A group of Australian miners were fired after posting a viral video of themselves doing the “Harlem Shake.” The 30-second video features around eight underground mine workers in various states of undress performing their rendition of the viral dance craze at the Agnew Gold Mine just west of Agnew, Western Australia. Barminco, the Australia-based underground services [...]
The Mine Safety and Health Administration announced last week a major revision to its “pattern of violation” (POV) rules, which it is issuing in an attempt to make sure mine operators address the most significant hazards in their mines and protect miners from harm. Pattern of violation rules take aim at mine operators who have [...]
A new rule from the Mine Safety and Health Administration took effect this week. The rule, published in the April 6 Federal Register, calls on mine operators to address nine health and safety standards that contribute to the most unsafe conditions for American miners who work underground. The rule, “Examinations of Work Areas in Underground [...]
A joint investigation by National Public Radio, the Center for Public Integrity and the Charleston Gazette shines a light on the failures of regulatory systems and safety controls to protect coal miners from black lung. Black lung disease, or coalworker’s pneumoconiosis, is a pulmonary disease that results from inhaling coal mine dust. According to the [...]
The Mine Safety and Health Administration aims to improve rib control in its efforts to save the lives of miners. The 2012 Preventative Roof Rib Outreach Program, PROP, is the latest of the regulatory body’s efforts to preempt mining injuries and deaths through education and outreach to workers and mine owners. According to the MSHA, [...]
A recently released study by federal government researchers found that non-metal miners in the United States exposed to diesel exhaust had an increased risk of death from lung cancer. Researchers from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health studied 12,000 miners in non-metal mines in completing the report. The [...]
The safety regulatory agency that oversees America’s mines announced the upcoming publication of a new rule that aims to enhance protection of of miners’ health and safety. The final rule, “Examinations of Work Areas in Underground Coal Mines for Violations of Mandatory Health or Safety Standards,” aims to ensure mine operators correct nine hazards to [...]
The April 5, 2010, Upper Big Branch mine explosion, the worst mine disaster in the United States in the last 40 years, might have been prevented had the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) been more rigorous and timely in its enforcement of mine safety regulations and laws at the mine. That was the [...]
Government scientists report that heavy exposure to diesel exhaust increases the likelihood of lung cancer death. The findings come from a 20-year National Cancer Institute study — the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study — which investigated non-metal miners exposed to diesel engine exhaust released by underground mining equipment. The March issue of the Journal of the [...]
Investment in workplace safety and health has a direct and measurable cost-benefit potential, according to a recently released study by the International Social Security Association (ISSA). The study on the economic costs and benefits of prevention investments, coordinated by the ISSA, compared data on interventions and analysed practices in 300 companies in 15 countries. The results [...]
