trying to free more than 150 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in northern China.
The governor's office says Chief of Staff Jim Spears extended the offer to China's U.S. embassy Monday.
The Chinese miners have been trapped sinceSunday at the Wangjialing Coal Mine, a new operation due to start production this year.
Spears says state mine rescue experts could provide expertise via telephone and Internet to rescuers in China.West Virginia is the second largest coal producing state in the country.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
Gov. Joe Manchin is offering to help rescuers trying to free more than 150 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in northern China.
The governor's office says Chief of Staff Jim Spears extended the offer to China's U.S. embassy Monday.
The Chinese miners have been trapped sinceSunday at the Wangjialing Coal Mine, a new operation due to start production this year.
Spears says state mine rescue experts could provide expertise via telephone and Internet to rescuers in China.West Virginia is the second largest coal producing state in the country.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
Three trapped after fluorite mine accident in East China county
(Extract from People's Daily Online, China)
Three people were trapped underground after a fluorite mine's laneway collapsed in east China'sJiangxi Province Thursday, local authorities said Friday.
The accident occurred at 5 p.m. Thursday at Geban fluorite mine in Shangrao County in Shangrao City of Jiangxi, said an official of the county's government. As of 8 p.m. Friday, rescuing work was still underway. Provincial authorities had arrived and started an investigation.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
Three people were trapped underground after a fluorite mine's laneway collapsed in east China'sJiangxi Province Thursday, local authorities said Friday.
The accident occurred at 5 p.m. Thursday at Geban fluorite mine in Shangrao County in Shangrao City of Jiangxi, said an official of the county's government. As of 8 p.m. Friday, rescuing work was still underway. Provincial authorities had arrived and started an investigation.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
Central China mine flooding leaves three dead, eight more missing
(Extract from People's Daily Online, China)
Authorities in central China's Henan Province confirmed Saturday three miners had been killed and eight others trapped underground a flooded mine.
Rescuers retrieved three bodies Friday afternoon; more than four days after a flooding occurred at 12:40 a.m. Monday in three iron pits run by Shunda Mining Co. Ltd. in Biyang County, trapping 11 miners underground, thecounty government said.
Rescue efforts were rather slow as large water pumps could not be installed in the mine because of complicated geographical conditions, said the county government. Location of the trapped miners remains unknown.
Wang Xinke, deputy county government chief in charge of work safety, has been removed from his post shortly after the flooding.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
Authorities in central China's Henan Province confirmed Saturday three miners had been killed and eight others trapped underground a flooded mine.
Rescuers retrieved three bodies Friday afternoon; more than four days after a flooding occurred at 12:40 a.m. Monday in three iron pits run by Shunda Mining Co. Ltd. in Biyang County, trapping 11 miners underground, thecounty government said.
Rescue efforts were rather slow as large water pumps could not be installed in the mine because of complicated geographical conditions, said the county government. Location of the trapped miners remains unknown.
Wang Xinke, deputy county government chief in charge of work safety, has been removed from his post shortly after the flooding.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
India: Nine killed in mine
(Extract from Times of India)
JAIPUR: Nine labourers including four women were killed and 13 others injured when part of a soap stone mine collapsed in Parsoli area of Pratapgarh district on Friday. The incident occurred when rocks came sliding upon the workers, twice within an interval of 15 minutes.
A part of the mine collapsed around noon, burying three labourers. The others rushed to their rescue and a second rock came sliding down claiming five more lives. Fourteen injured labourers were rushed to Udaipur's M B Hospital. One of them succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital. The deceased, residents of nearby villages, were in the age group of 25 and 45 years.
Senior police and administration officers, including IG (Udaipur Range), rushed to the spot and immediately ordered rescue operations. Rescue work was started with help of residents of nearby villages. According to police, the mine called Jai Polymers Pvt Ltd is located about four kilometers from Parsoli on Sabla Road.
B K Mittal, SP (Pratapgarh) said that about 22 labourers were working in a 5-km-long tunnel when a part of it collapsed. "Most of them got buried. Eight dead bodies have been pulled out so far. Thirteen other injured have been rushed to MB Hospital in Udaipur," said the officer. "It took the administration about seven hours to pull out all the bodies. We are searching for more bodies that may be buried under the debris," he
added.
