What if this was my company and I was in charge of safety?
“MONTCOAL, W.Va. (April 5) — The blast occurred around 3 p.m. at Massey Energy Co.’s sprawling Upper Big Branch mine as nine miners on a vehicle that takes workers in and out of the mine were leaving, said Kevin Stricklin, agency administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health. Stricklin said a crew ahead of the vehicle felt a blast of air and went back in to find out what happened.”
What is the total today as I write this…Twenty-nine dead.
Sometimes safety takes a back burner when profits become the number one priority and that seems to be the case more and more in America. My heart goes out to those grieving survivors in the families of those miners who died. I wonder how the bottom line of that mining company looks right now? Was it just good management sense when it comes to dollars?
All my career I have said that most safety rules are written in the blood of those who went before us. Well, sometimes I feel that in the mining industry dust and greed somehow covers up that which has been learned and the rules have to be written all over again and again.
This is truly a terrible event for the family and friends of those miners. A lot of my family are, or have been, miners and I can’t help but think “There, but for the grace of God, go I”.
Google “Massey Energy CEO” and read about the kind of guy these miners worked for. It is unbelievable that, in this era, there are still people with such blatant disregard for human life.
This is all so sad, Art! The most precious resource we have is not the coal but the people who mine the coal. I can’t even think how the families feel at the moment.