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 to do so? Do they know how to protect themselves and their coworkers? This seems like a no-brainer, but companies will take this shortcut if it means getting to that profit a little quicker.
Maintenance
The other shortcuts we always see involve maintenance in regards to the machinery; are the safety devices working? This machinery, most of it weighs thousands and thousands of pounds and you can’t maintain it like your little old car you drive to work and home everyday. I mean, this stuff has a lot of moving parts, bone crushing parts that can kill you in a millisecond if not properly maintained and safety precautions aren’t taken. As far as deep mines are concerned, we want to make sure that it is properly engineered and ventilated. There are tons of ways to bypass roof fall protection that can maim and kill miners. Once again, it’s simply not following procedures.
These, in a nutshell, are what we at The Segal Law Firm are trying to uncover when we begin to look at why a miner lost his life or his ability to earn for his family. A lot of times it’s not just one regulation that has been broken; it’s one, two, three, four, or a dozen! It’s like watching Dominos fall. A company that is chasing profit over safety is eventually going to watch one thing after another unravel once a worker gets injured or killed. The process that has put these federal and state rules into place has been grueling and it’s unfortunate when we see a company disregard them. The Segal Law Firm has a toll free number that you can call to ask us any type of question you may have regarding a coal mining injury. We will stop at nothing to make sure you get your answers. You can reach us at 855-344-9100.