Mittal said that an FIR was being lodged against the mine owner and action will be taken against him in case of negligence. The officer said that they were investigating whether safety measures were being taken at the mine. Sources said chief minister Ashok Gehlot has also asked the police to launch an inquiry into the incident. A similar incident at a nearby mine, called Golachha, had claimed two lives a fortnight ago, claimed sources. Despite that, the administration did not ensure that other miners observed the stipulated safety measures.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
JAIPUR: Nine labourers including four women were killed and 13 others injured when part of a soap stone mine collapsed in Parsoli area of Pratapgarh district on Friday. The incident occurred when rocks came sliding upon the workers, twice within an interval of 15 minutes.
A part of the mine collapsed around noon, burying three labourers. The others rushed to their rescue and a second rock came sliding down claiming five more lives. Fourteen injured labourers were rushed to Udaipur's M B Hospital. One of them succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital. The deceased, residents of nearby villages, were in the age group of 25 and 45 years.
Senior police and administration officers, including IG (Udaipur Range), rushed to the spot and immediately ordered rescue operations. Rescue work was started with help of residents of nearby villages. According to police, the mine called Jai Polymers Pvt Ltd is located about four kilometers from Parsoli on Sabla Road.
B K Mittal, SP (Pratapgarh) said that about 22 labourers were working in a 5-km-long tunnel when a part of it collapsed. "Most of them got buried. Eight dead bodies have been pulled out so far. Thirteen other injured have been rushed to MB Hospital in Udaipur," said the officer. "It took the administration about seven hours to pull out all the bodies. We are searching for more bodies that may be buried under the debris," he
added.
Mittal said that an FIR was being lodged against the mine owner and action will be taken against him in case of negligence. The officer said that they were investigating whether safety measures were being taken at the mine. Sources said chief minister Ashok Gehlot has also asked the police to launch an inquiry into the incident. A similar incident at a nearby mine, called Golachha, had claimed two lives a fortnight ago, claimed sources. Despite that, the administration did not ensure that other miners observed the stipulated safety measures.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
USA: Mine industry slow on safety gear upgrades, MSHA
(Extract from the Charleston Gazette, USA)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. America's top coal mine regulator says he will redouble pressure on the industry to meet a 4-year-old congressional mandate to equip the nation's underground mines with high-tech communications and tracking gear.
Mine Safety and Health Administration figures show 34 mines nationwide have functioning systems that meet its requirements. The agency says 491 mines are supposed to have the equipment.
The mandate was imposed after the January 2006 deaths of 12 West Virginia miners who became trapped underground following amethane explosion.
Mining companies were given until June 2009 to submit their plans to MSHA on how they intended to have two-way communications systems and wireless equipment to talk with and locate trapped miners. MSHA initially estimated complying would cost $278 million.
MSHA data shows the agency has approved plans for 412 mines and 79 are pending. Now, a disappointed MSHA Director Joe Main says it's time to start pressuring mine operators and manufacturers to speed up installation. Main compared the approach to pressure tactics used to speed up the delivery and storage of extra oxygen supplies required by the same 2006 legislation.
"We'll leverage out whatever we can," Main said, noting that MSHA took six mine operators to court two weeks ago. MSHA's also cited 64 operations for not submitting plans on time mostly mines located in Kentucky and Tennessee.
National Mining Association lobbyist Bruce Watzman says no one's happy with the slow progress, but he bristles at suggestions of footdragging by the industry.
"The fact of the matter is that this has proceeded more slowly for a whole host of reasons," Watzman said. "If there is fault, the fault is that I don't think anyone got very clear guidance from the previous leadership of MSHA."
Meanwhile, the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training disputes the inference from MSHA's numbers that the state's mines are behind.
The state also mandated wireless communications and tracking equipment following the Sago explosion and other fatal mining accidents in early 2006. The state requirement was passed before its federal counterpart.
"There is no place in the world that has more communications and tracking," said Randy Harris, an engineering consultant overseeing West Virginia installations. The industry has spent between $125,000 to $150,000 to wire each of the state's 197 underground mines. "We've had several instances already where
there's been problems and the communications and tracking system has worked and gotten everybody out," Harris said, noting new gear helped with evacuations during 2009 flooding in southern West Virginia.
MSHA's figures, however, don't reflect West Virginia's progress.
Instead, the figures show 20 mines in southern West Virginia and just three in the MSHA district covering northern West Virginia have systems up and running that meet federal requirements. Harris says MSHA requires more equipment such as readers for tracking tags on miners that are closer together. MSHA also insists that mines have the gear within 200 feet of the working face, or where the coal is being mined. West Virginia does not require gear at the face. Data collected by MSHA's 11 districts nationwide show 46 mines have tracking and communications equipment installed and working, though just 34 meet all its requirements. Another 92 mines have partial systems running and 128 are working on installations.
