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American
Society of Safety Engineers Comment
on Mine Safety Legislation
URGE OVERALL RISKS BE TAKEN INTO
ACCOUNT
DES PLAINES, IL –
In a letter to Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor George
Miller, American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) President Michael W.
Thompson, CSP, offered comments on mining safety reform legislation, HR 2768 and
HR 2769, now under consideration by the Committee. “Like all Americans,
our member mine safety professionals are deeply troubled by any death in a
mine. They go to work each day to do all they can to prevent these
tragedies. Like you and the Committee members, they want to make sure all that
can be done to prevent the loss of life and injuries in this nation’s mines is
accomplished,” Thompson wrote.
Thompson said these comments reflect directly the
experience and expertise of leading safety professionals in the mine industry
who are members of ASSE’s Mine Practice Specialty, one of 13 practice
specialties organized to help advance common principles of safety, health and
environmental management to protect workers. “Most of what is proposed
in the bills will help prevent loss of life and injuries,” Thompson said. “However,
some provisions are not realistic given the current capabilities of the Mine
Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and may take away from the ability of
these agencies to advance safety in realistic ways. A few provisions, though not
directly safety issues, challenge the due process rights of mine owners and may
be unnecessarily overbearing for the great majority of mines that work safely.”
In his letter Thompson discussed several issues
including authority of inspectors; transition to a new generation of inspectors;
a miner ombudsman; the pattern of violations; notification of abatement; failure
to timely pay penalty assessments; penalties; a federal licensing advisory
committee; rescue, recovery and incident investigation authority; respirable
dust standards; air contaminants; asbestos; and hazard communication. In urging
Congress to consider including supplemental emergency response plans, Thompson
noted, “ASSE understands the urgency with which the provisions aimed at
improving the chance that miners will survive a mine accident have been included
in this bill. Each provision is worthy of further action, as each has the
potential to save lives. However, we urge you to amend the bill to make their
implementation dependent on an industry-wide risk analysis to be conducted under
the direction of NIOSH before placing these provisions into law. Our fear is
that all these activities, if required in the time frames indicated, will
overwhelm even the best efforts of NIOSH and MSHA to bring them about.”
For a full copy of the letter please go to www.asse.org.
Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE is the largest and oldest
professional safety organization and is committed to protecting people, property
and the environment.
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