U.S.: Do mining regulators need more muscle to boost safety?
- Every place I’ve ever worked, safety has been a distant second to production. If you take 30 minutes out of the day doing it right, that takes a lot out of the tonnage of the mine.
- Kentucky-based miner Billy Brannon • Regarding safety standards for miners. In the wake of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster last week, which killed 29, many are questioning whether the government’s regulatory administration, The Mine Safety and Health Administration, has enough teeth to properly take on organizations like Massey Energy. Unlike the EPA and FDA, the MSHA doesn’t make its investigators law enforcement officers, and the fines the group offers are mere pittances – $168,393 for Massey, for example. source