"I think progress is being made everywhere, but the majority of West Virginia, they had kind of a head start," said Kevin Stricklin, MSHA administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health. Overall, Stricklin describes efforts to upgrade safety equipment as piecemeal.
"We have mines, as an example, in western Kentucky that have up to 90 percent of their systems installed."
Main shrugs off industry complaints about MSHA waiting until December 2008 to release plans for how companies were to comply with the mandate.
What's being installed underground are systems built around handheld radios that work through networks designed to survive explosions. Each miner wears a locator tag so he can be found quickly in the event of an accident.
At West Virginia's Sago Mine, communications were severed by the explosion and rescue teams were left to guess where miners were located.
"There's no question we're better off than we were the day before Sago," Main said.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. America's top coal mine regulator says he will redouble pressure on the industry to meet a 4-year-old congressional mandate to equip the nation's underground mines with high-tech communications and tracking gear.
Mine Safety and Health Administration figures show 34 mines nationwide have functioning systems that meet its requirements. The agency says 491 mines are supposed to have the equipment.
The mandate was imposed after the January 2006 deaths of 12 West Virginia miners who became trapped underground following amethane explosion.
Mining companies were given until June 2009 to submit their plans to MSHA on how they intended to have two-way communications systems and wireless equipment to talk with and locate trapped miners. MSHA initially estimated complying would cost $278 million.
MSHA data shows the agency has approved plans for 412 mines and 79 are pending. Now, a disappointed MSHA Director Joe Main says it's time to start pressuring mine operators and manufacturers to speed up installation. Main compared the approach to pressure tactics used to speed up the delivery and storage of extra oxygen supplies required by the same 2006 legislation.
"We'll leverage out whatever we can," Main said, noting that MSHA took six mine operators to court two weeks ago. MSHA's also cited 64 operations for not submitting plans on time mostly mines located in Kentucky and Tennessee.
National Mining Association lobbyist Bruce Watzman says no one's happy with the slow progress, but he bristles at suggestions of footdragging by the industry.
"The fact of the matter is that this has proceeded more slowly for a whole host of reasons," Watzman said. "If there is fault, the fault is that I don't think anyone got very clear guidance from the previous leadership of MSHA."
Meanwhile, the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training disputes the inference from MSHA's numbers that the state's mines are behind.
The state also mandated wireless communications and tracking equipment following the Sago explosion and other fatal mining accidents in early 2006. The state requirement was passed before its federal counterpart.
"There is no place in the world that has more communications and tracking," said Randy Harris, an engineering consultant overseeing West Virginia installations. The industry has spent between $125,000 to $150,000 to wire each of the state's 197 underground mines. "We've had several instances already where
there's been problems and the communications and tracking system has worked and gotten everybody out," Harris said, noting new gear helped with evacuations during 2009 flooding in southern West Virginia.
MSHA's figures, however, don't reflect West Virginia's progress.
Instead, the figures show 20 mines in southern West Virginia and just three in the MSHA district covering northern West Virginia have systems up and running that meet federal requirements. Harris says MSHA requires more equipment such as readers for tracking tags on miners that are closer together. MSHA also insists that mines have the gear within 200 feet of the working face, or where the coal is being mined. West Virginia does not require gear at the face. Data collected by MSHA's 11 districts nationwide show 46 mines have tracking and communications equipment installed and working, though just 34 meet all its requirements. Another 92 mines have partial systems running and 128 are working on installations.
"I think progress is being made everywhere, but the majority of West Virginia, they had kind of a head start," said Kevin Stricklin, MSHA administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health. Overall, Stricklin describes efforts to upgrade safety equipment as piecemeal.
"We have mines, as an example, in western Kentucky that have up to 90 percent of their systems installed."
Main shrugs off industry complaints about MSHA waiting until December 2008 to release plans for how companies were to comply with the mandate.
What's being installed underground are systems built around handheld radios that work through networks designed to survive explosions. Each miner wears a locator tag so he can be found quickly in the event of an accident.
At West Virginia's Sago Mine, communications were severed by the explosion and rescue teams were left to guess where miners were located.
"There's no question we're better off than we were the day before Sago," Main said.
Editor: Mark Freeman (mark.freeman@industry.nsw.gov.au)
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