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14 June, 2006
In the US, ICEM affiliate United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is combating unprecedented mining accidents that have occurred this year in unorganised coal mines, with both court room action and legislative efforts. The UMWA, on 8 June, filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., against the Bush administration’s Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA).
The lawsuit seeks to compel MSHA to begin conducting random checks of oxygen devices used in underground mine emergencies. The lawsuit also seeks to force the mine safety bureau to train miners on the use of such devices.
A day before the lawsuit was filed, the US House of Representatives voted 381 to 37 to approve stricter mine safety regulations. The proposed law would mandate mine operators to provide two hours of oxygen in underground mines, and would give them three years to install communication and tracking equipment in underground mines.
It also requires companies to report any life-threatening accident within 15 minutes of occurrence and requires all mines to have on-site rescue teams, something only UMWA-staffed mines have at present. In May, the US Senate approved the measure, strongly backed by the UMWA, and it now must go to President George Bush for his signature before becoming law.
To date in 2006, 33 deaths have occurred in US coal mines, all of them in non-union worksites. The majority of those deaths have been caused from carbon monoxide poisoning following explosions, a fact compounded by faulty breathing devices and insufficient oxygen supplies in underground mines.