I often talk with a friend and fellow blogger Demeur about Safety or lack of it.
We never would have thought our fears would be realized so soon. This mine disaster in West Virginia is a travesty. The company had been cited for numerous violations many having to do with this exact kind of incident. Both OSHA and MSHA are these days toothless. All the company had to do was ignore the safety violations and just pay the fines. These Miners had no say in the work environment they labored. I'm sure Demeur is beside himself with anguish. He's still in the Safety Business and I'm retired from it.
Let me tell you this could have been avoided. First the company was NOT unionized. This one thing would have allowed the miners to refuse to go in the mines if they deemed it unsafe without fear of reprisals. Two, The company needed to fix the Safety Violations.
Three, Osha and MSHA needs to be funded properly and be able to exact not only heavy fines, but the ability to shut down a company until said violations are indeed fixed.
This company seems to be the Walmart of coal mining.
To the family's and friends of Miners involved our thoughts and well wishes are with you.
6 comments:
Demeur
I recently posted and added your name to the post. I should have asked first. Upon reading it, if you want it down just give me the word.
This is the Internut, an open forum, you do not need anyone's permission to mention them.
Nor do you need permission to take a copy of whatever is on others blogs, text, graphics or pictures.
Seem crazy to you? Maybe, but not to me.
As for the mining thing, it's a dangerous job like many other jobs. No matter how good safety gets, in two hundred years folks will still be dying in mines.
Actually, in this country mining is safer than driving around all these other monkeys.
BBC
It may be legal but it's good manners to ask first.
So let me get this, you think it was fine to ignore 50 violations just in March and over 4000 violations since about the year 1998. That you should work at your own risk. Last but not least the company has no responsibility. I hope that's not so....
If you want an eye opener do a little street level tour on Google maps of that mining town. These people aren't the ones making the big bucks like union minors. I'd venture to guess that they make half as much.
It doesn't matter how dangerous a job is. A worker should be able to go home from work with all his limbs intact. I think I'm proof of that having done dangerous work for over 18 years and no major injuries.
Demeur
I'll do that with google.
Yes that's been my way of life for a long time. I used to be a first responder on the home fire team as well as EHS guy. Some people just don't realize how hard it is to say to the family and friends of the injured...I'm sorry..
Later
Again "money" and extreme greed from what I feel .... this place should have had action taken against it more and before, not until many deaths does shit get done .... and I hope the families if can prove this .... sue the shit out of them.
Later Guy ........
RC
Let's Hope.
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