MSHA reports August impact inspection results
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reported that during its August special impact inspections, 131 citations and 11 orders were issued at 12 coal mines.
Mines subject to these inspections receive extra attention from MSHA due to previous issues with the agency, including poor compliance history or compliance concerns. Recent issues include mines that failure to control dust and operators attempting to prevent MSHA from finding violations.
“We continue to see mines ignoring required ventilation curtains needed to control methane gas and respirable coal dust that that causes black lung,” says Joseph Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. “The new respirable dust rule requires mine operators to conduct thorough exams each shift to ensure required ventilation and dust controls are in place, with top mine officials certifying those exams.”
In addition to ventilation issues, other mines received citations for allowing materials to accumulate in a belt conveyor entry, as well as inadequate examination of hazardous conditions along the beltline, accumulations of combustible materials, misaligned belts, inadequate cable insulation, no ventilation line curtain installed and inadequate maintenance on the continuous mining machine.
About the Author: Allison Kral
Allison Kral is the former senior digital media manager for North Coast Media (NCM). She completed her undergraduate degree at Ohio University where she received a Bachelor of Science in magazine journalism from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. She works across a number of digital platforms, which include creating e-newsletters, writing articles and posting across social media sites. She also creates content for NCM's Portable Plants magazine, GPS World magazine and Geospatial Solutions. Her understanding of the ever-changing digital media world allows her to quickly grasp what a target audience desires and create content that is appealing and relevant for any client across any platform.Subscribe to Pit & Quarry
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