Coal Mine Injury Articles

Some of the most difficult cases I’ve come across involve the wrongful deaths of coal miners. Unfortunately, they are not uncommon and my experience with them has become extensive. It’s important that the families of these deceased miners understand that they have rights under West Virginia law. These laws protect them and make sure that an experienced lawyer can help them get the damages they deserve. The first thing you need to do if your dad or husband has been killed in a coal mining accident is find out who the executor or executrix is, based on the will of your loved one. If no one has been appointed, then you can go to the courthouse and someone will be appointed. It’s then that person’s responsibility to seek out a law firm that understands coal mining regulations and protections and who can figure out why the wrongful death occurred. You’ve got to have an answer to that question. The first thing we are going to do at The Segal Law Firm is start investigating to find out what shortcuts the coal company has taken, as this is most likely what has occurred. The company probably decided to ignore a safety

If you or a family member have suffered a coal mining injury or death, there are several factors that must be determined in coal mining injury cases and settlements amounts vary, as each coal mining case should be evaluated on an individual basis. A coal miner and his family deserve a complex interview with detailed questions and the Segal Law Firm has years of experience in handling these types of injury cases. Some factors that should be determined are: “Will you ever be able to return to work?” It is an unfortunate fact that many coal mining injuries can end the career of a miner and this means he and his family will no longer have wages, health benefits and retirement benefits that are included in a normal employment contract. “What is the age of the worker?” A miner who is in the 25 to 30 years old range could suffer a loss amounting to millions of dollars; however, because medical and retirement benefits would be substantially less for someone who is 55 years or older, the settlement amount might be considerably lower. “What medical and rehabilitation expenses were incurred as a result of an injury?” This could include home

Coal mining is far from being a new industry and yet we are still seeing injuries over and over again on the job site. Why is that? Well, it’s pretty simple: companies are putting the almighty dollar ahead of their workers’ safety and aren’t following the rules and regulations that have been in place by the government. For the past hundred years, inspectors have been looking at injuries and deaths due to coal mining accidents and figuring out how to prevent them from happening to workers in the future. Unfortunately, the coal companies are still taking shortcuts, which inevitably result in the injury or death of a miner.   Training There are very specific rules and regulations, both state and federal, about how someone is to be trained before they’re even allowed to work in a mine. I don’t care if we’re talking about a surface mine or a deep mine: You can’t be there until you have certain training. You’d be surprised how many cases we’ve investigated where the person or contractor on the job doesn’t have the license or permit to be there. You’ve also got the operating of equipment. Are the people working this dangerous equipment trained

If you or a family member has been injured in a coal mining accident, one of the first things you’re going to ask is how much is the average settlement for a case like mine? You’ve obviously suffered some damages and are eager to get the recovery you deserve. The thing is, there are as many different types of settlements as there are types of coal mining injuries. We at The Segal Law Firm have seen every type of injury you can imagine and we have to approach each case individually to try to get the most we can for our clients. The amount of a settlement is based on several different factors. Who is the target of the lawsuit? If it’s your employer, then there’s a more difficult legal standard. We have to prove that certain safety rules, whether federal, state, or industry practice, were violated. We’ve seen many cases where the coal company is putting profit ahead of safety and when this is happens, injuries are bound to occur. And if the jury believes that the employer did in fact put profit over safety or that the contractor came onsite badly prepared to do the job he was

The most serious danger to a coal miner underground is methane gas – the natural by-product of mining coal. There are very specific safety measures that the Federal and State government require to protect miners. And you’ll find that disaster after disaster after disaster, certain things were not done that should have been done to protect the coal miner. First, improper ventilation – All ventilation in an underground coal mine must be approved by Federal and State inspectors. Proper ventilation keeps the air moving away from the coal miners and takes any methane or noxious gases away from the miners’ face. It’s typically referred to as “out by” work. Skilled workers that know how to keep the air moving in the right direction must perform it. Second is rock dusting – When there is an explosion in a coal mine, very fine particles of coal dust fly into the air and make more tiny explosion. You get a chain reaction. The explosion gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and it goes throughout the entire mine because it’s just feeding itself. Rock dusting is when limestone is sprayed all over the mine to keep the dust down. Sprayers and